Head of Events at the Centre for Effective Altruism
Amy Labenz
Karma: 2,960
I’m not sure if this is helpful, but the other night, my 3-year-old son Teddy decided to start screaming for milk after we were in bed. He already had two cups of milk when we were downstairs, and there was no more milk. I explained and asked if he was thirsty. He said he was. I gave him a bottle of water. He screamed, “I want miiiiiilk” over and over and rejected the water. Eventually, I just cuddled him in bed. He cried for about a minute once I cuddled him up, and he passed out. It seems like he was overtired but also wanted to go downstairs and delay sleep for some reason? Or maybe he was just desperate for milk for some reason, even though he had a bunch. I’m not totally sure what was going on.
We now have a deal that I will ask him about milk right before bed, but once we are upstairs with teeth brushed, I won’t be going down for milk. Wish me luck!
Aw, so relatable! Thanks for sharing. And I love how you’re modeling how parents apologize to kids when we get it wrong, that is really important to me with my kids.
I hope she is feeling better!
Thank you! I’m glad. :)
I was feeling a bit bashful after Peter reminded me I forgot to include Split and Commit, but when I pinged Duncan (the author) he said the more reinventions of it the idea the better! That seems like a great attitude, since different things work well for different people.
In some cases, these kinds of stories tend to be better for me too (even though I came to EA through the rationality community!). I think this is especially true when I’m explaining something in conversations.
Thank you! Added a footnote.
Appreciating Stable Support Roles at EA Orgs
Multiple Working Hypotheses: A Reminder from My Kids
Announcing the Meta Coordination Forum 2024
Thanks so much for all of your work on the search committee!
I’m very excited to welcome you to the team, Zach! I like your vision for CEA, think you did a good job managing a very challenging situation with EV, and I’m personally very enthusiastic about the opportunity to work together!
EA is good, actually
To add to what Caitlin said, my experience as a hiring manager and as a candidate is that this often is not the case.
When I was hired at CEA I took roles on two different teams (Head of US Operations at CEA and the Events Team role at EAO, which later merged into CEA). My understanding at the time is that they didn’t have second choice candidates with my qualifications, and I was told by the EAO hiring manager that they would have not filled the position if I didn’t accept (I don’t remember whether I checked this with the CEA role).
I should note that I was applying for these roles in 2015 and that the hiring pool has changed since then. But in my experience as a hiring manager (especially for senior/generalist positions), it can be really hard to find a candidate that fits the specific requirements. Part of this is that my team requires a fairly specific skillset (that includes EA context, execution ability, and fit with our high energy culture) but I wouldn’t be surprised if other hiring managers have similar experiences. I think as the team grows and more junior positions become available this might be more flexible, though I think “indistinguishable” is still not accurate.
Here’s where CEA staff are donating in 2023
Hey Emma,
Thanks so much for your bravery in sharing your story. I’m so sorry to hear about your experiences at EAG and the afterparty. I care about and value you a lot as a community member and a colleague and it makes me very sad to hear that you were uncomfortable.
As I mentioned in my other reply, we are working with the community health team to investigate the EAG incident, and I plan to do what I can to help.
I’d like to clarify that “using the event app to request meetings for romantic or sexual reasons” is clearly listed as one of the behaviors that “don’t belong at EA Global or related events” in our Code of Conduct (also found on our FAQ and registration form). Agreeing to this is a condition of attending, we take violations seriously, and we are working with the community health team to investigate this incident.
Thanks for the nudge! We’ve now posted more information here.
Racial and gender demographics at EA Global in 2022
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Working with you as ED for the past four years has been the happiest I’ve been at CEA. I’m really proud of the work we have done together and I’m so sorry for the personal toll it has taken on you. I hope you get some well-deserved rest and I look forward to working with you in your new advisory role. Thank you for everything, Max!
My five-year-old Earnie generally doesn’t lie. For example, if I ask, “Why is Teddy crying?” he will say, “I took the bike from him”. He sometimes does “tricking,” but usually that’s something very silly and obvious. (Note: I can imagine looking back at this in a few months and being surprised. Things often go in phases with kids.)
I think he learned about deceit and trust, at least in part because I make a point of not lying to my kids. When they are skeptical of something I’ve said, I’ll ask them, “Do I lie?” and they will reflect and say, “Mommy doesn’t lie.”
Our 3-year-old seems not quite on the no-lying page yet (he seems to enjoy it and giggles about it sometimes). Recently, he has seemed to treat pinky promises with more reverence, but we’ll see.