I’m aware that more people apply for EAG SF and London than are accepted. That makes me wonder if there is value to also having additional EAGxs on the West Coast of North America or in the UK, so there are opportunities for these people (and anybody who didn’t apply because they didn’t think they would get in) to attend an accessible conference, which may be a more friendly introduction to EA than an EAG would be. It could also soften the blow of rejection to be able to say “sorry, you aren’t invited to EAG, but if you can, go to this EAGx and please apply again next year”.
Do you think that would be worthwhile? Do you have an idea of the numbers of people in this category?
Maybe retreats organized by local groups could fulfill that purpose as well?
Here an example from Germany: Last August, we organized the “EA Unconference” retreat, which was relatively accessible and friendly. We chose the criteria such that anyone genuinely interested in EA could fulfill them [1] and found that all applicants fit the criteria—we didn’t need to turn down anyone. We then spent three days on a farmhouse, discussing EA, supporting each other with cause prio, career planning and other relevant topics and also having some fun together and connecting on a personal level as well.
Appendix: More details for anyone considering organizing retreats:
The retreat was well-received, we had 50 participants from three countries and they rated it an 8.9/10 on average, on average 7x as valuable as what they would have done otherwise (median: 3x as valuable). Some also updated their career plans. It also did not take us that much time to organize it, as content was mainly participant-driven. We spent €3500 in total (€70 pp incl. food & accommodation), which was entirely covered by our sliding scale tickets (participants could choose ticket price themselves and paid €0-200), so we did not need any additional funding. We’re planning to do one again this winter or next summer. If other community builders are interested, I could maybe write a more detailed evaluation as soon as I have time (let me know if you’d find that useful!).
Yes, we do want to consider this for the future. For new EAGx locations in 2020, we have planned to prioritise locations that don’t currently have access to either EAG or EAGx at all. That said, we’ll certainly consider applications from excellent organising teams in any location!
I do think it would be less likely that we’d fund an EAGx in the Bay or London for 2020, compared to other locations right now, but applying now or getting in touch now may still be helpful as we consider future locations.
I’d expect the applicants who were not accepted to EAG London to be based not only in the UK but in entire Europe (unless you have data that suggests otherwise?), and as flights are cheap in Europe (<$100 return to most major cities), it seems that an EAGx in any major European city is sufficiently accessible. Or is there anything I overlooked?
If we assume that it doesn’t matter much if an EAGx is hold in the UK or elsewhere in Europe, then the application-capacity-ratio of previous European EAGx conferences could be a good indication to see if there’s more demand. Does anyone know how many people applied to previous European EAGx conferences, and how many were accepted?
This might not hold true for the US, though, as flights from the East Coast to the West Coast are more expensive.
Manuel, I agree that a European-based EAGx should service the needs of unsuccessful applicants for EAG London, seeing as a number of attendees travel from elsewhere in Europe for the conference anyway.
Regarding your question about applications, EAGx conferences don’t have an application process (to ensure that they are accessible to all). However, the last European EAGx conference sold out ahead of time, suggesting that we may want to consider at increasing capacity in 2020 or increasing the number of EAGx events in the region in the future.
I’m aware that more people apply for EAG SF and London than are accepted. That makes me wonder if there is value to also having additional EAGxs on the West Coast of North America or in the UK, so there are opportunities for these people (and anybody who didn’t apply because they didn’t think they would get in) to attend an accessible conference, which may be a more friendly introduction to EA than an EAG would be. It could also soften the blow of rejection to be able to say “sorry, you aren’t invited to EAG, but if you can, go to this EAGx and please apply again next year”.
Do you think that would be worthwhile? Do you have an idea of the numbers of people in this category?
Maybe retreats organized by local groups could fulfill that purpose as well?
Here an example from Germany: Last August, we organized the “EA Unconference” retreat, which was relatively accessible and friendly. We chose the criteria such that anyone genuinely interested in EA could fulfill them [1] and found that all applicants fit the criteria—we didn’t need to turn down anyone. We then spent three days on a farmhouse, discussing EA, supporting each other with cause prio, career planning and other relevant topics and also having some fun together and connecting on a personal level as well.
Appendix: More details for anyone considering organizing retreats:
The retreat was well-received, we had 50 participants from three countries and they rated it an 8.9/10 on average, on average 7x as valuable as what they would have done otherwise (median: 3x as valuable). Some also updated their career plans. It also did not take us that much time to organize it, as content was mainly participant-driven. We spent €3500 in total (€70 pp incl. food & accommodation), which was entirely covered by our sliding scale tickets (participants could choose ticket price themselves and paid €0-200), so we did not need any additional funding. We’re planning to do one again this winter or next summer. If other community builders are interested, I could maybe write a more detailed evaluation as soon as I have time (let me know if you’d find that useful!).
[1] more info on the Unconference & criteria: http://bit.ly/ea_unconference_info
Yes, we do want to consider this for the future. For new EAGx locations in 2020, we have planned to prioritise locations that don’t currently have access to either EAG or EAGx at all. That said, we’ll certainly consider applications from excellent organising teams in any location!
I do think it would be less likely that we’d fund an EAGx in the Bay or London for 2020, compared to other locations right now, but applying now or getting in touch now may still be helpful as we consider future locations.
Interesting idea!
Re. an additional EAGx in the UK:
I’d expect the applicants who were not accepted to EAG London to be based not only in the UK but in entire Europe (unless you have data that suggests otherwise?), and as flights are cheap in Europe (<$100 return to most major cities), it seems that an EAGx in any major European city is sufficiently accessible. Or is there anything I overlooked?
If we assume that it doesn’t matter much if an EAGx is hold in the UK or elsewhere in Europe, then the application-capacity-ratio of previous European EAGx conferences could be a good indication to see if there’s more demand. Does anyone know how many people applied to previous European EAGx conferences, and how many were accepted?
This might not hold true for the US, though, as flights from the East Coast to the West Coast are more expensive.
Manuel, I agree that a European-based EAGx should service the needs of unsuccessful applicants for EAG London, seeing as a number of attendees travel from elsewhere in Europe for the conference anyway.
Regarding your question about applications, EAGx conferences don’t have an application process (to ensure that they are accessible to all). However, the last European EAGx conference sold out ahead of time, suggesting that we may want to consider at increasing capacity in 2020 or increasing the number of EAGx events in the region in the future.
Thanks for the info! Adjusting the EAGx capacity seems like a good solution (at least for Europe), let’s keep this in mind when choosing a venue.