Hi Spencer! It might be a good idea to start a public channel in EA Anywhere and then transition to a separate workspace once the group gains traction and/​or obtains funding for a paid workspace. Being on a free plan means potentially losing messages older than 90 days. It might also be really hard for one person to engage and moderate an entire Slack community without being compensated.
Here’s more information on the support that EA Anywhere can provide: https://​​docs.google.com/​​document/​​d/​​1wWW_shnEZyi011l-znoFFdRiIiUZi2S37DBip6xIN20/​​edit
Thanks for the comment. We were largely constrained by venue availability and pricing. Having it a week later would run too close to Christmas, raising venue prices and potentially limiting the attendance of people who celebrate the holiday. Overall, 2024 is also an unusually popular year to get married, and most large event spaces are booked until February 2025.
We did consider the availability of local students but only had access to public calendars, which state that the vacation should start after December 7th. (NUS, NTU, SMU) It might also be helpful to know that, historically, EAGxSoutheast Asia has been run by working professionals at both EA and non-EA organizations, and we’re extremely flexible in working around the team’s ability to take leave at work.
(Edit: typo)