So a lot of the clashes in conceptions of what types of spending seems “normal” vs “excessive” will come from pretty different priors/intuitions of what seems “normal.”
I could see this in myself: my parents were fairly middle-of-the-road first gen Chinese American immigrants on scholarships, so I grew up in substantially poorer environments than I think most EAs are used to (but by no means poor compared to the rest of the world). So from that lens (and indeed, the lens of that of many of my classmates from colleges in the American Midwest who have trouble finding high-paying jobs), many of the salaries and perks at EA jobs, conferences, etc., are quite excessive.
But after joining EA, I worked in Silicon Valley/tech for a while*, and now my reference class for salaries/perks is probably more in line with that of the Western elite. And in that regard EA conferences and perks seems slightly fancier but not unduly so, and certainly the financial compensation is far lower.
*As a sidenote, at the time the prevailing meme in at least some parts of EA was “if you can’t get a better job elsewhere, just work in FAANG and earn-to-give while figuring out what to do next.” I think that meme is less popular now. I think I still recommend it for people in a position to do so, except for the (significant) danger that working in FAANG (or comparable positions) can end up making you too “soft” and unwilling to e.g. take risks with your career. A related worry is that people in such positions can easily price themselves out of doing ambitious altruistic efforts.
I could see this in myself: my parents were fairly middle-of-the-road first gen Chinese American immigrants on scholarships, so I grew up in substantially poorer environments than I think most EAs are used to (but by no means poor compared to the rest of the world). So from that lens (and indeed, the lens of that of many of my classmates from colleges in the American Midwest who have trouble finding high-paying jobs), many of the salaries and perks at EA jobs, conferences, etc., are quite excessive.
But after joining EA, I worked in Silicon Valley/tech for a while*, and now my reference class for salaries/perks is probably more in line with that of the Western elite. And in that regard EA conferences and perks seems slightly fancier but not unduly so, and certainly the financial compensation is far lower.
*As a sidenote, at the time the prevailing meme in at least some parts of EA was “if you can’t get a better job elsewhere, just work in FAANG and earn-to-give while figuring out what to do next.” I think that meme is less popular now. I think I still recommend it for people in a position to do so, except for the (significant) danger that working in FAANG (or comparable positions) can end up making you too “soft” and unwilling to e.g. take risks with your career. A related worry is that people in such positions can easily price themselves out of doing ambitious altruistic efforts.