I started the Moscow EA group in February. We had five meetups so far, one every 3 weeks. Our attendance is 5-10 people, with 4-5 people attending on the regular basis.
We’re meeting at the local rationality space Kocherga (the website is in Russian only), which me and my cofounder started back in September 2015. There’s a lot happening there besides EA, such as popular science lectures, LessWrong meetups, rationality dojos, etc. It’s pay-per-time-spent and can be classified as a social entrepreneurship (not a non-profit, among other reasons, because NGOs are problematic in Russia). Kocherga is not profitable yet, but if we manage to get it off the ground in the next few months, I believe we have a lot of potential to grow and use our resources to help EA movement. That’s a big “if” at this moment, though.
(On the potential conflict of interest because we’re collecting money for attending EA meetups: on our second meetup I announced that paying for the meetup can be redirected to charity of the visitor’s choice if they wish to do so. Nobody took this offer, and generally everybody agrees that sending this money our way is a better choice at this point than donating it. I’m ready to revisit this if anybody brings up this issue again.)
On the more specific topics:
1) We organized the first Giving Game on the Physics Day at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. I believe it was the first Giving Game in Russia ever. We collected ~$100 from 68 people, 12 of them subscribed to our EAHub mailing list as the result.
We’re going to do another Giving Game at the Moscow Geek Picnic this June.
3) Our volunteers translated two articles from EA Handbook (these are posted on the website linked above), and a few more are in our editorial pipeline.
This is very exciting, congrats on getting the Moscow EA group off the ground and running! I’ve spent time living in Moscow, and actually researched the Physics Day holiday :-) I can well imagine how many young people there can get behind EA. Please keep us updated about what happens with the group.
Are you in touch with the Local Effective Altruist Network? They can provide various resources and support.
I started the Moscow EA group in February. We had five meetups so far, one every 3 weeks. Our attendance is 5-10 people, with 4-5 people attending on the regular basis.
We’re meeting at the local rationality space Kocherga (the website is in Russian only), which me and my cofounder started back in September 2015. There’s a lot happening there besides EA, such as popular science lectures, LessWrong meetups, rationality dojos, etc. It’s pay-per-time-spent and can be classified as a social entrepreneurship (not a non-profit, among other reasons, because NGOs are problematic in Russia). Kocherga is not profitable yet, but if we manage to get it off the ground in the next few months, I believe we have a lot of potential to grow and use our resources to help EA movement. That’s a big “if” at this moment, though.
(On the potential conflict of interest because we’re collecting money for attending EA meetups: on our second meetup I announced that paying for the meetup can be redirected to charity of the visitor’s choice if they wish to do so. Nobody took this offer, and generally everybody agrees that sending this money our way is a better choice at this point than donating it. I’m ready to revisit this if anybody brings up this issue again.)
On the more specific topics:
1) We organized the first Giving Game on the Physics Day at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. I believe it was the first Giving Game in Russia ever. We collected ~$100 from 68 people, 12 of them subscribed to our EAHub mailing list as the result.
We’re going to do another Giving Game at the Moscow Geek Picnic this June.
2) I set up the website for the Russian audience.
3) Our volunteers translated two articles from EA Handbook (these are posted on the website linked above), and a few more are in our editorial pipeline.
This is very exciting, congrats on getting the Moscow EA group off the ground and running! I’ve spent time living in Moscow, and actually researched the Physics Day holiday :-) I can well imagine how many young people there can get behind EA. Please keep us updated about what happens with the group.
Are you in touch with the Local Effective Altruist Network? They can provide various resources and support.
Yes, we’re in touch :)