DuneCon: Top Three Priorities Web3 Analysts Should Care About Right Now

The 15th of September 2022 will go down as a magic moment for much of the web3 analytics community. On this crisp morning, under the good omen of the successful Ethereum Merge, a gathering of wizards took place in the dark underbelly of Eastside Berlin.

DuneCon, organized by Dune (formerly Dune Analytics) was the first of its kind. Announced two months earlier, this conference brought together a lineup of notable data professionals and other delegates from Lido, 1confirmation, Uniswap Labs, Optimism, mirror.xyz, 0x Labs and many others.

From these talks all sorts of insights could be gathered for the web3 community at large. But we want to share those of particular interest to web3 analysts. Here are what we identified as the top three concerns for web3 analysts right now.

1. Web3 Analysts Should Prioritize Data Quality

DuneCon hosted two stages. The main stage was stacked with speakers offering their perspective on different matters. The second was a more practically oriented stage, going more in depth into practical topics and how-tos.

One of the applied workshops, by Andrew Hong, touched on the subject of leveraging a community of data professionals by protocols. Not all protocols are alike, in terms of how easy it is to curate data from them or the information they provide. When working with data is difficult, it can hinder the ecosystem, making it hard to put out quality dashboards and insights on these protocols. This might hamper protocol spread and adoption.

Andrew laid out a process for how protocols might improve their engagement cycle with data professionals – and he argued it need not be hard.

After protocol release, deploy a qualified data professional to take the following actions:

• Do education on it.
• Write documentation on it.
• Prepare some basics (e.g. contributions to Spellbook or highly aggregated trade views).

He goes on to explain the positive chain reaction this will set off:

• Subsequent data professionals get a head start and progress faster.
• Dashboards will become more niche, as the standard one’s are already provided.
• Questions and insights will go deeper.
• This leads to better follow up research.
  

A corollary to this is that the analytics community has a part to play in blockchain data quality. Analysts must stand up and demand quality data and processes that facilitate it. Andrew encouraged us all to do so and it was certainly the spirit in which he delivered his presentation.

2. Web3 Analysts Should Prioritize Mental Health and Life Balance

It is no secret that burnout is prevalent in web3. And no wonder.

There are many reasons for this. As Chuxin illustrated during her panel, for many web3 is a passion that they take on alongside a full time job. So any workload goes on top of that which is already there.

The tech heavy nature of our work. Much screen time. Being always on. Teams across time zones. A volatile environment. The bear market. The bull market. The passion for the work. We could go on.

These factors and many more can lead an analyst to burnout. This topic could easily be an article in itself. For now it suffices to say: Check in with yourself and make sure you got what you need.

Make sure to at least address the basics of sufficient sleep, quality nutrition and frequent exercise. Additionally seek to eliminate sources of stress. And make sure excessive workload is not one of those sources.

3. Web3 Analysts Should Prioritize Their Presentation

Many of us data geeks love digging up information and finding out answers to questions we have. We’d argue that an unquenchable thirst for insights is a beautiful thing and what can be a major drive in the quest for knowledge.

But in our journey as analysts, there comes a point where you will have to share your insights with others. All value is ultimately derived by what the analysis means to others and which problem it solves.

This means presenting your insights and conclusions effectively and often visually.

Here is a short clip of Hildobby laying out how he likes to see and consume dashboard and reports.

Conclusions

DuneCon had 10 talks and 4 workshops by 20 speakers. It was a goldmine of information for data professionals. We took the three most pressing priorities related to analysts personally and how they do their work.

Fortunately, the team at Dune live streamed and recorded the talks – available on YouTube (Mainstage and Breakout Stage).

After a long day of discussing their arcane arts, night fell over Berlin and the wizards flew off to different raves across the city to summon their inner degens and unleash the darker sides of their magic. But they all left with treasures of tiny gems and nuggets of new wisdom.