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!).
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