Call for beta-testers for the EA Pen Pals Project!

By Vaidehi Agarwalla 🔸, DirectedEvolution @ 2019-07-26T19:02 (+36)

Hi everyone! Benjamin Skubi and I are excited to announce a beta-test for an EA Pen Pal service. Users will be randomly matched, given each others’ contact information, and provided with a discussion prompt. You can then schedule a video call or exchange emails and get to know each other. (For those who remember it, this is EA Chats 2.0)

We are hoping this project could especially benefit EAs without local community, like those living in smaller countries/cities or rural areas meet EAs and get connected to the community. This is aimed to be a peer-to-peer connections but we hope EAs from all different backgrounds and experience levels within EA will participate.

If you are interested in participating, please sign up here.

The test round itself will last for 4 weeks, and during that time you can be matched with as many people as you wish (instructions will be given on how to do so). We will be running it manually for this period, and will aim to match people as soon as they sign up. We will be collecting feedback from users after their first match, and at the end of the four weeks. For more information, please see our full project proposal. We welcome feedback!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us (Benjamin and Vaidehi) at EACommunityProjects@gmail.com.

Update 31st Oct 2019: Our full project proposal has the results of our beta test. We are currently in the process of talking with people and figuring out next steps to take the project forward. If you are interested or would like to be matched, we still match people every week or so, and you can sign up here.

Update 9 April 2020: We are applying for funding to make this service automated and sustainble, and are waiting to hear back on funding.