Delegate Etiquette

Managing the Nouner and Delegate dynamic

Finding time to keep up with my civic obligations as a Nouner can be difficult. As such, I often delegate my Nouns, so that they are used effectively. Having done this for some time, I’ve realized there are three easy practices that can better connect me with my delegates. Each of them reduces any major surprises when it comes to voting.

The Courtesy Call

High value props are high visibility. It’s courtesy to at least get a pulsecheck on your Nouner’s opinion on any prop requesting 100 ETH+ or more. Voting on high value, momentous proposals without getting a +1 from your Nouner could result in thrash and removal of your delegation.

The Periodic Check-In

DM your Nouner to remind them that you’re a delegate. Nouners often delegate due to lack of capacity to focus and keep up with voting. It’s easy for a Nouner to forget they’ve delegated their votes, so as a courtesy. Monthly is a good cadence. It’s also nice to remind them about the props that they’ve voted on, if curious. This is particularly true, if the delegation happened as part of a project or workstream.

On Behalf Of…

Identify yourself as a delegate in the Vote Reason for provenance purposes. Signing as a delegate, or signing On Behalf Of the Nouner is a nice way for proposers that have to read these votes, to determine who submitted it. This is in lieu of the nouns.wtf website displaying the delegate on the proposal screen.

These small actions preserve the integrity of the Nouner and delegate relationship. They could easily get productized on nouns.wtf, Nouns Agora, or other proposal/delegation interfaces, and perhaps they will over time. But until then, it’s good practice to do these things manually to keep delegates and Nouners moving in concert together.