Your high-level strategy sounds great but is also fairly generic, so hard to criticize. One theme throughout seems to be an emphasis on creating solid structures and making sure everything is legally backed. I think this is important-especially after the FTX crisis-though I sense a risk of an overemphasis on security. EA Germany is yet a small community and has so much room to grow! I think we need a large number of capable people to solve some serious problems fairly soon. EA Germany should thus emphasize ambition and growth, primarily through targeted outreach and connecting the community better internationally.
I was hoping to learn more about the concrete projects that you are working on/ about to start. Here are some ideas that I see as priorities (Most are already happening to some degree):
Further growing Berlin as a hub, with the goal of making it attractive for people working full-time on EA causes. (E.g., organizing speaker events, creating housing for temporary stays, attracting talent)
Connecting the German community better internationally: Inviting leading EAs to give talks in major German cities and encouraging Germans to attend international events. (I think one reason German EAs seem to be less ambitious than EAs from other countries is that they aren’t connected well to senior EAs and thus receive less mentorship and worse access to opportunities)
Targeted outreach, particularly at national student fellowships such as Studienstiftung
Creating pipelines for talent, e.g., by running AI alignment camps or local iterations of the AGISF
Thanks for all the work you are already doing! It’s always easy to suggest a lot of projects without having to start them myself :D
Thank you for the feedback and the suggestions, Konstantin!
For Berlin, we are currently hiring a paid community manager who will organise regular events and work together with the volunteer organisers in Berlin.
For the other suggestions: We are currently developing actionable impact metrics and will use an iterative process to prioritise several ideas. We will share our impact considerations on the forum and keep everyone updated with our newsletter (https://www.effektiveraltruismus.de/#newsletter) about what projects we start.
Sounds good! Thanks for the reply. I think I would additionally find it helpful to get some insights into what you are prioritizing to give feedback on project plans (or maybe your future post on impact metrics will include that?) - but I know communication takes a lot of effort, so it may be easier to just receive that feedback as you’re rolling out the projects. Looking forward to your next post
Thanks for writing this!
Your high-level strategy sounds great but is also fairly generic, so hard to criticize. One theme throughout seems to be an emphasis on creating solid structures and making sure everything is legally backed. I think this is important-especially after the FTX crisis-though I sense a risk of an overemphasis on security. EA Germany is yet a small community and has so much room to grow! I think we need a large number of capable people to solve some serious problems fairly soon. EA Germany should thus emphasize ambition and growth, primarily through targeted outreach and connecting the community better internationally.
I was hoping to learn more about the concrete projects that you are working on/ about to start. Here are some ideas that I see as priorities (Most are already happening to some degree):
Further growing Berlin as a hub, with the goal of making it attractive for people working full-time on EA causes. (E.g., organizing speaker events, creating housing for temporary stays, attracting talent)
Connecting the German community better internationally: Inviting leading EAs to give talks in major German cities and encouraging Germans to attend international events. (I think one reason German EAs seem to be less ambitious than EAs from other countries is that they aren’t connected well to senior EAs and thus receive less mentorship and worse access to opportunities)
Targeted outreach, particularly at national student fellowships such as Studienstiftung
Creating pipelines for talent, e.g., by running AI alignment camps or local iterations of the AGISF
Thanks for all the work you are already doing! It’s always easy to suggest a lot of projects without having to start them myself :D
Looking forward to your strategy playing out.
Thank you for the feedback and the suggestions, Konstantin! For Berlin, we are currently hiring a paid community manager who will organise regular events and work together with the volunteer organisers in Berlin. For the other suggestions: We are currently developing actionable impact metrics and will use an iterative process to prioritise several ideas. We will share our impact considerations on the forum and keep everyone updated with our newsletter (https://www.effektiveraltruismus.de/#newsletter) about what projects we start.
Sounds good! Thanks for the reply.
I think I would additionally find it helpful to get some insights into what you are prioritizing to give feedback on project plans (or maybe your future post on impact metrics will include that?) - but I know communication takes a lot of effort, so it may be easier to just receive that feedback as you’re rolling out the projects. Looking forward to your next post