Best, Sam

And, for context, I’m a 47 year old female MBA who spent my first 32 years working on the East Coast and who has a closet full of suits for serious meetings about serious things. The only way I’m a “hipster” is if we’re talking about some extra weight I carry around!

I’m going to the summit because, by name and purpose, it encourages people to think beyond their self-imposed limits. I have been very successful by every conventional measure, but I know there’s more I can do if I begin to be more unconventional; if I can figure out how to get beyond my expensive training in “the right way to do things” and start taking some chances.

I think the name of the conference is both funny and pointed — it’s when I can begin to think of myself as powerful that I can find the strength to take risks on new adventures. And being surrounded by people who ARE taking chances, who are trying new things, who are willing to look silly, or fail, or get scorned for trying something different, will teach me a lot about what’s really possible. I’ve no idea what will come from attending; I’m open, however, to the possibilities.

And before anyone starts in on me about how I can expand my horizons through service without going to any conference, well, don’t. In addition to being a corporate consultant I’m also an Episcopal priest who served a parish for 12 years (doing corporate consulting on the side) and I’m currently the unpaid Executive Director of a non-profit serving kids across the country. My service credentials are just fine already, thanks.

We all need different things at different times. Right now, I need the inspiration WDS offers, and I thank JD, Chris and all the others for taking the time and risk to create WDS. If WDS isn’t for you, that’s fine, but for some of us, it’s the right conference at the right time. And that’s OK, too.

That being said, I can see how this gathering does help like minded people network. And I’m certainly not going to scoff at someone raising $50K in 50 days, or sneer at hundreds of thousands of dollars going to a myriad of other charities. I appreciate the final charitable outcomes, even though I still think the delivery is cheesy and overblown (and this comes from a political activist who volunteers for two international non-profits, marches and protests, writes letters to her senators, and spends a lot of time musing on how to be a better person and live an authentic life).

I suppose I’ve just found a lot of (cheaper) ways to network with like minded people, and I find inspiration to be a better person by volunteering and reading tons of books on social issues/self improvement, so this kind of conference just doesn’t do it for me. To each their own, as the saying goes, but nothing in that saying guarantees that you won’t be ribbed and laughed at a bit for your own if other people find it silly. Much like I can’t help making fun of unnecessary hipster glasses (no matter how nice the hipster wearing them may be) I just can’t help snarking a wee bit on the delivery of this kind of lifestyle blogger networking/marketing.

I’m all about having fun and living life and being positive and making changes, but to elevate a fun filled weekend of networking to some self consciously enlightened kind of world domination makes me a little cringe-y. I wish the video had focused more on all the charitable contributions that came out of the weekend, instead of a feel good montage of a bunch of people laughing with one another, eating food, and navel gazing about their personal passions and deep thoughts- at times it could have been an ad for a singles weekend getaway in Portland. It just reminds me way too much of those twee hipster blogs, where fluffy young girls write “thoughtful” gratitude lists and take pictures of themselves holding cupcakes in their overlapping hands, while musing on how “lovely” life is.

It makes it hard for me to focus on the good that the event is doing when they don’t even seem to focus on it, and what they *do* focus on seems so unbearably pretentious that my snark alarm starts clang a langin’. I do hope that maybe the marketing for next year’s event focuses on the awesome achievements of projects that came out of the event, instead of talking about beer tours and dancing.

And I don’t think Michael Bungay Stanier was part of a project that raised $250K (in *two* days) to buy mosquito nets to help end malaria *before* WDS.

And I’m sorry if I don’t have 200 other examples right now, but I’m pretty effin’ tired from raising $50K in 50 days. Plus, maybe we could give people a little time to implement.

I’m also kind of sorry I jumped back in here to comment again. I half-promised myself I wouldn’t. Honestly, I feel like anything positive anyone says about WDS is going to be met with resistance, if not outright mockery and hostility.

But I am proud of what Chris pulled off. I’m looking forward to what he and the team will be doing differently next year to incorporate the feedback, which was about how we can make this even more useful to people who want to create projects to help change the world.

And yeah, I have issues with the name, too. So what? People have issues with *my* “handle” (communicatrix, for the record). IT’S A JOKE. Cheeses. I swear, I think 75% of the problems that rear up on the interwebs are b/c humor just doesn’t translate that well on the web.

However, just because world domination and changing the world are on their agenda, doesn’t mean that reporting their results to us is on there as well.

Besides – those aren’t simple goals. It’s only been a few months since the summit – maybe give them some time?

INFP here. As a techie, I know so many INTJs – friends, coworkers, even my own boyfriend, mother – and have worked hard to understand how our personality differences can sometimes color our interactions. I strongly encourage you to read the description of the two types, if you haven’t already. Better understanding how different people think has had a solid positive impact on my relationships. And no, I cant quantify that with numbers

Do you think that repeating yourself over and over is making the world a better place?

I don’t really understand why everyone gets upset when someone comments in ways that aren’t generic praises or when someone dares to question something written on a blog post. Isn’t that the point of the comments? To comment and discuss? I still maintain that my initial presumption of the focus of the conference and my understanding of it once I watched the video and read further are very different. And sorry, but I do think that is something worthy to mention.

And what makes you think that those daring to question the awesomeness of the Summit don’t already give thousands to charity a year? We might do it more quietly and without hammocks, but you are making as many presumptions about us as you think we are about the attendees.

I think there is a good point that someone brought up about personality types (e.g. INTJ) and perhaps why this type of thing rubs some of us the wrong way. I just know if I attended such an event, I would be pretending and inauthentic, but of course I know nothing of others and their emotions and personalities. Honestly this type of event reminds me very much of the conservative Christian mega-conferences I attended as a youth. They were all about inspiring and bringing people together. But at the end of the week-end, I more got the sense that they were also mostly about making money. Perhaps I was too cynical even as a teenager, but I still can’t get away from the fact that conferences tend to be about money.

There’s so much vague talk about ideas, or an “idea for ideas” and absolutely no substance to speak of.

Sorry, but nobody ever changed the world by dancing and playing in hammocks. It’s not going to happen.

You said you came away from the conference with the desire to travel. How is that making the world better?

What have you done to make the world better since last year that you wouldn’t have done without the conference. (I refuse to call it a summit. Summits don’t have hammocks.)

I understand that that’s likely one of the intentions of the seminar and have read some in-depth breakdowns of the seminar on blogs of attendees that make it sound like it’s a decent value and a good experience. But although a dream is good, it’s the implementation that’s key. This might be helpful for people who struggle with that: http://wishcraft.com/

Maybe it’s the INFJ thing, but seeing other people suffer or knowing that other people suffer diminishes my own pleasure in life. I’d like things to be better for everyone. It’s a big world with a lot of big problems and anyone who is trying to make those problems a little smaller is working for the good, IMO.

It doesn’t matter if it’s lending a friend a few bucks for gas until payday or if it’s donating millions to end malaria, it’s all worthwhile.

I don’t feel I’m the target demographic for the conference, but I still think it’s a great idea. The same folks that are criticizing it wouldn’t lift an eyebrow if these folks went on pricey vacations for simple pleasure. If people want to combine a good time with talking about ideas for doing good, I can’t imagine what the problem would be with that.

Live long and prosper kind-hearted hipster dudes!

There are quite a few posts on this website every month that I could argue with or that just don’t interest or appeal to me. I generally ignore them or scan them and then forget them. Some of you should try it sometime! It’s so much more productive than complaining.

As much as I enjoy this blog, and personal finance encouragement (and light…gradually kicking away $21,000 in credit cards plus far, far, far too much in student loans), there has been no other post at all that spoke to me like that one. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s that it’s my personality. I’m forever an optimist and truly believe the world can change with the right idea and the right support.

I’m not a hipster (but probably wouldn’t mind hanging out with them). I lived and traveled back and forth between the USA and countries overseas as a child and as an adult. Maybe it’s that I’ve been to developing countries, and then came home to be annoyed that the grocery store is out of tomatoes (a travesty!). Maybe it’s my education. But ultimately, I know I’m very lucky compared to billions of other people. I believe my life lends itself towards a more altruistic goal that I continue to work towards. And it excites me to read about/meet other life-minded individuals.

In response to the general comments – yeah, I don’t think this will directly be a world altering event. But what it can do is bring people from all over to converge on this idea of ideas. And if WDS continues to happen, it can grow. It’s not the meeting that changes the world, it’s the movement. Reading about the speakers, I know it appeals to people like me (but not most of the people I know). Maybe in the future they can work on marketing it to people like the skeptical posters tearing into J.D. But for now, I think it’s doing exactly what it needs to do. It’s getting the word out.

But the question of is it life-changing. Maybe not for you, Jane (for example), but it certainly could be for other people, and certainly was for J.D. I don’t really understand the purpose of criticizing someone for experiencing something that they feel HAS changed them. How J.D. continues to implement this thinking into his life, we’ll see. And the same should be said for all of us, regarding any life-changing event/idea.

Finally, for those of you criticizing the event regarding its charitable donations: you don’t want to go, and you’re not going to, so why don’t you go ahead and donate the cost of going to a reputable charity of your choice. For more fun, add the cost of food and lodging.

*I have a job that pays me more than I expected to be making at my age. But it doesn’t actually offer me that human connection to improving my world (does that make sense?). I’m looking to get out of this job (and field, honestly) and to have one that makes that difference. Sitting behind a computer is doing nothing for me. It’s reading about events like WDS (and I’m sure going if that were a possibility for me) that help to give me that inspiration. So thank you, J.D. I’m the type of person who appreciates posts like these. I don’t care that it’s on a personal finance blog…I think it’s nice to mix it up a bit.

Naysayers, there’s a good reason the WDS doesn’t appeal to you. Either you don’t really know this crowd (what it sounds like), or the vibe is not a great fit to your personality and interests to begin with. It’s okay.

Many many thanks, JD for your work with WDS. I’m a longtime follower here, and I appreciate your blog even more for this. Thank you.

Nothing better than getting smart people together in unconventional settings to perhaps plant the seeds for an idea that could help solve at least some of the problems in the world.

The dancing and the other activities may seem hipster to some people but I think its worth it if it will get people out of their staid daily routines and comfort zones and maybe jiggle loose unconventional, even radical thoughts that someone else could run with and convert into a breakthrough.

The poor people in the world are not asking for fish to be handed out – they want ideas, techniques on how best to fish in their own unique, challenging environments.

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Anne says:
08 September 2011 at 7:44 am

I’m still waiting to see what JD is willing to do for someone beyond his own family.
>>

You mean like spend all his time creating one of the most popular finance blogs on the web which helped thousands of people deal with issues like debt and personal finance?

Hundreds of FREE articles with information, advice, tips etc all painstakingly written in such a way that it would appeal to the kind of people who have no foundation in finance?

FREE Information that otherwise would have taken me an eternity to research, compile and put together assuming I even had the skill to do it?

Sorry, but that’s just how it looks to this Midwestern 34 year old SAHM and Ph.D. .

I’m talking about their own web-site, JD, and it reads like a stupid, half-ironic joke from a bunch of drunk college frat boys.

If it’s as serious an event as you claim, there should be something serious written about it. I haven’t read all of your posts on it, but in the first few minutes of searching, I ought to be able to find something to take seriously. I haven’t.

Nobody’s going to be dominating anything any time soon from that outfit.

The World Domination Summit is a high-quality event that I am proud to be associated with, both professionally and personally.

Besides, why so much hate? Even if this conference was just about having a good time and meeting people (and it’s not), what’s wrong with that?

This sounds like nothing but a trumped-up party for a bunch of Portland hipsters with way too much time on their hands and highly inflated egos.

You, on the other hand, are a popular and well regarded writer with impressive mainstream appeal. In your personal life, enjoy the little party if that’s what tickles you, but keep quiet about it. Professionally, you do not want to be associated with this.

You’ve spent way too much time in Portland if you can’t realize how ridiculous and unprofessional this whole thing sounds.

(In my professional life, I’ve directed MANY people to your website in the past, with some warnings that “some of the posts are a little ‘out there’–West Coast stuff, you’ll see what I mean–but overall it’s got a lot of great advice.” I can’t keep doing that if you’re writing posts that a weekend of hammock races changed your life.)

On the WDS website, this is what they describe as their “story”:

“Last year, more than 500 people descended on Portland, Oregon for the inaugural WDS. It was an adventure like no other, complete with Bollywood dancing, hammock races, skydiving, cycling tours, and non-stop meet-ups.

Oh, and we also had a program… with great speakers and workshops. Pamela Slim beat up some guy on the stage. Leo Babauta did pushups and a very sexy moonwalk for everyone. John Unger played the harmonica. Danielle LaPorte, the original firestarter, started a real fire in the auditorium (true story).

One year later, we’ll be scaling up… carefully. WDS 2011 sold out five months in advance with a waiting list of 800 people. At least two hundred people without tickets showed up from out of town just to hang out at unofficial events.

This time, we’re prepared — and World Domination can no longer be contained to a single art museum. Instead, we’re taking over the whole city.

Our main stage events will be held in the Newmark Theatre, a 924-seat venue that includes a key feature: thanks to three tiers of orchestra seating, no seat is more than 65 feet from the stage. Even with a large group of awesome people, it will still be intimate.

An expanded set of breakout sessions and smaller workshops will be held in nearby hotels. (Field trip!)

We’ll have a Highly Sensitive Person Lounge with soothing hammocks and green tea for the introverts.

Speaking of hotels, last year our group took 50 rooms from Hotel Fifty on the waterfront… but this year we’ve asked for all two-hundred. Hostels and other shared housing options will also be available.

The city of Portland itself will be on full display, from food carts to craft stores. See hipsters and other people with no obvious means of employment in their native habitat.

Last year, attendees put together private activities that ranged from skydiving to mountain climbing to karaoke. This time, “unofficial WDS” will be expanded to include a dozen more activities, including yoga in the park, a 5k run, and our attempt to set some kind of Guiness world record.

The beer, cocktail, and chocolate tours will return, this time in self-guided form. In short, we’re doing everything except build our own fortress — it’s good to save something for another year.

Best of all, WDS remains a non-commercial, non-sponsored event. It’s all about unconventional, remarkable people coming together for a weekend of adventure.

All that’s missing is you. Are you in?”