Want to have a CFAR instructor visit your LW group?

17 Post author: AnnaSalamon 20 April 2013 07:04AM

Cat, who has volunteered extensively at CFAR (and taught at CFAR), will be visiting many cities in Europe over the coming months.

She is awesome.  

Also, the list of cities that she is visiting will probably be determined in the next few days.

If you'd like to have her visit your LW meetup group, share some of our classes with your meetup, and generally bring connections back and forth... comment below, or PM her (or me)!  I suspect this can be a lot of fun, and useful as well.  Offers of couch space and similar are also appreciated.

For now this is just for Europe, probably, but no harm in touching base from other cities as well; it's possible she'll visit elsewhere later.

Comments (31)

Comment author: CatM 20 April 2013 03:42:36PM 18 points [-]

Hello :) I'll be arriving in London next week! Looking forward to meeting and learning from the communities I encounter. Feel free to contact me for meet ups, the possibility of free CfAR classes or even just to share a meal or drink. I'm fleshing out my itinerary during the next few days so please do email me and let me know if you'd like to connect or if there's some LW (or other) to attend.

So far, I intend to be in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland over the next 3 weeks.

Email: Cat@appliedrationality.org

Comment author: henryaj 28 April 2014 03:53:03PM 0 points [-]

Cat, are you (or another instructor) planning any more trips to Europe? I'm sad to have missed out on your previous class!

Comment author: ciphergoth 20 April 2013 12:21:26PM 10 points [-]

Cat is indeed awesome, and lovely! She'd be welcome to crash at ours for a couple of days - we're in London. I'm sure we can bend the meetup schedule around her visiting dates.

Comment author: CatM 21 April 2013 01:46:44AM 0 points [-]

Thanks :) So looking forward to seeing you and meeting the London LWers!

Comment author: Tenoke 22 April 2013 10:50:58AM 7 points [-]

Can we get a link to her writings/profiles or a list of achievements? I have literally zero idea who she is, google returns zilch and the post seems to be made under the assumption that her identity is common knowledge. Not being rude or anything, it is just that a few jokes and short descriptions written under the influence of the halo effect can't give me a very good image of who someone is.

Comment author: AnnaSalamon 22 April 2013 04:34:50PM 3 points [-]

Oh, sorry. She's just a person who has been doing a huge amount of volunteering with CFAR, runs some social-skills-related units for us (with a rationality foundation), has good social skills and connect-people skills, and has a keen interest in rationality and in creating community.

I'd say to meet her if you're interested in meeting "a CFAR representative, who's been talking to some other LW groups and who may be able to bring good ideas between your and other meet-up groups, or to show you some exercises and talk". Though I realize this isn't very detailed.

Comment author: Tenoke 22 April 2013 05:15:08PM 0 points [-]

Thanks, seems like she might be present at our meetup this week so I will try to make it and see what all the fuss is about.

Comment author: maia 22 April 2013 04:03:32PM 0 points [-]

I'm guessing the post is targeted mostly towards people who met her at minicamp.

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 20 April 2013 07:26:57PM *  7 points [-]

Cat, we would like you to come to a meetup in Vienna, on May 18th!

Also, if you could also visit Bratislava, we can choose the day of Bratislava meetup to be convenient for you. (Bratislava is much lower priority than Vienna, because the community here is very small, but if you come to this part of the planet, Bratislava is one hour by bus from Vienna.)

We can provide you a couch, too. (We = Viliam and Barbara from July Rationality Minicamp.)

Comment author: CatM 21 April 2013 01:51:12AM 3 points [-]

I'd love to visit the May 18th meet up in Vienna (I noticed you're speaking at it, I'm looking forward to that!) My plans post May 15 are still a little uncertain, but as long as I'm in Europe during that time you can expect me to come visit :)

Comment author: scaphandre 20 April 2013 11:31:20AM 7 points [-]

+1 for 'Cat is awesome'.

I was just speaking to her on Facebook. Couch space already being prepared in Edinburgh, UK!

Comment author: CatM 21 April 2013 01:47:27AM 1 point [-]

:) Can't wait to visit!

Comment author: [deleted] 21 April 2013 02:18:33AM 6 points [-]

Who is this Cat person and why is everyone saying she's awesome?

Comment author: Giles 22 April 2013 05:02:46PM 6 points [-]

She teaches social skills to nerds at CFAR workshops. She has an incredibly positive view of humanity and of what people are capable of, and meeting her massively increased the size of my reference class for what a rational person is like.

Comment author: [deleted] 21 April 2013 09:05:48PM 1 point [-]

She attended the May 2012 minicamp, and I infer that she got tangled up in CFAR somehow after that.

She's pretty cool, which is why people are saying that.

Comment author: diegocaleiro 22 April 2013 03:00:11AM 0 points [-]

I've been hearing the same things and wondering the same question.

Comment author: Kawoomba 20 April 2013 09:11:06AM 6 points [-]

Can she publish/link to her itenerary once it's decided upon? That way the lurkers can come out of the woodwork and offer couches, cruises and companionship.

Comment author: CatM 21 April 2013 01:51:39AM 1 point [-]

I'll happily publish my itinerary.

Comment author: Yuu 20 April 2013 07:10:09AM 6 points [-]

Can she visit Moscow? We have a lot to discuss with CFAR representative.

Comment author: CatM 21 April 2013 01:49:34AM 1 point [-]

I absolutely can visit Moscow! I'm waiting to receive more info on my itinerary but I expect I'll be able to make it out to Moscow sometime during the last week of May/first week of June.

Comment author: Robert_Unwin 21 April 2013 09:59:23PM 5 points [-]

if from the US, you'll need a visa to visit moscow and i don't think you can obtain this on arrival in russia.

Comment author: Yuu 22 April 2013 06:04:45AM 3 points [-]

That would be great if you come! Here is information regarding Russian visas. You can easily get visa invitation from tourist company and I can provide with all information about Russia.

Comment author: Kaj_Sotala 22 April 2013 06:46:12AM 4 points [-]

We haven't had a meetup in Helsinki in while, but attendance has generally been good when we've had ones, especially with special guest stars present. So I'm sure that a bunch of folks would show up if Cat were to stop by, and I'd personally love to try some of CFAR's exercises.

I can also offer a place to sleep.

Comment author: CatM 30 April 2013 03:38:52PM 3 points [-]

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and endorsements! I'm not certain I can live up to the awesomeness people have painted me with but I'll do my best to make you all proud :)

The past few weeks have been a mad dash to get plans settled and travel arrangements set. I'll do my best to respond to all the kind invitations (I'm sorry if I've had delayed responses, I'm wading through emails as you read this). My itinerary is set for the first few weeks of my trip. My plans after May 15 are uncertain as we haven't decided if I'll be returning to San Francisco to teach at a CFAR rationality weekend seminar or if I'll be continuing on my Europe visits. I will post my plans as soon as they're settled.

My itinerary today-May 15 are as follows: Edinburgh: April 30-May 1 Oxford: May 1-May 3 Berlin May 3-May 4 Switzerland (St. Gallen and Bern) May 5 -May 7 Sweden (Gothenburg and Stockholm) May 8-May 11 London May 11- May13 Oxford May 13- May15

~possibly returning to San Francisco~ ...if not

Austria (Vienna and Bratislava) May 17-May 21

After Austria I'm working out my schedule. Places that I'm likely to visit if my trip is extended are: Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg) Brussels Frankfurt Amsterdam Helsinki Copenhagen Riga Paris Madrid Dublin Cambridge Tel Aviv (not Europe, I know, but closer to Europe than America) If I haven't listed your place and you'd like me to come, please email me with preferred dates and I'll add you to the scheduling labyrinth! If I have listed your place and you'd like to meet, please email me with preferred dates, too.

I'm available for (and very interested in) meeting for meals, coffee or any other social-type interaction (1 on 1 or groups, all welcome). If you'd like to get together please email me and I'll slot you in for a visit. The rumours of my friendliness are true. I love meeting and getting to know people and it's hard for me to think of many people I don't like/get along with.

email: Cat@appliedrationality.org

Comment author: Cyan 21 April 2013 02:14:11AM *  8 points [-]

Facts about Cat:

  • Cat cuts through problems like a laser through butter. Be careful how you aim this woman.
  • Cat has overcome the need for sleep.
  • If Cat is holding a nerf gun, do not taunt her. Cat will shoot a bitch.
Comment author: philh 21 April 2013 09:55:58PM 0 points [-]

Will I need my own nerf gun for self defense?

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 22 April 2013 06:55:35AM 5 points [-]

Time point T0: Cat is holding a nerf gun, you are holding a nerf gun.

Time point T1: Cat is holding two nerf guns.

That is a fact.

Comment author: DaFranker 22 April 2013 02:20:25PM 1 point [-]

dT = T1-T0

Comment author: Axel 22 April 2013 06:55:33PM 2 points [-]

Could you visit Brussels? We'd love to meet you.

Comment author: drethelin 20 April 2013 05:26:37PM 2 points [-]

Cat is the best