I disagreed when at the start of this post on the grounds that I strongly prefer smaller events, but updated towards agreeing fairly strongly, subject to the logistical issues Scott mentions at the start.
Saulius’ point that we could try it once seems excellent
I really dislike the desire to police EA culture that people are expressing elsewhere in the comments. Hardcore vegans didn’t stop being hardcore vegans when vegan circles started admitting reduceatarians et al, and I don’t see any reason to think hardcore EAs would disappear or have trouble meeting each other just because less hardcore EAs started showing up.
If they did have trouble meeting each other, you could define one or more submovements that people could opt into, possibly with requirements for entry to their congresses.
The event’s culture is still going to be heavily dominated by the talks, marketing, and prearranged norms.
You could raise the price to a profitmaking point, funding the smaller, weirder conferences, while still offering free/subsidised access to promising people who couldn’t afford it.
I disagreed when at the start of this post on the grounds that I strongly prefer smaller events, but updated towards agreeing fairly strongly, subject to the logistical issues Scott mentions at the start.
Saulius’ point that we could try it once seems excellent
I really dislike the desire to police EA culture that people are expressing elsewhere in the comments. Hardcore vegans didn’t stop being hardcore vegans when vegan circles started admitting reduceatarians et al, and I don’t see any reason to think hardcore EAs would disappear or have trouble meeting each other just because less hardcore EAs started showing up.
If they did have trouble meeting each other, you could define one or more submovements that people could opt into, possibly with requirements for entry to their congresses.
The event’s culture is still going to be heavily dominated by the talks, marketing, and prearranged norms.
You could raise the price to a profitmaking point, funding the smaller, weirder conferences, while still offering free/subsidised access to promising people who couldn’t afford it.
I can’t say I have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I agree strongly with: