We’re still working out the details, but we also expect to raise default ticket prices. That is, instead of people paying $200 for a ticket that costs us $1500, they’ll be paying maybe $500 for a ticket that costs us $1000.
I’m concerned this change will contribute to making EA more insular by raising the costs of becoming engaged with the community. $200 instead of free means people only go if they’re serious, but $500 feels like a real chunk of money, and may be particularly hard to justify for people who aren’t already highly engaged.
One possible remedy here would be to also give discounted tickets to first-timers.
I share your concern, but I think it would be more than offset by the competition with EAGx. My understanding from the dashboard, and from personal experience, is that EAGx has roughly the same value as EAG for first-timers (and many/most non first-timers) while being ~3x more cost-efficient. (If you went to both, would you rather pay $2k to go to an EAG or $600 to go to an EAGx as a first timer?)
I think this is good also because EAGx are mostly organized by different community members and national groups staff, so different groups could try different strategies and we could see what works best (e.g. minimize printing, have the many bored idle volunteers record talks with their phones instead of paying thousands per recorded talk, …) It might also help move EA towards being more of a do-ocracy and less of an “EV-ocracy”.
Another great advantage imho is that people and community builders would be more mindful of other opportunities, or even try to start alternatives to EAGs, that have been crowded out by the current subsidies.
Thanks for this comment, all seems basically right (I run the EAGx programme).
different groups could try different strategies and we could see what works best (e.g. minimize printing, have the many bored idle volunteers record talks with their phones instead of paying thousands per recorded talk, …)
Yes, we do exactly this (EAGxNYC recorded talks on phones, in fact). We’ve even had a few instances where an EAGx team tried something, it worked really well and then EAG incorporated it. One example is that EAGxBerlin 2022 put up posters with contact information for the community health support team, which attendees appreciated and which EAG copied.
Feels like there could be some way to offer subsidy here. But it does seem good for the costs of things to be properly subsidised. If the benefit of one’s first EAG is higher then maybe there could be a first EAG subsidy.
Hmm, I was thinking not that the benefits of the first one would be higher, but that people will more likely underestimate the benefits before they go to the first one.
I’m concerned this change will contribute to making EA more insular by raising the costs of becoming engaged with the community. $200 instead of free means people only go if they’re serious, but $500 feels like a real chunk of money, and may be particularly hard to justify for people who aren’t already highly engaged.
One possible remedy here would be to also give discounted tickets to first-timers.
I share your concern, but I think it would be more than offset by the competition with EAGx. My understanding from the dashboard, and from personal experience, is that EAGx has roughly the same value as EAG for first-timers (and many/most non first-timers) while being ~3x more cost-efficient. (If you went to both, would you rather pay $2k to go to an EAG or $600 to go to an EAGx as a first timer?)
I think this is good also because EAGx are mostly organized by different community members and national groups staff, so different groups could try different strategies and we could see what works best (e.g. minimize printing, have the many bored idle volunteers record talks with their phones instead of paying thousands per recorded talk, …)
It might also help move EA towards being more of a do-ocracy and less of an “EV-ocracy”.
Another great advantage imho is that people and community builders would be more mindful of other opportunities, or even try to start alternatives to EAGs, that have been crowded out by the current subsidies.
Thanks for this comment, all seems basically right (I run the EAGx programme).
Yes, we do exactly this (EAGxNYC recorded talks on phones, in fact). We’ve even had a few instances where an EAGx team tried something, it worked really well and then EAG incorporated it. One example is that EAGxBerlin 2022 put up posters with contact information for the community health support team, which attendees appreciated and which EAG copied.
Feels like there could be some way to offer subsidy here. But it does seem good for the costs of things to be properly subsidised. If the benefit of one’s first EAG is higher then maybe there could be a first EAG subsidy.
Hmm, I was thinking not that the benefits of the first one would be higher, but that people will more likely underestimate the benefits before they go to the first one.
Seems fixable in the same way, right?