On boyfriends/girlfriends coming to LW meetups- If you already have a strong base of members, this can be the MOST effective way of getting new people. It’s like a company hiring via networking, rather than trying to pull a resume. So I highly recommend AGAINST discounting people immediately because they are “just” someone’s boy/girlfriend.
What you already know about this person: They are romantically involved with someone who is already a member (so they probably like analytical types, if they aren’t one themselves). That person thinks they would enjoy it enough to invite them.
Many of our most highly valued members, came into the community via a significant other. Examples:
I was introduced to rationality by someone I was dating at the time. -We have many members who first came as someone’s SO. For example, one is the natural leader type that makes every meetup that she attends significantly better, by her presence. She is only even in the state because she is visiting her boyfriend, but that doesn’t make her contributions any less valuable. -A person who does a lot of the work for organizing Cincinnati meetups, and has contributed highly to all of their meetups (I haven’t been to all their meetups, but I’m extrapolating based on what I know of her contributions to back when all of Ohio was in one meetup), came to our very first meetup as a LWers wife. -Many of our members join as “couples”, and it’s pretty evenly split on whether it is the male or female of the couple who is the higher contributer.
Of course, sometimes it will turn out that they are just being dragged along, but if you want to grow your group and/or its diversity you should not treat them as if that were the case immediately. Instead, welcome them to the group like you would any other member, and wait to see where they land.
If it turns out that they are new to rationality ideas, recognize that this doesn’t mean that they are stupid or uninterested, but DOES mean that they might not understand terms or concepts that are specific to the community (“What’s this one-boxing everyone’s talking about?”). A quick explanation of the topic being discussed not only allows them to participate, but is often appreciated by other group members as a refresher on the idea.
On boyfriends/girlfriends coming to LW meetups- If you already have a strong base of members, this can be the MOST effective way of getting new people. It’s like a company hiring via networking, rather than trying to pull a resume. So I highly recommend AGAINST discounting people immediately because they are “just” someone’s boy/girlfriend.
What you already know about this person: They are romantically involved with someone who is already a member (so they probably like analytical types, if they aren’t one themselves). That person thinks they would enjoy it enough to invite them.
Many of our most highly valued members, came into the community via a significant other. Examples:
I was introduced to rationality by someone I was dating at the time.
-We have many members who first came as someone’s SO. For example, one is the natural leader type that makes every meetup that she attends significantly better, by her presence. She is only even in the state because she is visiting her boyfriend, but that doesn’t make her contributions any less valuable.
-A person who does a lot of the work for organizing Cincinnati meetups, and has contributed highly to all of their meetups (I haven’t been to all their meetups, but I’m extrapolating based on what I know of her contributions to back when all of Ohio was in one meetup), came to our very first meetup as a LWers wife.
-Many of our members join as “couples”, and it’s pretty evenly split on whether it is the male or female of the couple who is the higher contributer.
Of course, sometimes it will turn out that they are just being dragged along, but if you want to grow your group and/or its diversity you should not treat them as if that were the case immediately. Instead, welcome them to the group like you would any other member, and wait to see where they land.
If it turns out that they are new to rationality ideas, recognize that this doesn’t mean that they are stupid or uninterested, but DOES mean that they might not understand terms or concepts that are specific to the community (“What’s this one-boxing everyone’s talking about?”). A quick explanation of the topic being discussed not only allows them to participate, but is often appreciated by other group members as a refresher on the idea.