Full Moon Speaker Series#

Author: Ashley KosakDate: January 15th, 2025

Abstract#

This project is a monthly, in person speaker series held on the full moon, focused on how humans think about, govern, and build for the Moon. It is a direct continuation of the Moon Dialogs series founded by Jessy Kate, founder of the Open Lunar Foundation, which demonstrated sustained community interest in accessible, interdisciplinary conversations about lunar development and stewardship.

Hosted at The Fold in San Francisco, the series carries forward the Moon Dialogs ethos while introducing a more structured arc, clearer objectives, and tighter integration with active lunar infrastructure projects. Each event brings together experts and practitioners alongside a broader community to hear short talks, share food and drinks, and engage in discussion across lunar policy, development, geology, philosophy, and systems infrastructure.

The series also serves as a public facing platform to introduce and discuss the forthcoming Lunar Timekeeping whitepaper and to invite new contributors into the Space Time Card project. The series culminates in a hands on lunar timekeeping workshop in May, translating dialogue into concrete technical and governance participation.

Problem#

• Lunar development is accelerating, but public and cross disciplinary understanding of lunar infrastructure issues like timekeeping, governance, and coordination remains fragmented.
• Conversations are often siloed within policy circles, technical teams, or academic institutions, limiting collaboration and slowing the formation of shared mental models.
• Most major technical conversations in SF are surrounding the use and ethics of AI without much involvement of lunar considerations and the costs/benefits of data centers in space.
• There are few accessible, recurring, in person spaces where experts and non experts can meaningfully engage with lunar topics in a grounded, human way. AND, as culture begins to move towards more in-person connection, this is a great time to kick off an in person series.

Solution#

This proposal formalizes and extends the successful Moon Dialogs model into a recurring program aligned with MoonDAO values of openness, experimentation, and community driven infrastructure. UPDATE 1/20: This is a continuation of the previous Moon Dialogs series sith support from their founder Jessy-Kate who is an owner of The Fold.

The project will host monthly full moon gatherings at The Fold in San Francisco. Each event will feature one to two invited speakers working across lunar policy, development, geology, philosophy, or technical systems. Events are designed to balance short prepared talks with moderated discussion and informal networking, preserving the conversational tone that made Moon Dialogs effective while adding clearer continuity across sessions.

Across the series, the project lead will provide brief updates on lunar timekeeping and Space Time Card development, allowing shared context to accumulate organically over time.

Compared to one off conferences or online only programming, this recurring, in person format prioritizes relationship building, cross disciplinary understanding, and contributor discovery.

The final event in May transitions the series from discussion to action through a focused lunar timekeeping workshop, directly supporting the growth of open lunar infrastructure.

Potential Speakers and Contributors

• Foresight Institute fellows and affiliates
• Long Now Foundation speakers on time, governance, and long term stewardship
• Big Brain SF community members and moderators
• Contributors from Open Lunar Foundation working groups
• Researchers and practitioners in lunar geology, cislunar infrastructure, and space policy
• Engineers and systems thinkers interested in timing, synchronization, and distributed infrastructure

This flexible approach allows the series to incorporate both established voices and emerging contributors, while maintaining alignment with the core goals of lunar infrastructure literacy and open participation.

Plans for Engagement (Update 1/20)#

As part of this project I will also engage the MoonDAO community through sharing livestreams of the events and posting summaries following the event. This is an improvement from the Alternative Space Solutions panel where there weren't any photos/videos/blogs posted afterwards. Additionally, I can also collect questions from the MoonDAO community ahead of time to include as part of the interview. In the effort of making this information available, I can discuss with Moon Dialogs if it's acceptable to have the panel posted on the MoonDAO Youtube channel, if that would be of interest for the DAO. There is presently no youtube channel for Moon Dialogs so I don't expect it to be an issue.

Benefits#

• Builds a consistent lunar focused community in the Bay Area
• Creates a public facing funnel for Space Time Card contributors
• Strengthens MoonDAO’s visibility in lunar governance and infrastructure conversations
• Low cost, high leverage education and outreach model

Revenue potential:While not a primary goal, events may generate modest ticket revenue or sponsorship in future iterations, estimated at $500–1,000 per event if ticketed.

Risks#

Risk: Low attendance or community fatigueMitigation: Partnering with existing communities such as Foresight Institute, Long Now Foundation, and Big Brain SF to co promote

Risk: Speaker availability or scheduling conflictsMitigation: Maintaining a rolling speaker list and flexible formats

Risk: Burnout on the project leadMitigation: Clear scope limits and small, repeatable event format

Objectives#

Establish a successful monthly lunar speaker series from February through May 2026.

Key Results:

• Host 4 full moon events with 30–40 attendees each
• Secure participation from at least 6 guest speakers
• Collect 100+ email list signups for future lunar initiatives
• Recruit at least 5 new potential Space Time Card contributors

**Member responsible:**Ashley Kosak,

Team (Table A)#

Project Lead#

Ashley Kosak - Open Lunar Foundation, Epoch Project LeadResponsible for project execution, speaker coordination, budget management, and reporting.

Team BiosAshley Kosak is an operations program manager with a background in aerospace, space systems, climate tech, and community driven events. She has hosted events ranging from 15 to 150 attendees across technology, fashion, and food and beverage spaces, and is a co-author of the upcoming Lunar Timekeeping whitepaper.

@ashley.kosakhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleykosak/

Timeline (Table B)#

EDIT 1/20: This scope has been reduced to two pilot series talks which would conclude with March and future series additions would be part of a Q2 Project proposal. Deadline for the project:End of May 2026

Budget (Table C)#

Assuming 4 events + final workshop

Total USD: $5,600Assumed ETH rate: $2,800 per ETHTotal: 2.0 ETH