Executive summary: Regular, all-invited general meetings are an easy, underutilized way for university EA groups to build stronger communities, retain members, and deepen engagement post-fellowship, with multiple successful formats already in use across campuses.
Key points:
General meetings help solve a key weakness of intro fellowships: lack of continued engagement and community-building among EA members across cohorts.
They provide a low-barrier entry point for newcomers and a way for fellowship graduates to stay involved, fostering a vibrant, mixed-experience community.
EA Purdue’s model emphasizes short, interactive presentations with rotating 1-1 discussions to build connections and maintain engagement; weekly consistency and snacks significantly improve attendance.
Other models include WashU’s activity-driven “Impact Lab,” Berkeley’s mix of deep dives and guest speakers, UCLA’s casual dinner + reading discussions, and UT Austin’s structured meetings with thought experiments, presentations, and social games.
General meetings are relatively easy to prepare—especially if organizers collaborate, rotate roles, or reuse content—and can also serve as a training ground for onboarding new organizers.
While some models trade off between casual atmosphere and goal-oriented impact, many organizers believe these meetings meaningfully contribute to group cohesion and member development, even if not all impact is directly measurable.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: Regular, all-invited general meetings are an easy, underutilized way for university EA groups to build stronger communities, retain members, and deepen engagement post-fellowship, with multiple successful formats already in use across campuses.
Key points:
General meetings help solve a key weakness of intro fellowships: lack of continued engagement and community-building among EA members across cohorts.
They provide a low-barrier entry point for newcomers and a way for fellowship graduates to stay involved, fostering a vibrant, mixed-experience community.
EA Purdue’s model emphasizes short, interactive presentations with rotating 1-1 discussions to build connections and maintain engagement; weekly consistency and snacks significantly improve attendance.
Other models include WashU’s activity-driven “Impact Lab,” Berkeley’s mix of deep dives and guest speakers, UCLA’s casual dinner + reading discussions, and UT Austin’s structured meetings with thought experiments, presentations, and social games.
General meetings are relatively easy to prepare—especially if organizers collaborate, rotate roles, or reuse content—and can also serve as a training ground for onboarding new organizers.
While some models trade off between casual atmosphere and goal-oriented impact, many organizers believe these meetings meaningfully contribute to group cohesion and member development, even if not all impact is directly measurable.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.