EA NYC Annual Picnic 2024 Logistics

This page is for those who have already had their applications approved to attend the EA NYC Annual Picnic. If you have not yet done so, you may apply here as long as applications are still open. If you have any further questions, please email us at events@effectivealtruism.nyc.

Venue

The event will be held at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery at 131 E 10th St, New York, NY 10003.

The entrance will be through a the gate on 10th Street - just a few steps to the left if you are facing the main church entrance. We will post signs to help you find the entrance/ registration table, where you can check-in and get your lanyard and name tag.

The event will be held entirely outdoors, with the exception of bathrooms, which are inside. The event will be in a heavily shaded area, but we still encourage you to wear sunscreen and dress for July.

The main event space will be in the private garden associated with the historic building. As the garden is home to several historic burial vaults (dating back to the 18th century!), attendees may see some headstones onsite during the event. We ask that all guests respect the space during the Annual Picnic.

There will be three restrooms available during the event:

  • Two bathrooms on the second floor (accessed through the building)

  • One handicap-accessible bathroom on the first floor (near the front entrance of the church from 10th St. and 2nd Ave)

Agenda

You can find the most up-to-date agenda for the day here (or in the screenshot to the left).

There will be several different discussions and activities, but everything is entirely optional and there will be room to mingle outside the activities.

We’ve designed the event so it can better accommodate different needs; there will be a few discussion spaces that we encourage you to float between depending on your goals/interest:

  • Discussion areas

    • Area 3 (Self-Care; Global Health & Wellbeing; Animal Advocacy; Effective Giving; Careers; Finance Professionals; Data & Tech Professionals)

    • Area 2 (Climate; AI Risks; S-Risks; Biosecurity; Law, Policy, and Governance; Founders, Leaders, and Entrepreneurs; Consultants; Creatives & Communicators)

    • Area 1 (Focused, participant-driven discussion [to be determined!]; Academics & Researchers)

  • Casual networking area

    • Space for socializing, 1-on-1’s, and DIY meetups

  • Announcement areas

    • Additional space for socializing outside of announcement times

  • Chill area

    • Quiet space for resting, being mindful, and/or playing relaxing board games

Most of the discussions will rely heavily on direction from the participants. There will also be a portion of the day entirely devoted to attendee ideas with our round of 60-second lightning pitches, where participants are invited to share a lesson, idea, or announcement in one minute or less.

The event will run from 11 am to 8 pm on Saturday July 20th. We recommend attending for as much of the day as you can, but ticket-holders are welcome to step in or out of the event at any point throughout the day, of course!

Map

You can find the rough layout of the event at the image to the right or through this online design.

Each of the colored areas correspond with an area on our agenda.

Slack

We will be using the EA NYC Slack Workspace to connect with each other throughout the event. If you're new to using Slack, you can check out their quick-start guide for new users here.

For those who are not already on our Slack Workspace, we recommend one of two options:

  1. All attendees are welcome to join the EA NYC Slack Workspace directly here

  2. Alternatively, we recognize that there are many Slack Workspaces; if you are only visiting for the picnic and simply want to join the picnic-specific channels, you may connect from other workspaces via Slack Connect. All attendees will receive a Slack Connect invitation via email leading into the picnic. If you have any issues joining through this option, please email events@effectivealtruism.nyc

Once you’re on the EA NYC Slack, we suggest you join the #picnic-24-intros-and-discussion channel so you can make the most of the event. We also invite you to update your profile (first & last name and profile photo!) and introduce yourself so people can get to know you better!

There are also a number of other channels (closely tied to our local cause area and professional subgroups) that may be of interest to you generally. You can check out some recommendations below and join the ones that seem most relevant to you:

Cause areas: #ai-safety, #animal-welfare, #biosecurity, #effective-environmentalism, #global_poverty, #nuclear-security

Professions: #academia-and-research, #finance, #law, #media-and-journalism, #students, #tech-careers, and #policy-and-government


Getting involved with EA NYC

The NYC Effective Altruism Community is one of the most active EA groups in the world. The Annual Picnic (in addition to our Slack) will be a great place to meet many others in the community, but if you’d like to get more involved, we also recommend:

While our team loves chatting with all the people of Effective Altruism NYC - newcomers and long-timers alike - we will be especially constrained around and during the picnic, unfortunately. Please excuse us if we’re not very responsive and/or attentive if you contact us in the weeks before/after the event or if you chat with us on the day of the picnic itself. We look forward to giving our full attention on calls or at smaller events once we successfully conclude the picnic. We hope to chat with you then!

By the way, we’re also hiring an Executive Director - please let us know if you or someone you know might be a good fit for the role, or simply apply on our website!

What to bring

Required
Please bring your digital ticket (email from effectivealtruismnyc@buytickets.at) so that we can confirm your registration. Alternatively, you may bring your ID, so that we can verify your identity.

Optional
You won't need much else for the event, but the following might be helpful:

  1. Sun protection

  2. Heavy-duty picnic blankets/cushions to sit on (we will have some, as well as chairs)

  3. Water and refillable water bottles (though we will have water and cups available)

  4. Notebook and pen

  5. Board games / puzzles (though perhaps not any you're super attached to!) for our games table

  6. A mask (ie. if you would like while indoors for bathrooms)

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at events@effectivealtruism.nyc.

We’re looking forward to seeing you there!