I really liked this post, Constance! Thank you for writing it. You are definitely a super connector, and it is great to see your wisdom and experience written out like this. 

I completely agree that we should default to double opt-in. I’ve been introduced to people without warning a few times, and it can be awkward when I don’t have time to connect or if I feel that I won't be as helpful in this case. It also makes me trust the introducer a little less. I also think that it spares the other person we are being introduced to some time.

A mini-trial idea is useful. I’ve also noticed how many people don’t follow up when you ask them to take even a small extra step. For example, if someone wants to connect with others in the animal space, my first suggestion is usually “Join Hive” (if they are not already there). I’m happy to make 1:1 introductions, but if someone isn’t willing to take 10 minutes to join a free, relevant community, it often feels like a signal they’re unlikely to follow through when I make introductions. In those cases, spending time making a personal intro doesn’t feel like a good use of energy, especially if you consider the opportunity cost. 

I liked your idea about asking people to write their own intro blurbs. I do that too, and it works as a helpful filter (a good reminder to master my blurbs!). I often don’t get the blurb back, which tells me the person probably wasn’t that committed. Your point about staking your reputation on this connection being valuable is important and something I could resonate with. 

If someone wants a warm introduction, they should ask themselves: How can I make it easier for this person to stake their reputation on me? How can I demonstrate that I've already done my homework and this connection is the right next step for me to make more impact? 

How much advance notice would be appropriate in an ordinary case?

Since many orgs are small and have other things they may be working on, conferences to go to etc. A response to a criticism is substantial work, especially for a small team. I would suggest 3 weeks. Some people can be on holiday for two weeks so three weeks covers that case too. I would also say that more effort needs to be made to have a receipt confirmation as if the email lands in spam it’s probably not going to be enough notice if it’s discovered two weeks later.

As someone who moderates a large community I agree with this! Moderation is hard and can be a thankless task, how I wish Slack had a similar system:) 

Vote power should scale with karma

I think community members with more experience of engagement can help upvote posts which are in line with the topics that the community might value more. This helps all community members identify valuable posts, as there is a lot to read. However I think that at some point your vote weight should stop growing and be capped at a certain number, but I’m unsure how this works currently. 

Kudos to you team and many thanks for sharing! I’m a big fan of organisations focusing and doing less but better. In my opinion too many people and orgs in our movement take on too much and don’t do anything as well as a result, and it’s great to see such a big, well-respected org setting an example. It’s never easy to make such decisions, especially if time and money has been invested. But it’s important that we constantly reevaluate the effectiveness and retire/hand off projects like you did in this case, very aligned with EA values :) 

This post is gold! I don’t work in AI safety - I’m in animal advocacy community building, but all the tips apply to our cause area as well - I will share with our community! Thank you for sharing and taking the time to write! 

I really like this post! Thank you for writing it. I think people will benefit from more direction of what is best to do a the conference. Personally I have benefitted from reading about how to give feedback gentler and in a non-pushy way, as I found that I increasingly give more feedback at conferences as I get more experience.

I also appreciated that you mentioned not being too tired as something that can be useful to other attendees. I have noticed that people often underestimate just how tired they can get as back to back 1:1s aren't people's normal operation mode (this includes me too!) and it can become harder to have a conversion with them, sometimes only because they look tired and you are wondering whether they are tired or just uninterested :) Each conference I make more and more effort to make sure I am well-rest or at most a little tired during meetings.

I recently write a short post about how not to burn out at conferences and I mentioned it there https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/WFRT47F5JFLJ76xud/how-to-enjoy-a-conference-without-burning-out 

Thanks a lot for sharing your progress and what you've learned. Very inspiring to read about your updates team, and congrats on finding volunteers! 

Thanks Zach, I didn't go to the conference so it's great to read this update on the high-level thinking, opportunities and direction. Inspiring!