Effective Altruism Summit 2014

post by Ben_LandauTaylor · 2014-03-21T20:30:14.760Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 18 comments

In 2013, the Effective Altruism movement came together for a week-long Summit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Attendees included leaders and members from all the major effective altruist organizations, as well as effective altruists not affiliated with any organization. People shared strategies, techniques, and projects, and left more inspired and more effective than when they arrived.

More than ever, rationality and existential risk reduction are part of the Effective Altruism movement, and so I'm glad to announce to LessWrong the 2014 Effective Altruism Summit.

Following last year’s success, this year’s Effective Altruism Summit will comprise two events. The Summit will be a conference-style event held on the weekend of August 2-3, preceded by a smaller Effective Altruism Retreat from July 27-August 1. To accommodate our expanding movement and its many new projects, this year’s Summit will be bigger than the last. The Retreat will be similar to last year’s EA Summit, providing a more intimate setting for attendees to discuss, to learn, and to form lasting connections with each other and with the community.

We’re now accepting applications for the 2014 events. Whether you’re a veteran organizer trying to keep up with Effective Altruism’s most exciting developments, or you're looking to get involved with a community of people who use rationality to improve the world, we’d love for you to join us.

18 comments

Comments sorted by top scores.

comment by benkuhn · 2014-03-20T00:57:11.001Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Definitely attend this if you can! I went last year and it was an amazing experience. Highly, highly recommended. (Yes, even more highly than donating the price of tickets to your favorite effective charity.)

EDIT: also, feel free to ask me stuff about the participant experience, either here or by private message.

Replies from: AnnaSalamon, John_Maxwell_IV
comment by AnnaSalamon · 2014-03-28T06:20:15.869Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yes; I totally loved attending last year.

comment by John_Maxwell (John_Maxwell_IV) · 2014-03-20T07:37:27.911Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

How did it compare to CFAR? I thought CFAR was a bit overrated myself. (Maybe because I'm already in the Bay Area and have lots of local EA/LWer friends I tend to get less out of these events?)

Replies from: benkuhn
comment by benkuhn · 2014-03-20T17:51:27.698Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I don't think they're comparable? I enjoyed the EA summit for different reasons than I enjoyed CFAR. (I had already been to a CFAR workshop by the time of the summit, and was still very happy I went.)

comment by Alexei · 2014-03-20T01:38:20.705Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Is there going to be an after-party open to the "public"?

Replies from: Nevin
comment by Nevin · 2014-07-02T01:57:56.217Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Yes, but probably not advertised publicly. It will be Sunday evening. Details will be announced at the event, so ask someone who is there if you aren't.

comment by owencb · 2014-03-25T15:24:36.675Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Request: if this happens again in subsequent years, could you announce the dates earlier? I would have liked to go, but have booked a family vacation that week, and I know at least one other person in the same situation.

Replies from: Nevin
comment by Nevin · 2014-07-02T02:04:16.379Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Sorry about that. We will do our best to announce further in advance, since we really would like to accommodate people who are booked very far ahead of time.

comment by Alexei · 2014-03-20T01:37:26.377Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Here are more videos from last year's EAS.

Replies from: lukeprog
comment by lukeprog · 2014-03-21T21:38:17.710Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

In particular, Holden's Keynote was really good for anyone who's only just starting to get familiar with EA.

Replies from: ESRogs
comment by ESRogs · 2014-03-22T05:38:25.030Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Seconded. I've been following GiveWell closely since late 2009, and I learned a bunch of new stuff from that keynote.

comment by ColonelMustard · 2014-04-01T06:30:52.829Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Do you know when people will be notified? It would be useful in making travel plans if we found out sooner.

comment by ESRogs · 2014-03-20T23:58:14.820Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Dumb question: how selective will the application judging be? I'm trying to determine how much time I need to put into my answers to the application free response questions.

Replies from: Ben_LandauTaylor
comment by Ben_LandauTaylor · 2014-03-21T02:34:54.867Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Space is limited, so we have to be pretty selective. I'd say it's worth taking some time to present the relevant information.

comment by Josh Jacobson (joshjacobson) · 2015-05-22T09:58:55.855Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

In 2015, the EA Summit has become EA Global, taking place in San Francisco, Oxford, and Melbourne. See eaglobal.org to apply by May 30!

comment by ColonelMustard · 2014-05-10T13:17:00.149Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Any word on this? We submitted applications ~6 weeks ago and it would be useful to find out who will be offered a spot.

Replies from: Ben_LandauTaylor
comment by Ben_LandauTaylor · 2014-05-12T22:16:38.617Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

We're working on putting the guest list together. I'll notify people as soon as we have definite answers.

comment by EricHerboso · 2014-04-30T16:30:29.540Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

While your application correctly identifies Animal Charity Evaluators by its current name, the main EA Summit webpage lists ACE under its old name of "Effective Animal Activism". Is there any chance you could update the page to use the new name?