WOW! The trip to Portland for WDS (The World Domination Summit) was amazing! First of all, the drive was gorgeous..and I had not been up into that part of Oregon before. I arrived on July 4th, and got to celebrate with my friend Jennifer Anderson and her family, who so graciously housed me during my stay.
Jennifer and I both attended Pam Slim’s gathering on Friday (Pam is the author of “Escape from Cubicle Nation” and is well known as a teacher and coach). It was great getting to meet her in person...along with other attendees...and  catching up with some of the entrepreneurs I met a few years ago, while working with Christine Kane in Asheville, NC.
The weekend activities were mind blowing and I wasn’t able to experience everything that I would have liked to (if I had enough energy!)
The pervasive energy of the whole event (including presenters and attendees) was what affected me the most. Some of the highlights of the main schedule were:
Chris Guillebeau (who created this event)
Nancy Duarte
Jia Jiang
Steve Schlachlin (to name a few)
Each afternoon, there was quite an array of special speakers that were booked in various venues around 2 pm. You had to choose who to see. There were so many people at WDS (2800!)
so seats were limited at these smaller venues. I saw Danielle LaPorte on Sat. & Jonathan Fields on Sun. Both these events were filled and turned people away. I got to speak with Danielle briefly on Sun. Inspiring!
I came away feeling inspired and changed in some way. I hope to be able to attend next year’s event...and offer my own Meetup as part of the weekend.
Top photo--of the stage setting at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Below--Danielle LaPorte speaking at The Eliot Center

I am off to Portland, Oregon tomorrow to participate in Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit. I have wanted to attend this event ever since I heard about it three years ago, when it first began. It keeps growing and changing each year, and is a hotbed of extreme talent, genius and innovation. I can’t wait!

Chris Guillebeau is an American entrepreneur, nonfiction author, blogger and speaker. He is best known for The Art of Non-Conformity blog and book. He has also written guides for travel and small business topics under the brand Unconventional Guides. The Art of Non-Conformity blog discusses entrepreneurship, travel, and personal development topics; its traffic grew substantially after the online publication of A Brief Guide to World Domination in 2008.

I have been reading Chris’s blog for about 4 years, and when he published
a book called “The $100 Startup”a couple years ago, I was on the list to receive a review copy, and I wrote some reviews for his book, and promoted it to my peeps.

Here is a great video interview with Chris where he talks about Creating your own Freedom...which has been his impetus for his entrepreneurial journey. And more about the World Domination Summit, what it is, who attends and what kind of presentations there are.

I will be writing about my experience after I return...so stay tuned for stories from WDS!