Share memos
Memos are informal write-ups of ideas, projects, or updates you'd like to discuss with other attendees.
They're a way to share your current thinking and work before the summit begins.
Why share a memo?
Circulating, reading, and commenting on memos helps you:
Get feedback on your strategic thoughts from an important group of highly talented people
See what questions and topics interest other attendees
Identify points of agreement and disagreement
Begin discussions that can continue in person
Make conversations at the summit more focused and productive
All memos will be considered for a short (5-minute) talk to broadcast the main ideas, but you can opt out of this in the submission form.
Submission guidelines
Submit your memo via our form. If you have multiple memos, please submit them one at a time.
Submit your memo using a Google Doc link. Important: Please give edit access to summit@existential-security.com so we can share it with other attendees via a Google Group.
Provide an informative title and short summary to help attendees engage with your memo.
State who you consent for your memo to be shared with.
Express your interest in giving a short (5-minute) talk about your memo.
Important dates
Recommended submission: January 26
We'll share an initial list of memos with attendees at the end of January. Prompt submission ensures:
Other attendees have ample time to read and engage with your memo.
We can schedule short talks (see below) with enough time for speakers to prepare.
If you’re time-constrained, we would strongly prefer that you submit a rough memo outline by January 26 and complete it before the summit.
However, you can continue to submit memos until the start of the event.
FAQs
What should my memo look like?
Here are some general prompts to inspire memo topics:
What have you been thinking about lately?
What is being missed? What are we getting wrong?
What important questions do you have a strong view on?
What do you tentatively believe (or worry) might be true, and want to figure out if you’re right?
What do you feel fairly confident is true, and is important to be shared at the summit?
What crucial open questions seem tractable to discuss at the summit?
What would be useful for others to hear from you?
Are there any updates from your field that generalists or people from other fields would benefit from hearing?
Suggestions for writing memos:
Typically, aim for 0.5–2 pages, although they can be longer or shorter if needed.
They can be quite informal—say the important things directly; don’t feel like you need to carefully craft the language for this context.
Try to be concrete rather than vague where possible to help the discussions be similarly concrete.
Can I repurpose a memo from another context?
Yes. If a memo you’ve written is still relevant, feel free to submit it!
Who will my memo be shared with?
There are two groups of people we could share your memo with:
Event attendees: Your memo will only be shared with people who have indicated that they will attend the summit.
Attendees and attendee's networks: This option will set your memo's sharing permission to "anyone with the link" and allow people with access to your memo to share it further at their discretion. (Per our confidentiality policy, we ask that these links not be shared in public posts.) By default, we’ll also circulate these memos to everyone who was interested in attending the summit.
See our confidentiality policy for more details.
What is the purpose of a short talk?
We have the opportunity for some authors to give 5-minute short talks about their memo.
The talk will allow you to advertise ideas from your memo for further discussion or share information that you feel is better suited for a talk than a memo. We hope this will help build common knowledge, increase memo engagement, and facilitate more one-on-one or small group conversations.
More info on short talks:
Speakers are encouraged to use slides.
Short talks will be grouped together with other short talks in an hour-long session.
We'll share a speaker guide with presenters in early February.
How will I know if I'm giving a short talk on my memo?
In early February, we’ll email people who’ve expressed interest in giving a short talk on their memo if we think it fits well with the event goals and our schedule.
If you don't hear from us, you don't need to prepare a talk.