Are there any Lesswrongers in the Waterloo, Ontario area?

post by endoself · 2011-08-24T17:54:41.669Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 5 comments

Contents

5 comments

I will soon be attending the University of Waterloo and I was wondering if there is interest in a meetup. Please reply if you are in the area.

5 comments

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comment by StefanDeYoung · 2011-08-29T22:57:07.838Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I am a student at UW. If you build it, I will come.

I've been skimming LW for about a month now, and just registered to respond to this post. Seems you lowered my cost-of-entry. I thank you.

Replies from: lessdazed
comment by Vaniver · 2011-08-24T22:11:25.726Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Creating a meetup, and seeing if anyone comes, is probably a more effective strategy. Commit to be at a coffeeshop for at least an hour with a sign (bring a book) and hope!

Replies from: Dorikka
↑ comment by Dorikka · 2011-08-25T00:05:09.211Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I don't understand why it would be more effective. The only effort required to signal that one is a local LWer and thus increase P(meetup) is that of posting a comment, which is small, and equal to the effort required to signaling that one would attend a meetup. (Of course, it would be much smaller than the effort of actually traveling to a physical meetup location.)

Replies from: Vaniver
↑ comment by Vaniver · 2011-08-25T12:54:26.446Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

If you go to the main page, you'll notice a map with red dots on it. The cool thing about the "add new meetup" button is that it puts another dot on that map- so visitors to the site will notice "hey, that dot's sort of near me!", even if they don't know about the Discussion section.

Second, it seems psychologically easier to respond to opportunities than requests. "I'll be here, come join me!" is at least somewhat more likely to get a response than "anyone out there?"

Third, this is advice that has been given by founders of successful meetups, and is how the Austin meetup came to be (because SilasBartas took this advice in Waco, and everyone else that showed up came from Austin!).