Hi Olivia, really good of you to share these experiences. A few points I think might be helpful for your next conference:
-The social norms in EA are probably the most open and accepting of any group I’ve seen in my life. Provided two people aren’t engaged in a focused one-on-one, walking up to a group and saying “Hi, can I join this conversation?” seems universally allowed with no sense of alienation or awkwardness at all. People would always catch me up on the conversation topic and include me fully. - It was my first conference too and I also hadn’t registered that one-on-ones seem to be at least as much the point of the event as the talks—you’re not alone in that. Fortunately, my career planning is fairly late-stage and there were only 2 or 3 talks I found relevant enough to attend so I had a lot of time to plan last-minute meetings with people. I can’t make judgements on how to prioritise your time on your behalf, but it might be worth applying a stricter filter on which talks get added to your schedule to leave a bit more breathing space to meet lovely EA people. -If you go to another conference with very few or no other people that you know there, I’d strongly recommend joining the volunteer team. In return for moving some chairs around or helping people register at the help desk, you’ve got, like, 10 instant friends.
Hi Tom, thanks for this comment, really useful suggestions! I hadn’t considered volunteering but that does sound like it would be a great way to make some quick friends.
Hi Olivia, really good of you to share these experiences. A few points I think might be helpful for your next conference:
-The social norms in EA are probably the most open and accepting of any group I’ve seen in my life. Provided two people aren’t engaged in a focused one-on-one, walking up to a group and saying “Hi, can I join this conversation?” seems universally allowed with no sense of alienation or awkwardness at all. People would always catch me up on the conversation topic and include me fully.
- It was my first conference too and I also hadn’t registered that one-on-ones seem to be at least as much the point of the event as the talks—you’re not alone in that. Fortunately, my career planning is fairly late-stage and there were only 2 or 3 talks I found relevant enough to attend so I had a lot of time to plan last-minute meetings with people. I can’t make judgements on how to prioritise your time on your behalf, but it might be worth applying a stricter filter on which talks get added to your schedule to leave a bit more breathing space to meet lovely EA people.
-If you go to another conference with very few or no other people that you know there, I’d strongly recommend joining the volunteer team. In return for moving some chairs around or helping people register at the help desk, you’ve got, like, 10 instant friends.
Hope this seems useful!
Hi Tom, thanks for this comment, really useful suggestions! I hadn’t considered volunteering but that does sound like it would be a great way to make some quick friends.