diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1f63cf48..c22535cd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -33,3 +33,4 @@
 
 build/*
 .DS_Store
+.vscode
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7100605c..75485590 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 
 project(eosio_contracts)
 
-set(VERSION_MAJOR 1)
-set(VERSION_MINOR 9)
-set(VERSION_PATCH 2)
-#set(VERSION_SUFFIX rc4)
+set(VERSION_MAJOR 3)
+set(VERSION_MINOR 0)
+set(VERSION_PATCH 0)
+set(VERSION_SUFFIX rc1)
 
 if (VERSION_SUFFIX)
    set(VERSION_FULL "${VERSION_MAJOR}.${VERSION_MINOR}.${VERSION_PATCH}-${VERSION_SUFFIX}")
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5bdd47c3..b27e8f9a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Repo organization
 
-Current development is on the `main` branch. There aren't any releases yet; they'll eventually be on release branches.
+| branch                | description |
+| ------                | ----------- |
+| `main`                | Development for future releases |
+| `release/3.0.x`       | 3.0.x-* series of releases |
 
 ## Supported Operating Systems
 
@@ -49,6 +52,7 @@ mkdir -p ~/work
 cd ~/work
 git clone https://github.com/eosnetworkfoundation/mandel.git
 cd mandel
+git checkout v3.0.0-rc1
 git submodule update --init --recursive
 mkdir build
 cd build