Sitting here in PDX, I am gathering my thoughts on my experiences over the last three days at WDS2014 (believe it or not, this is the World Domination Summit, what a cool name!). The summit was amazing, from the organisation, to the speakers, the participants, the ambassadors who made everything run smoothly, fun, informative and without being too clichéd, I feel that for me it really has awoken me to the greater potential. Before I talk about what went down at the summit and the choices I am now making about how I work from now onwards, let me give you some background on what WDS is and why I chose to attend – this may be something that you decide to do in the future yourself – WDS2015 is happening in Portland, Oregon from July 9th through 13th, 2015 and I have bought my ticket already. Looking at my notes now, I can tell you that this is going to be a series of post, I just don’t know how many yet!

What is WDS2014?

WDS2014 is a summit where 3,000 attendees gather around a theme of Community, Adventure, and Service. It was started by Chris Guillebeau, and the first summit was in 2011. It now takes place annually in Portland, Oregon. People from over 30 countries and very diverse backgrounds attend, and connect in a way that is only possible when you are open to the ethos of the event – it truly is a community event.

Registration

Speakers: The speakers at the event come from many backgrounds – some have their own businesses, some are high profiles business consultants, others are humanitarians and yet others are well-known authors. Added to this are stories from attendees as well as a foundation slot, which helps supports the launch of individual projects to deliver great services to people who greatly need them. The two-day summit is pretty packed with speakers and thought-provoking engagement. Amongst the speakers were:

• A.J. Jacobs
• Dee Williams
• John Francis
• Jadah Sellner
• Sarah Lewis (planned) – actual was Shannon Galpin
• Gary Hirsch
• Michael Hyatt
• Elise Blaha Cripe
• Scott Berkun
• John Jantsch
• Saki Mafundikwa
• Gavin Aung Than

AJ Jacobs

MeetUps: Outside of the formal “Day Sessions”, there are many meetups available to attend based on your areas of interest – these tend to last about an hour and give you very personal, close access to extremely interesting people – here is a sample of the meetups that I attended:

• Nicole Antoinette @NicoleLessBS
• Jason Womack #CoffeeChat
• Pamela Slim
• Gavin Aung Than, zenpencils
• Derek Murphy
• LYL attendees lunch
• LYL host lunch
• and many many more.

Academies: Let me first explain these and then talk about the big mistake I made here – a mistake that I will not make again next year. Academies are workshops around very specific themes with some very high-profile people who have a lot of experience to share. As I did not attend any, I cannot give you first hand feedback, but haven spoken with a number of people who did, the common consensus was that they are very good events and were well worth the investment of time. The academies happen on the two days preceding the summit and the day after the summit (Thursday, Friday and Monday).

Some of the academies that took place were:

• Pro logger Academy: Building Profitable Blogs with Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett
• Language Lab: Learn how to hack any language and speak it today with Benny Lewis (fellow Irishman and UCD Engineering graduate)
• Travel Hacking Academy by Stephanie Zito
• RevolutionU: How to tap revolution-dynamics to fuel rapid business growth, build an army of evangelists and change the damn world with Jonathan Fields
• Nerd Fitness Live with Steve Kamb
• Making Art and giving it away with Gary Hirsch
• And many more …

Mingling, Adventure and other fun activities: As if all the above we’re not enough, there are many other opportunities to get to know the attendees and the city – from the world record-setting Great Namaste, to river cruises, opening and closing parties, and many more.

As you can see, a very, very busy weekend was had.

The Ethos

World Domination Summit has behind it a set of value which are ingrained into everything about the summit. These are:

• Community
• Adventure
• Service

A fantastic part of this community gather in Portland each year, undertake many many adventures and all in a way that is open and in service to others. It truly a most impressive gathering of 3,000 people.

To bring your energy to the events, you need to manage your energy!

 

I need to catch a plane now, so I will continue this when I get back to Dublin – let me know what you would like to hear specifically about. I will have lots to share in Thursday’s post, so please check back in.

Departing SFO