Picnics, or more specifically, free, inclusive events which take place outdoors, probably with cheap or bring-your-own food, seem like a great EA community event format:
They’re cheap—venue and food are often the most expensive line items for events, but this format radically reduces the cost for both.
They help attendees connect—connections are one of the key sources of value from EAG/x events, and picnics help people connect without any frills.
They’re relaxed—no admissions, no stages, no microphones, soft grass and hopefully sun. Seems like a great environment to meet other people in.
They’re good for the COVID-cautious—no masks required!
Obviously, this isn’t my idea: EA NYC and EA Oxford held them recently and they seemed well-attended, and there’s another one in SF this weekend. I just wanted to give this idea a shout-out. There could be value in something like an “EA picnic day” where a tonne of EA groups host a picnic on the same day, one in every major city.
This is a frequent event format in the warm weather for EA NYC, in addition to our annual 150-person picnic (that is more unconference-adjacent). The main issues we’ve run into are: • Public spaces that close by a certain time that is not easily discerned • External noise and difficult hearing announcements, especially if we are trying to do lightning talks • Inclement weather • Dogs descending on our snacks Overall though, I think they’re great!
We’ve also found people really enjoy large group walks, even just through a portion of the city. We had >50 people join a walk through lower Manhattan one winter. Compared to a picnic, it’s easy to quite literally walk away from a conversation.
Often a problem with events is how to ensure a high enough density of “people your target audience is excited to talk to”. Eli touches on this here. I don’t really see how picnics can manage to do this?
Yes, I expect they’ll do worse on fostering great mentor-mentee relationships and I’m not proposing this as a fix-all. That said, I reckon the casual setting might mean the bar for attending is lower, especially if it’s in an EA-dense city e.g. I can imagine a good mentor might not want to give a talk at a uni group, but might swing by a picnic.
I’m pretty excited about picnics.
Picnics, or more specifically, free, inclusive events which take place outdoors, probably with cheap or bring-your-own food, seem like a great EA community event format:
They’re cheap—venue and food are often the most expensive line items for events, but this format radically reduces the cost for both.
They help attendees connect—connections are one of the key sources of value from EAG/x events, and picnics help people connect without any frills.
They’re easy to scale—we see increasing returns to scale for EA community-building events and picnics allow you to reach a lot of people without much additional work per attendee (assuming you choose a large enough park).
They’re relaxed—no admissions, no stages, no microphones, soft grass and hopefully sun. Seems like a great environment to meet other people in.
They’re good for the COVID-cautious—no masks required!
Obviously, this isn’t my idea: EA NYC and EA Oxford held them recently and they seemed well-attended, and there’s another one in SF this weekend. I just wanted to give this idea a shout-out. There could be value in something like an “EA picnic day” where a tonne of EA groups host a picnic on the same day, one in every major city.
This is a frequent event format in the warm weather for EA NYC, in addition to our annual 150-person picnic (that is more unconference-adjacent). The main issues we’ve run into are:
• Public spaces that close by a certain time that is not easily discerned
• External noise and difficult hearing announcements, especially if we are trying to do lightning talks
• Inclement weather
• Dogs descending on our snacks
Overall though, I think they’re great!
We’ve also found people really enjoy large group walks, even just through a portion of the city. We had >50 people join a walk through lower Manhattan one winter. Compared to a picnic, it’s easy to quite literally walk away from a conversation.
Thanks, Rocky!
I think you mistakenly listed this as an “issue”, FYI
Haha 100 percent! Holding a lightening talk at a picnic Ajay sounds pretty ambitious, but be EAs are nothing if not ambitious ;)
Main disadvantage is the possibility of rain.
Picnic day sounds great.
Ollie, are you thousands of ants in a human suit and if so, is this a ploy to increase your welfare.
I’m actually a flock of seagulls with a laptop.
Years ago in Cambridge our wee end of year thing was a picnic in a lovely garden, was fantastic.
Agree! This also seems like a good place to plug that we’re hosting a picnic for GWWC pledgees, effective givers and the pledge curious on Sunday 30th July in Regents Park, London details: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/events/xPk9y8GJfTReRRvh5/giving-what-we-can-social-picnic-london
“pledge curious” now officially in the EA lexicon? Love it.
Often a problem with events is how to ensure a high enough density of “people your target audience is excited to talk to”. Eli touches on this here. I don’t really see how picnics can manage to do this?
Yes, I expect they’ll do worse on fostering great mentor-mentee relationships and I’m not proposing this as a fix-all. That said, I reckon the casual setting might mean the bar for attending is lower, especially if it’s in an EA-dense city e.g. I can imagine a good mentor might not want to give a talk at a uni group, but might swing by a picnic.