UPDATE - Heading For World Domination...The Summit That Is

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See trip update at the end of the post.

As this post goes out, I am currently on a plane and headed to the World Domination Summit (WDS) in Portland, Oregon.

What the heck is the WDS you ask? Well, here’s how I understand it: it is a meet up of nearly 3,000 people who are gathered to share and discuss how they manage to or want to live life on their terms. The various interest included in leading a nonconformist lifestyle are:

  • Writers (blogging, storytelling, non-fiction, freelancing, etc.)
  • Minimalists (tiny dwelling building, “stuff” reducing, simplicity seeking, supporting a sharing economy)
  • Financial independence advocates (self-employed, passive income earners, FI, FIRE, Finance bloggers) 
  • Travellers (slow travel, travel hacking, geo caching, geo arbitrage, curiosity about the world and its cultures in general)
  • Health buffs (yoga practicians, martial arts, HIIT, running, hiking, lifestyle and nutrition)
  • Mindful folks (mindfulness, meditation, zen, self-awareness, gratitude)
  • Not-for-profit supporters (philanthropy, seeking to create a better, more sustainable world)
  • Eco-advocates (eco-building, foodies, earth loving)
  • Creative folks (artists, speakers, entrepreneurs, photographers, filmmakers)

What does the list above tell me? I’ll be mingling with some pretty interesting people.

My goals for the event are simple:

  1. Meet some great people to connect with again in the future. 
  2. Learn as much as I can from everyone I meet.
  3. Give at least as much as I get, in whatever capacity I can.
  4. Contribute to a worthy cause by completing a workout at CrossFit Portland. 

I’m excited at the prospects this weekend offers. I can’t wait to share more about the experience on Twitter as it happens.

***UPDATE***

Here's a poem I "donated" to the WDS Poem Catcher. He was certainly another notable highlight of the event.

I am now back from the summit. I managed to achieve 3 of the 4 goals above. I was unable to attend the workout due to a mixup but, overall, I think 3 of 4 isn't bad.

A few highlights of the trip include:

  • Meeting a fellow blogger Ree and making her day by recognizing her out of a crowd (it's always the little things, isn't it?).
  • Meeting a number of other PF bloggers (Melanie, J.D., Phil, Eric, Martin and others) at a FinCon meetup on Saturday night...and subsequently signing up for FinCon14 less than 3 days later!
  • Getting a great working title and offer of a cover design for a book I am working on. Thanks to Derek Murphy for organizing a great meetup and for the valuable insights.

Dee asked us all to imagine ourselves as super heros to make our lives and those of others just a little bit better. The talk giveaway? We each received our own personal invisible cape. Mine fits perfectly.

  • Listening to, and meeting, some great speakers, including Scott Berkun, Michal Hyatt and Dee Williams.
  • Offering to do a book review of Weeknight Paleo for Amber Beam over at Paleo Savvy who I met during Derek's writers' meetup.
  • Having email and Twitter exchanges with two other WDS would-be attendees - I would never have reached out to them were it not for this conference.

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