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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 often hear (and sometimes think) that EA is still "mostly students" and that means we need to outreach to "actual adults" more. I checked, and 45% of my Twitter followers (EA-heavy, I think) thought the average was 25 or lower.
If EAG attendance is anything to go by, this picture seems basically false. The median EAG attendee is 28.2 years old (mean 29.2). EAGx is not that far behind, with a mean of 27. The average age of the 2022 EA survey respondent was 26.
I'm glad to see some actual facts to counteract what seems to be a false narrative. Is the median applicant age similar to the median attendee age? I'm wondering if in the application/admissions process there might affect this.
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:
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.
Main disadvantage is the possibility of rain.
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 ;)
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.
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.
Years ago in Cambridge our wee end of year thing was a picnic in a lovely garden, was fantastic.
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 often hear (and sometimes think) that EA is still "mostly students" and that means we need to outreach to "actual adults" more. I checked, and 45% of my Twitter followers (EA-heavy, I think) thought the average was 25 or lower.
If EAG attendance is anything to go by, this picture seems basically false. The median EAG attendee is 28.2 years old (mean 29.2). EAGx is not that far behind, with a mean of 27. The average age of the 2022 EA survey respondent was 26.
I'm glad to see some actual facts to counteract what seems to be a false narrative. Is the median applicant age similar to the median attendee age? I'm wondering if in the application/admissions process there might affect this.
See my reply to Vaidehi :)
Does median age change a lot when you look at total applicants vs accepted applicants? Do EAG(x)'s aim for any kind of age quotas?
For EAG:
Mean age rejected = 28.7
Median age rejected = 26.1
So yes, a bit.
We don't aim for age quotas.
Do you count PhD students as students? (although I reckon the main concern is that we have too many undergraduate students)
On the naïve (false) view, no, I mostly meant undergraduates.