The year 2020 has taken much of ordinary life from us, but if there’s one thing we won’t surrender without a fight, it’s the goddamn, raging, off the rails, New Year’s Eve Party we deserve. In collaboration with Effective Altruism Anywhere, LessWrong is hosting a 16-hour, globe-spanning (Europe & Americas) party in our Walled Garden. Join us to toast the year to come, roast the year that was, and enjoy the sweet company of others we won’t be denied. EUROPE PHASE: 9PM-4AM CET / 3PM-10PM EST****AMERICAS PHASE: 4AM-12PM CEST / 10PM-6AM EST This shindig got:
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The massive LW GatherTown world, "The Walled Garden". All the locations you know and love (Planetarium, West Falls, Moloch Temple, Hell,...), plus several new custom maps just for the party.
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Countdowns for the British Time, Central European Time, and US East and West Coasts.
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"Unconference-style" Calendar of activities across the realm (feel free to add your own): take your pick of dancing, quiet reflection, poker, Set, toasts and roasts, Philosophers vs GPT3, social deception games, and of course conversation that money can’t buy – we’ll share the spreadsheet shortly.
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BYOB. We can’t supply your drinks or feed, but to make life easy we’ll send you a shopping list.
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DJ Bias will keep the dance floor pumpin’ all night. Also, bring your friends! (so long as they’re cool, you know)LINK TO ENTER THE GARDENRSVP to the FB EVENT -- The Ballroom is being prepared.
If I don’t use Facebook, what do I need to subscribe to get updates? By updates I mean things like "Calendar of activities… we’ll share the spreadsheet shortly". Can you post all updates in the comments of this post? In that case I’ll subscribe to new comments.
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That is a very reasonable question/request! Yes, I commit to posting updates on this post too.(The spreadsheet/calendar is not yet published, but I’ll put it here too.)
Heaven is real. We built it yesterday. Exclusively for the pure of heart
We’ve now designated many activities to many different regions of the Walled Garden. If you’re interested in hosting or attending an activity, please comment. The organizers can help you set it up and put it on the Official Party Schedule. The following are scheduling throughout the party, but it seems great to have more specific things scheduled for like-interested people to join. Ballroom: dancing, toasts & roasts, countdownViolet Study: meet new peopleMoloch Maze: games, e.g., poker, Among UsGreat Library (1st floor): deep philosophical conversationsOrrery: make and discuss predictions for 2021Map Room: reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re goingHell: complain about 2020Heaven:....etc!
The Ultra Party Radio (TM) has been constructed (bottom right of attached image). We’ll be streaming tunes to the entire Garden from our own server, but the music will be optimized for the ballroom dancefloor. What music would you like to hear? Please comment with:
Genres
Specific song requests
Playlists you might like us to use or borrow from
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Hymn to breaking strain or Hope Eyrie.
Specific songs: The Plague and This Year, because topical. Other than that, if we’re dancing, ask Kurt for his Spotify because he has excellent taste in electronic music :D
Upvote suggestions from others if you like them too.
Do you NEED song suggestions? Or are very good song suggestions merely a nice bonus?
Wham! - Last Christmas
We’ve now got a rough map of the venue:
Thank you, organizers! Amazing virtual space and event! I hope that something similar can be done often.
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Thank you very much to the organizers and everyone that was present! ❤️ I had a nice time and I loved the online platform/system I would not have been able to meet some of the people I met if it weren’t for the online event
This room will be for small group discussion (the best kind!). Each cluster of chairs is magically (ahem, technologically) sound isolated. The Violet Study: Small Group ConversationAnd there’s another room specifically for 1-1 conversations (also sound isolation/privacy for each pair). The Chrono Room: Let’s have a conversation at midnight.
Big party, small party – which to choose? Well, you don’t have to. We’re now offering private rooms for meetup groups. Enjoy the party’s crowds but retreat to your own suite within the luxurious Vampire Snow Lodge when you want to hang out with just your coterie. If you’re interested, DM me or comment here. Please say the name of your group and how many people you expect to attend from your group.
Whoever put together this platform did a great job simulating the in-person social interaction experience! I can tell because I hate it for all the same reasons.(To be clear, this isn’t at all meant as a complaint. A platform meant to take the place of an in-person party probably shouldn’t be optimized to appeal to a person who metaphorically runs screaming from parties unless her partner is there to cling to the whole night, and kinda hates it even then.)
Collaborative calendar/schedule for the event is now live! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xUToQ-Wu6w-Uaow7q8Bo5s61beWWRJhIh9P-DNAvx4Q/edit?usp=sharingPlease add any events or activities you’d like to run. Comment here or in the doc if you have questions, e.g., about good places to host your session.
Today’s update: quite possibly we will have an epic scavenger hunt of escalating difficulty. A little late, but schedule will be publicly posted in the next day or two. Here fishy, fishy.