Readme

This is a guide to help you run great events. Since much of this guide discusses things you can do that require prep, consider skimming the entirety of this guide to understand what it contains before you read any of it in-depth. For additional tips on meetups, I’d recommend checking out Screwtape’s sequence on LessWrong.

Much of this document was adapted from this Guide for great event logistics.

Table of Contents

Planning the event

Format & content

Consider the reason you’re running the event, then work backward to determine the format & content.

• Why are you running the event?
• Who’s your intended audience?
• What do you want to have gotten out of the event? What do you want your audience to have gotten out of the event?
• etc

Examples: if the purpose of your event is to help club members bond, a calibration game social might be useful; if the purpose is to help club members practice their political forecasting skills, a practice session on that topic might be more appropriate; if the goal is to do broader outreach to new members, consider running a Forecasting 101 Workshop.

For loads of ideas on high-quality events you can run, see .

Scheduling

• Picking a date & time

  • Some tips on picking good dates & times:

• Start & end time

  Even for casual events, define an explicit start time when people should plan to arrive, and an explicit end time to signal when people can start leaving.

  In addition to setting out a formal start & end time, it’s great to have people informally hang out before and especially after the event. It works wonders to put out food/beverages just as the event is ending, to encourage people to stick around and chat without anyone feeling obligated to stay.

  Personal note from Saul: some of the best & most life-changing conversations I’ve ever had happened right after club meetups, in casual conversations with other members. Spurring serendipitous moments like those can be one of the most impactful things that you do as a club organizer.

Place/venue

Finding a suitable physical spot can be a challenge, but it’s also one of the most important factors in executing a high-quality event, alongside picking a good time and having good content.

Here are some concrete tips:

• Once again, figure this out well in advance. You can procrastinate on a lot most things without too much harm, but finding a good spot to host your event the night before can be really risky. Try to avoid this wherever possible.