Hi all, my name’s Mike and I live in Seoul, South Korea.
I’m currently studying Korean at a language program in the city and am supporting EA South Korea as it becomes a more active local group. Also on career hiatus, I’m trying to determine what my next move should be to do the most good I can and am open to many ideas, making the decision difficult. :D But regenerative finance (blockchain/ cryptocurrency for good) and biosecurity sound particularly appealing.
I studied electrical engineering in college and worked three jobs since then in the fields of test/ measurement and manufacturing as tech support/ training instructor, software developer, and project manager/ sales. In school, I started studying German, which I speak fluently (~C1 CEFR) having lived in Germany for almost three years. I also speak some Castilian/ Spanish (B1), Italian (A2) and Korean (A1).
Thank you so much for documenting your experience growing EA Philippines from its start on the forum! This was super helpful and provided extremely relevant info for us. I’m helping the nascent EA South Korea and we’re trying to increase engagement in the group here by holding regular meetings and and having some core EA content translated into Korean to make EA more accessible to Koreans.
I have some questions if you wouldn’t mind answering if you can find the time (and if you can still remember :P)!
You mentioned you were granted $2,400 in funding from CEA from May to December 2019. This funding source you linked is now a bit different, right?
was: https://www.effectivealtruism.org/groups-mentorship-and-funding
now: https://www.centreforeffectivealtruism.org/group-support-funding
EA Blue General Assembly in September 2019 - “EA Philippines’ core members also gave talks at the event.” Did you personally speak too? What did you, the core members, talk about?
Why did you charge for the Rationality Bootcamp in 2019?
What were common subjects you spoke about about during 1:1s back then? Did you, the core members, feel competent when holding them given your own limited experience with EA at the time? Or maybe your experience was more extensive than I’m thinking.
Why did you have so few general social meetups?