This is a guide for running a basic Astral Codex Ten Everywhere meetup, also known as Schelling Meetups. These are a roughly twice a year coordination by Scott Alexander, the author of Astral Codex Ten, to have meetups for people who like his blog.
This guide comes in three main parts. Part one will describe the basics of how to run an ACX Everywhere meetup. Part two what makes running an ACX Everywhere meetup different than a regular meetup. Part three has some advice for running a good ACX Everywhere meetup.
Part One: How to do it
When Scott announces the call for organizers on Astral Codex Ten, there will be instructions on how to volunteer, usually by filling out a signup form. Fill that out. If you’re reading this before March 28th, 2024, the signup form is here.
The form will ask for a time and place the meetup will be held at. If you’re not sure, a local park on a weekend afternoon is generally a good pick.
Show up with something to help people find you. A paper sign on a stick that says “ACX Meetup” works, as does a silly hat.
Talk to people who show up! If you don’t know what to talk about, I suggest asking what their favourite ACX post is and discussing that.
Part Two: Why run ACX Everywhere?
Imagine a dozen people in a city, each thinking that they would go to an ACX meetup if only someone would run one, each thinking that if they ran one nobody would come. ACX Everywhere is an attempt to solve this problem by prompting lots of people to run meetups in different cities. When it works well, people have a good time and realize that there are others in their city who would go to these meetups, so they host meetups more regularly.
It turns out, running an ACX Everywhere meetup is pretty easy. Running an ACX Everywhere meetup is mostly like running a basic meetup. There are three main exceptions to this.
You have to run it when ACX Everywhere meetups are being run. This is usually around April and around August.
You have to make sure Scott knows about your meetup. He or someone assisting him will announce how to do coordinate with him on Astral Codex Ten as well as other places.
There’s more uncertainty about how many people will come. The combination of being listed on ACX and being deliberately advertised at people who only want to come to a meetup once or twice a year means most of the time you get more attendees than you normally would.
Part Three: Some good advice and bad poetry
In addition to collecting best practices for ACX meetups, I sometimes write bad poetry about best practices for ACX meetups.
Pick a place with space You just don’t know how big you’ll grow Tables and chairs, movement impairs
Host your meetup somewhere with space to mill around. The easiest and best place is probably a park or food court. There is a lot of uncertainty about how many people will come, so you want space to expand as more people arrive. If people sit down at restaurant tables they tend to only talk to their immediate neighbors, and it’s better for them to shift freely talking to different people. The main thing people do at these meetups is talk, so a bar or anywhere with loud background noise isn’t ideal.
Wear a goofy hat and be recognized like that A big ACX sign would also be fine Put signs on the doors if you’re indoors
Probably the most common complaint I hear about is that people had trouble finding the meetup.
A signup sheet can’t be beat Pen and paper works, but handwriting has . . . quirks I’d like QR code and google form to be the norm
Bring name tags and a signup sheet. Name tags are a nice way to learn names, and are also a good indication that someone is here for the meetup and not just randomly standing close to the group. For this purpose, adhesive sticker name tags and a few sharpies are fine. Signup sheets are what lets you let people know about future meetups in your city. For this purpose, the best signup sheet is a QR code to a google form that asks for their email.
A welcomeness note would get my vote No need to be formal, or to be normal If join they could, say if kids would be good
Many ACX Everywhere meetups include a sentence like “Please feel free to come even if you feel awkward about it, even if you’re not ‘the typical ACX reader’, even if you’re worried people won’t like you, etc.” Many attendees have said the only reason they came was because of that sentence. Presumably this is because they felt awkward about it, weren’t a typical reader, or were worried people wouldn’t like them. I advise including this sentence. Feel free to copy and paste it.
In addition, think about whether or not children are welcome at your meetup and whether the space will work for them. If they are, a sentence saying “Kids welcome!” is useful. Don’t say it if it’s not true, and put a bit of thought into whether the space will likely work for them. For instance, pubs probably won’t work, while parks probably will.
Part Four: Thank you
If you run an ACX Everywhere meetup, thank you.
Some meetups will have nobody show up, and we learn something for next year. Some will have a handful of attendees. Some will number in the three digits. All of them required someone to put their hand up and offer to organize one. I appreciate it, and based on the survey results from previous years attendees appreciate it as well.
Running a Basic ACX Everywhere Meetup
This is a guide for running a basic Astral Codex Ten Everywhere meetup, also known as Schelling Meetups. These are a roughly twice a year coordination by Scott Alexander, the author of Astral Codex Ten, to have meetups for people who like his blog.
This guide comes in three main parts. Part one will describe the basics of how to run an ACX Everywhere meetup. Part two what makes running an ACX Everywhere meetup different than a regular meetup. Part three has some advice for running a good ACX Everywhere meetup.
Part One: How to do it
When Scott announces the call for organizers on Astral Codex Ten, there will be instructions on how to volunteer, usually by filling out a signup form. Fill that out. If you’re reading this before March 28th, 2024, the signup form is here.
The form will ask for a time and place the meetup will be held at. If you’re not sure, a local park on a weekend afternoon is generally a good pick.
Show up with something to help people find you. A paper sign on a stick that says “ACX Meetup” works, as does a silly hat.
Talk to people who show up! If you don’t know what to talk about, I suggest asking what their favourite ACX post is and discussing that.
Part Two: Why run ACX Everywhere?
Imagine a dozen people in a city, each thinking that they would go to an ACX meetup if only someone would run one, each thinking that if they ran one nobody would come. ACX Everywhere is an attempt to solve this problem by prompting lots of people to run meetups in different cities. When it works well, people have a good time and realize that there are others in their city who would go to these meetups, so they host meetups more regularly.
It turns out, running an ACX Everywhere meetup is pretty easy. Running an ACX Everywhere meetup is mostly like running a basic meetup. There are three main exceptions to this.
You have to run it when ACX Everywhere meetups are being run. This is usually around April and around August.
You have to make sure Scott knows about your meetup. He or someone assisting him will announce how to do coordinate with him on Astral Codex Ten as well as other places.
There’s more uncertainty about how many people will come. The combination of being listed on ACX and being deliberately advertised at people who only want to come to a meetup once or twice a year means most of the time you get more attendees than you normally would.
Part Three: Some good advice and bad poetry
In addition to collecting best practices for ACX meetups, I sometimes write bad poetry about best practices for ACX meetups.
Host your meetup somewhere with space to mill around. The easiest and best place is probably a park or food court. There is a lot of uncertainty about how many people will come, so you want space to expand as more people arrive. If people sit down at restaurant tables they tend to only talk to their immediate neighbors, and it’s better for them to shift freely talking to different people. The main thing people do at these meetups is talk, so a bar or anywhere with loud background noise isn’t ideal.
Probably the most common complaint I hear about is that people had trouble finding the meetup.
Bring name tags and a signup sheet. Name tags are a nice way to learn names, and are also a good indication that someone is here for the meetup and not just randomly standing close to the group. For this purpose, adhesive sticker name tags and a few sharpies are fine. Signup sheets are what lets you let people know about future meetups in your city. For this purpose, the best signup sheet is a QR code to a google form that asks for their email.
Many ACX Everywhere meetups include a sentence like “Please feel free to come even if you feel awkward about it, even if you’re not ‘the typical ACX reader’, even if you’re worried people won’t like you, etc.” Many attendees have said the only reason they came was because of that sentence. Presumably this is because they felt awkward about it, weren’t a typical reader, or were worried people wouldn’t like them. I advise including this sentence. Feel free to copy and paste it.
In addition, think about whether or not children are welcome at your meetup and whether the space will work for them. If they are, a sentence saying “Kids welcome!” is useful. Don’t say it if it’s not true, and put a bit of thought into whether the space will likely work for them. For instance, pubs probably won’t work, while parks probably will.
Part Four: Thank you
If you run an ACX Everywhere meetup, thank you.
Some meetups will have nobody show up, and we learn something for next year. Some will have a handful of attendees. Some will number in the three digits. All of them required someone to put their hand up and offer to organize one. I appreciate it, and based on the survey results from previous years attendees appreciate it as well.