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Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Apply for CEA event support, published by OllieBase on February 1, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. We, CEA, want to support more in-person conferences and events to help connect members of the EA community and build stronger local and professional networks. As well as more EA Global conferences, which are organised by the CEA events team, we want to provide support to members of the EA community to run conferences and events themselves (community events). Summary If you want CEA’s support to run a conference or event, please apply here by 4 March 2022. You’ll be asked to provide some details about yourself and your event, along with a brief (100 - 500 words) case for why we should support your event. This form is also the one you should use to apply to host an EAGx conference, too. If we approve your application, we will provide: Financial support - we will cover the cost of your event. You and other core organisers will also be paid for your work on the event at standard CEA contractor rates (the default is $38 / hour); Guidance on how to run the event effectively; Assistance in identifying speakers and co-organisers; Free access to event management resources (e.g. Swapcard and Zoho). You can also apply to attend an events retreat We are also planning an events retreat in March (likely in the US) to connect people interested in event organising. You can express interest in attending this retreat using the same application form. If you are applying for both events support and the events retreat, apply as soon as you can to give yourself time to prepare for the events retreat if you are accepted. Why run an event? Events often seem to have a huge impact by getting people more involved in effective altruism. Open Philanthropy’s 2020 survey of people involved in longtermist priority work (a significant fraction of work in the EA community) found that about half of the impact that CEA had on respondents was via EAG and EAGx conferences. More anecdotally, we regularly encounter community members who cite conferences as playing a key part in their EA journey. Organisations associated with the EA community report that EA conferences are an excellent place to hire additional staff and launch new projects. Events specifically for people looking for roles in a certain career path also have a good track record. For example, over half of attendees at CEA’s 2018 operations forum went on to take operations roles at EA-aligned organisations. In several cases, the organisation and/or attendee said this was because of the event, and we think this was the likely cause in many other cases too. EA-themed conferences are in high demand - EAGxPrague received over 1,000 applications for an event that was originally planned to host 300 people. Who should run an event? You don’t need any specific experience to run an event, although organising previous events or your local EA group would make it easier. If you have an idea for an event or are from a community that’s underserved by our existing conference schedule, you could make something really valuable happen. Organising an event is an opportunity for you to learn and demonstrate valuable career skills: Event organisers can develop skills in project management, people management, hiring, operations and communications. These skills are valued at a wide range of EA organisations and are the kind of broad, generalist skills that could help you stand out in application processes for jobs outside the community (e.g. consulting, start-ups, communications, operational roles, etc.). Organising an event can also help you build your professional network - you’ll need to work closely with us (we often recommend people for roles based on their work running an event), other community builders and any speakers you invite to your event. We think or...