The Burrito Reading Group: how I ran a great, low-effort reading group
When I was a student in Lausanne, I organised what I called the Burrito reading group. I wanted to read more papers in the field of AI safety and had one friend who also wanted to. I came up with something simple and great.
The core idea was to design the event so it's worth doing even if no one shows up. So that, even if I am just by myself, it's fun, useful, and effortless to make happen. Then, every person who joins is a nice bonus.
Every week we would meet on campus for about 2 hours. In the first five minutes we would decide on what to read, then read it together in silence for the rest of the hour. For the second hour, we would make and eat burritos, and discuss the paper (and often other things too).
This was great. Even if we did little publicity, many people joined:
- There was no effort, nothing to prepare beforehand, we just asked people to let us know in advance for the food quantities.
- People didn't need to think about their dinner for that evening.
- It was a fun and convivial moment, all making food together while talking about interesting papers.
- Everyone had a say in what we read.
Of course, many people stayed longer to continue the discussions.
I encourage you to steal this idea and do the same, especially if either:
- you want to learn more about a topic,
- you'd like to meet more people interested in a topic,
- you want more occasions to discuss a topic,
- you want to try field-building, get started taking initiatives, or build towards bigger things.
Over the past few years, many people have asked for more details on how I did it. So here's my answer to their questions, and possibly yours. I think the most interesting part is not how I did things, but why, and I hope that by understanding the why, you'll be able to adapt the how to your specific situation.
What if no one comes?
Sometimes we were only two, and those were some of the best times. We had more time for deeper discussion, and generally grew a lot. In community building, a lot of focus is often put on outreach and doing things with more people. That's okay, but in my opinion a lot more focus should be put on oneself: do things that are good for you, that help you learn, that help you meet cool people.
It also ensures that at least one person benefits from what you do. I usually considered the reading group a success if I attended and read a new paper. If more people join, that's a great additional impact and fun!
Note however, that there are important reasons to not want to follow this philosophy. Sometimes you do want to focus on scale and impact. This is not what this post is about, and many of the ideas here still apply, though not this one.
How did you pick papers?
In my opinion, the most important thing is that you (the organiser) read something you want to read. The simplest is probably to announce what you'll be reading before the meeting, but it's also nice to engage participants, they'll appreciate it.
What I did was keep a Google Doc where people could add articles they were interested in to a table. The table had columns for the paper title/url, one sentence on why this paper could be an interesting read, the date added (we used the same doc every time, so you can use this to discount older additions), and the names of people who wanted to read it (this avoids double votes, and you can ignore votes of people who aren't present).
Most of the articles in this table usually came from me. If an article I really didn't want to read seemed about to win the vote, I would quickly pitch one of the articles that I thought were more interesting. In the end, I decided what we would read, using the vote as strong evidence alongside my own judgement of what was interesting / impactful.
Why burritos?
I was looking for a few things:
- Low effort. I can just do some grocery shopping before and no other prep. It doesn't require cooking.
- Conviviality. Having something we can share and make together.
- Cheap. We were students in Switzerland, where everything is expensive. I managed to have costs of 3-4CHF (=3-4€ in 2023) per person. Ordering anything would be ~20CHF per person.
- Accommodating to everyone. If people don't like or can't eat something, they can just not put it inside their burritos. Or for gluten, skip the wrap and eat things as a "salad".
- Vegan, balanced, and good. The last two are important by themselves, as it makes people happy. But if the event is vegan, they are also required: you don't want people to be disappointed about vegan food.
What's the best place to have a burrito reading group?
The simplest for you, and (but slightly less) the simplest place for everyone else.
This makes your home a great candidate: you don't even have to go anywhere! And you have a lot of things at hand, cutlery, spices, a fridge for leftovers... You can just decide to do it at your place because it's so convenient for you!
Other good places are central places of your friends' community. If you're at university, any cafeteria works and is practical for everyone. You might also be able to book a classroom, I did that a few times.
You really just need a table, and a place where you can talk that isn't too loud. Apart from this, make it convenient. A cafe close by, a meeting room at work, or a park nearby are all good options.
When and how often?
In my opinion, there is a single good answer: every week, same day, same time.
Regularity makes it possible for people to be on automatic mode. It reduces cognitive load and the need for communication. It makes you a source of stability, and not chaos in their lives. It makes it easier for everyone. Who needs their life to be harder, or more complex?
But if you do it every two weeks, they'll keep wondering if it's this week or the next one. If you change the day, they'll show up the wrong day, and they can't make plans in advance.
Then, which specific day and time doesn't matter much, as long as you're available, and so are the 1-2 people who are most enthusiastic about it.
So, be regular, but others don't have to. If this is too frequent for some, they could just come whenever it works for them, given there's no preparation nor continuity between sessions.
The philosophy I try to follow is
"Come when and if it's good for you. If you're there, I'll be happy to see you, but if not, it will be great regardless."
How do you do "burritos"?
The meta is simple: take a big wrap, and put lots of good things inside. Possibly warm it up after.
Usually I did the grocery shopping 30 minutes before the event, though eventually I delegated it to regulars. Initially I used plates/cutlery from the student cafeteria we were in, but when we couldn't, we used paper plates and I would bring cutlery from my place. Then, when it was time to eat, I would put everything in the middle of the table and everyone would compose their "burrito" out of what I brought.
I'm not confident about the quantities anymore, so do adjust. Take too much the first time, and adapt the next.
The layers go as follow, for 8 people:
- 1 wrap per person if they are the ~27cm ones, otherwise people usually eat two depending on how packed they are.
- Some mild salsa (300g pot). Can also add some red/green pesto or hummus on top.
- A portion of rice or other grains. You can cook it in advance or buy pre-cooked mixes. Or do couscous if you only have access to boiling water / microwave.
- Canned beans (whichever type, you can also mix them) (2 400g cans), corn (1 small can).
- Avocado (3), raw bell peppers (3).
- Grated plant-based cheese, or feta (1 pack, Violife is great).
- Seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds are great, they add some crunch) (I bring the same big bag every time).
- Cumin or Mexican mix (! important), paprika, salt, pepper, chili flakes...
Then we usually warmed it up in a microwave. Though, for some reason I don't understand, roughly half the people just eat it cold?
That's really low effort, how can I put more effort to have something nicer?
If you're at home you can make them much, much nicer, but the "make them anywhere" version is already nice (as long as you don't compare it to more effortful versions). Great things to do when you can cook:
- Cook, or even roast, the bell peppers, possibly with some onions, or some eggplant
- Fry some tofu, with paprika, and at the end melt some cheese on it, in the pan. Possibly deglaze with soy sauce.
- Cook the rice in broth or with spices
- Warm the wraps on a dry pan at medium heat. This makes them incredibly better, but keep a close eye on them, or they will burn.
- Anything else you have at hand. Maybe a leftover dahl, some raw red cabbage, peanut butter, mango chunks... anything can be part of a great mix of toppings (but not all at once)
I don't encourage you to do any of this for a regular event, your effort is very likely better spent elsewhere. But if you're making some for yourself, with friends, a date, or a party, those are great ways to spend a bit of effort for nicer things.
Why do you call those burritos?
No idea. It kind of looks like one. As you can put whatever you want in them, you can call them whatever you want, right?
How do you wrap a burrito?
Anyone can do it well, once shown how to (and with possibly a few tries). Most people start wrong, because you should fold the bottom of your burrito before the sides. Otherwise, this is roughly how I usually do it:
But when there's too much filling, I might do an open fold instead, like this:
If you do one thing now, may I suggest texting a friend?
Hey! We both wanted to learn about XYZ, do you want to take some time to read about it, say Tuesday, 7pm? I'll make burritos!
Once you have a time and place, you can, optionally, invite other people to join you:
Hey! With Alice we're reading about XYZ on Tuesday, 7pm at ABC. Do you want to join us? We'll make burritos, let me know if we should count you in for the quantities!
Without any pressure. And if it's nice, maybe schedule a second session? Or decide to make it regular!
In any case, keep things as simple as you can, for everyone, and particularly for you.
Keep it simple... and fun!