Thanks a lot for the update! I feel excited about this project and grateful that it exists!
As someone who stayed at CEEALAR for ~6 months over the last year, I though I’d share some reflections that might help people decide whether going to the EA Hotel is a good decision for them. I’m sure experiences vary a lot, so, general disclaimer, this is just my personal data point and not some broad impression of the typical experience.
Some of the best things that happened as a result of my stay:
I made at least three close friends I’m still in regular contact with, despite leaving the hotel half a year ago. That is a lot by my standards! I also increased my “network” by at least 20 people from all parts of the world and various professional/academic backgrounds that I’d be pretty happy to reach out to.
I greatly increased my productivity. During my stay, a friend and I came up with an accountability system that increased my productivity on average by >5 focused hours per week over the last year (compared to previous years) and made me generally more healthy (e.g. I would estimate that I now exercise >1h more per week on average).
Relatedly, I managed to create four episodes of a German podcast about EA in my first two months there.
Harder to quantify: a lot of inspiration! I came to the hotel after a year of being more or less in covid-isolation and so I went from that to talking hours every day to researchers and creators with loads of new ideas. I hope that spending so much time around people who were smarter and more knowledgeable than I lead to a decent amount of intellectual growth for me. Somewhat relatedly, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the value of my stay came from many small suggestions other people casually made in conversation (e.g. of some concept, some website or some other product).
I think this varied a lot over time as the group of people changed and especially as we became a smaller group over the summer it became less of a stimulating environment.
Some downsides:
I’m not a fan of Blackpool. I remember it largely as being grimy and dull, especially in winter. The proximity to the sea and the park are quite nice though
I think the hotel rooms were also less comfortable and nice than what I’m used to from home. I think this was fine for the most part since I mostly used my room to sleep.
On balance, I think I benefitted a lot from staying at the hotel and I’m very glad I made the decision to go! Thanks to Greg, Lumi, Denisa, Dave and everyone else who spend time with me while I was there <3 Please reach out if you have any questions you’d rater like to ask me in private.
Thanks a lot for the update! I feel excited about this project and grateful that it exists!
As someone who stayed at CEEALAR for ~6 months over the last year, I though I’d share some reflections that might help people decide whether going to the EA Hotel is a good decision for them. I’m sure experiences vary a lot, so, general disclaimer, this is just my personal data point and not some broad impression of the typical experience.
Some of the best things that happened as a result of my stay:
I made at least three close friends I’m still in regular contact with, despite leaving the hotel half a year ago. That is a lot by my standards! I also increased my “network” by at least 20 people from all parts of the world and various professional/academic backgrounds that I’d be pretty happy to reach out to.
I greatly increased my productivity. During my stay, a friend and I came up with an accountability system that increased my productivity on average by >5 focused hours per week over the last year (compared to previous years) and made me generally more healthy (e.g. I would estimate that I now exercise >1h more per week on average).
Relatedly, I managed to create four episodes of a German podcast about EA in my first two months there.
Harder to quantify: a lot of inspiration! I came to the hotel after a year of being more or less in covid-isolation and so I went from that to talking hours every day to researchers and creators with loads of new ideas. I hope that spending so much time around people who were smarter and more knowledgeable than I lead to a decent amount of intellectual growth for me. Somewhat relatedly, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the value of my stay came from many small suggestions other people casually made in conversation (e.g. of some concept, some website or some other product).
I think this varied a lot over time as the group of people changed and especially as we became a smaller group over the summer it became less of a stimulating environment.
Some downsides:
I’m not a fan of Blackpool. I remember it largely as being grimy and dull, especially in winter. The proximity to the sea and the park are quite nice though
I think the hotel rooms were also less comfortable and nice than what I’m used to from home. I think this was fine for the most part since I mostly used my room to sleep.
On balance, I think I benefitted a lot from staying at the hotel and I’m very glad I made the decision to go! Thanks to Greg, Lumi, Denisa, Dave and everyone else who spend time with me while I was there <3
Please reach out if you have any questions you’d rater like to ask me in private.