I think there are easy ways to make it not weird. Some tips:
1) Emailing from an official email account, rather than a personal one, if you’ve never met the person before.
2) Mention explicitly that this is ‘something you do’ and that, for newcomers, you’d like to welcome them into the community. This makes it less strange that you’re reaching out to them personally.
3) Mention explicitly that you’ll be talking about EA, and not other stuff.
4) It’s useful to meet people in real life at an event first and say hello and introduce yourself there.
5) Don’t feel like you have an agenda or anything; keep it informal. Treat it as if you were getting to know a friend better and have an enjoyable time.
6) Absolutely don’t pressure people, just reach out and offer to meet up if they’d find it useful
Hi!
I think there are easy ways to make it not weird. Some tips:
1) Emailing from an official email account, rather than a personal one, if you’ve never met the person before.
2) Mention explicitly that this is ‘something you do’ and that, for newcomers, you’d like to welcome them into the community. This makes it less strange that you’re reaching out to them personally.
3) Mention explicitly that you’ll be talking about EA, and not other stuff.
4) It’s useful to meet people in real life at an event first and say hello and introduce yourself there.
5) Don’t feel like you have an agenda or anything; keep it informal. Treat it as if you were getting to know a friend better and have an enjoyable time.
6) Absolutely don’t pressure people, just reach out and offer to meet up if they’d find it useful