âIf we want to draw in more experienced people, itâd be much easier to just spin up another brand, rather than try to rebrand something that already has particular connotations.â
This strikes me as probably incorrect. Creating a new brand is really hard, and minor shifts in branding to de-emphasise students would be fairly simple. In my experience, the EA brand and EA ideas are sufficiently appealing to a fairly broad range of older people. The problem is that loads of older people are really interested in EA ideas- think Sam Harrisâ audience or the median owner of a Peter Singer book- but they find that: a) Itâs socially weird being around uni students; b) Few of the materials, from 80k to Intro fellowships, seem targeted to them; c) Itâs way harder to commit to a social movement.
Iâve facilitated for EA intro programs with diverse ages, and the ânext stepsâ stage at the end of an intro fellowship is way different for 20 year olds to 40 year olds- for a 20 year old, basically âJust go to your uni EA group and get more involvedâ is a good level of commitment, whereas a 40 year old has to make far more difficult choices. But I also feel that if this 40 year-old is willing to commit time to EA, this is a more costly signal than a student doing so, so I often feel bullish about their career impact.
My preferred solutions are fairly marginal, just making it a bit easier and more comfortable for older people to get involved: 1) Groups like 80k put a bit more effort into advice for later career people; 2) Events targeting older high-impact professionals (and more ânormalâ older people; EA for parents is a good idea); 3) Highlight a few ârole modelsâ (on the EA intro course, for example, or an 80k podcast guest)- people whoâve become high-impact EAs in later life.
Sure, sometimes Iâve felt strange hanging around people much younger than me, but the proposed solution is to recruit less students, then the cure is worse than the disease.
In my experience, the EA brand and EA ideas are sufficiently appealing to a fairly broad range of older people
And some older people will end up joining the EA movement, but if we have other âbrandsâ, such as High Impact Professionals [1], we may be able to ensure that a decent number of people who âbounce offâ end up joining another brand instead via referal.
Itâs way harder to commit to a social movement
Sounds suspiciously like they want a different kind of program more targeted at them =P. And if a program is going to be run, it should aim to develop its own brand.
Personally, I would suggest that they de-emphasise the association with EA. I think a note of the bottom of the page âPart of the EA networkâ would be enough.
âIf we want to draw in more experienced people, itâd be much easier to just spin up another brand, rather than try to rebrand something that already has particular connotations.â
This strikes me as probably incorrect. Creating a new brand is really hard, and minor shifts in branding to de-emphasise students would be fairly simple. In my experience, the EA brand and EA ideas are sufficiently appealing to a fairly broad range of older people. The problem is that loads of older people are really interested in EA ideas- think Sam Harrisâ audience or the median owner of a Peter Singer book- but they find that: a) Itâs socially weird being around uni students; b) Few of the materials, from 80k to Intro fellowships, seem targeted to them; c) Itâs way harder to commit to a social movement.
Iâve facilitated for EA intro programs with diverse ages, and the ânext stepsâ stage at the end of an intro fellowship is way different for 20 year olds to 40 year olds- for a 20 year old, basically âJust go to your uni EA group and get more involvedâ is a good level of commitment, whereas a 40 year old has to make far more difficult choices. But I also feel that if this 40 year-old is willing to commit time to EA, this is a more costly signal than a student doing so, so I often feel bullish about their career impact.
My preferred solutions are fairly marginal, just making it a bit easier and more comfortable for older people to get involved: 1) Groups like 80k put a bit more effort into advice for later career people; 2) Events targeting older high-impact professionals (and more ânormalâ older people; EA for parents is a good idea); 3) Highlight a few ârole modelsâ (on the EA intro course, for example, or an 80k podcast guest)- people whoâve become high-impact EAs in later life.
Sure, sometimes Iâve felt strange hanging around people much younger than me, but the proposed solution is to recruit less students, then the cure is worse than the disease.
And some older people will end up joining the EA movement, but if we have other âbrandsâ, such as High Impact Professionals [1], we may be able to ensure that a decent number of people who âbounce offâ end up joining another brand instead via referal.
Sounds suspiciously like they want a different kind of program more targeted at them =P. And if a program is going to be run, it should aim to develop its own brand.
Personally, I would suggest that they de-emphasise the association with EA. I think a note of the bottom of the page âPart of the EA networkâ would be enough.