LWCW 2024 Save The Date

tl;dr: This year’s LWCW happens 13-16th September 2024. Applications open April/May. We’re expanding to 250 attendees and looking for people interested in assisting our Orga Team.

The main event info is here:

https://www.lesswrong.com/events/tBYRFJNgvKWLeE9ih/less-wrong-community-weekend-2024

And fragments from that post:

Friday 13th September- Monday 16th September 2024 is the 11th annual LessWrong Community Weekend (LWCW) in Berlin. This is world’s largest rationalist social gathering which brings together 250 aspiring rationalists from across Europe and beyond for four days of socialising, fun and intellectual exploration.

Here is an announcement post from last year, so you can develop a sense of what the event is like if you’ve never been. For those who want to extend their stay in Berlin, EAGx is happening the same weekend and next weekend will be the EA Summer Camp.

Details

When: Friday 13th September - Monday 16h September 2024. The event begins with an opening ceremony on Friday afternoon. People are free to leave on Sunday evening, but some activities continue until Monday

Prices: All your money goes into paying for the venue, food, equipment and other expenses directly associated with the event. The exact prices will be announced when the applications open, for now we can estimate between 150€ and 250€. Owing to our generous donors, we can provide some financial aid for those who won’t be able to afford the price.

Contact: If you have any questions post them in the comments below or email lwcw.europe[at]gmail.com

Help Us Spread The Word

LWCW is volunteer organised with no marketing budget so we rely on word of mouth to get the message out. If you’re able to, please consider sharing this post on social media or sending the link to all your friends who might enjoy attending.

4. asking "would you answer my questions" and only with a confirmation, later, telling those questions wastes time and mental energy of the person being asked (i.e. they need to spend time considering the first question, replying to it and only then receive the real communication)

Reminds me of a blog post I read a long time ago where a writer told a story how a high school student requested a sort of interview for a class project. The student essentially wrote the whole interview, including the writer's answers and said "if you want to take time to write your own answers I will be grateful, but in case that would take too much of your time, here is what I gathered from your writing, if you think something needs to be corrected, please tell me". The writer was delighted especially because it was so easy for her to say "yes" to the student

Update, since we're getting closer to the event and the epidemiological situation is clearer:
We expect of everyone to arrive with the best vaccination protection available to them. It is mandatory to test yourself within 24h of your arrival and to stay home when tested positive. In such a case we hope to be able to offer you a refund, depending on our financial situation. Right now we are in the process of evaluating further measures to reduce the risk for everyone, it may include e.g. daily testing, setting up more outdoor spaces, recommending to wear masks etc. It is a fine balance between diminishing the risks and making the event enjoyable

On Friday we begin with an optional welcome lunch at noon. About 3-4pm we give keys to the rooms and the official beginning is usually about 5pm. Any lectures/workshops/etc. begin in earnest only after dinner on Friday, so it's fairly easy to join any time during the day

The official wrap up happens on Sunday afternoon but events happen until Sunday night. On Monday there might be a morning run or workout scheduled, but no more plans at the hostel. Usually on Monday afternoon, evening and even on Tuesday there are some afterparty-type events locally, e.g. rock climbing, meeting in a park with alcohol drinking and such

Question from off-site: the meetup is at a hostel, does this mean that we do not need to book a hotel?

Answer: yes. Accommodation and provisions are all provided. The food at the hostel is decent and by default we ordered vegan for everyone. They offer some allergen-free options (though as an aunt to a celiac kid, I wouldn't trust their gluten-free option), closer to the event we'll ask you to fill some more exact information and contact the hostel about the dietary needs. Apart from the regular meals, there are also plenty of snacks clearly labelled for vegan or vegetarian and nobody goes hungry. We rent bedlinens and towels for everyone, so also no need to bring your own

Question from the announcement post: Is there going to be any covid-related precaution? I assume it would be mentioned if so, but I believe an explicit statement is better anyway

Answer: We take the question of Covid safety seriously
Currently Covid is on the wane, most people have been vaccinated or already infected, the event is to be held at the end of the summer, and Covid exhibits a strong seasonal pattern in Europe. While right now we can't declare anything with certainty and it looks like we won't need many precautions, we will monitor the situation closely and decide on the details as we get closer to the event
In any case, such an event will involve taking more risk than some people are comfortable with, and I expect some people not to attend because they want to be careful. It's quite likely that it can lead to a few Covid cases among participants, which is may or may not be an acceptable risk to take depending on your personal philosophy

We take the question of Covid safety seriously.

Currently Covid is on the wane, most people have been vaccinated or already infected, the event is to be held at the end of the summer, and Covid exhibits a strong seasonal pattern in Europe. While right now we can't declare anything with certainty and it looks like we won't need many precautions, we will monitor the situation closely and decide on the details as we get closer to the event.

In any case, such an event will involve taking more risk than some people are comfortable with, and I expect some people not to attend because they want to be careful. It's quite likely that it can lead to a few Covid cases among participants, which is may or may not be an acceptable risk to take depending on your personal philosophy.

No, it won't be easier. Because of the hostel's policies we cannot offer attendance without accommodation. A lot of our events last well into the night, so it could also be difficult for you to go back home or you would miss some interesting talks or workshops. Just for sake of clarity: if for personal reasons you prefer to spend the night someplace else, we won't force you to stay. The best the hostel (and we) can offer, are a few single person rooms, and even those come without AC and we understand that it still may not be enough for a decent night's sleep
If you already know you might only be able to spend one of the days with us, please note that in your application, it may be important for our decision processes

Question from off-site: will there be any online events or talks?

Answer: no. This event is intended to be in-person and a lot of the value people get from it is derived from personal contact. For the same reason we also opted against recording of the sessions for later publication

Question from off-site: what methods for financing are available
only bank transfer or stuff like cash/crypto/whatever

Answer: We only support SEPA by default. Easiest alternative is asking a friend to issue the transaction for you. If necessary we can work out an alternative. Send an email to lwcw.europe@gmail.com and we’ll find a way.
Accepting crypto etc would make the bookkeeping quite difficult. Bookkeeping is boring and arduous enough without having an additional PayPal account or crypto wallet, and we're all doing this stuff in our free time, so we have decided against offering more other official methods so far.