Getting the Most Out of an EA Conference

Published 7th October 2020

Each year several EA conferences are held worldwide:

• EA Global conferences are run by the Centre for Effective Altruism
• Effective Altruism Global X (EAGx) is the locally organized international conference series of the Effective Altruism community

EA conferences have been transformative experiences for some members of the community; they’ve led to changes in cause prioritisation and career paths, as well as significant increases in their ambition to improve the world.

It is possible that most of the impact of EA conferences comes from their effects on the small percentage of attendees who have these life-changing experiences. So it’s worth thinking about how to increase the chances that you could be among those attendees!

Suggestions for preparing for the conference:

• Set aspirational goals (as well as more realistic goals). Think about who you would have to talk to, and what would have to happen at the conference, in order for you to achieve these goals.
• Prioritise scheduling one-on-ones over watching talks (which can be watched online after the conference). Post-conference surveys indicate that much of the value of EA conferences comes from one-on-one conversations.
• If you are a member of an EA group, consider hosting a pre-conference planning meetup for the group members that are attending the conference.
  

Resources

• How to get the maximum impact out of effective altruism conferences - by Risto Uuk from EA Estonia. This includes tips for the conference and ideas on having a pre-conference meetup with your local group.

• Advice for getting the most out of one-on-ones - by Marisa Jurczyk, with contributions from several community members.

• Janique Behman from EA Zurich has created a Personal Goal-Setting Template to guide your planning for the conference as a whole, and a One-on-One Template to assist in the planning of important meetings. We also encourage you to schedule informal one-on-ones, which won’t need planning.

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