World Domination Summit 2013

Such an awkward name for what remains an incredibly un-awkward event… This Thursday, at 8am, Drew and I are going to be boarding a plane for Portland, Oregon for the long awaited and highly regarded 3rd annual World Domination Summit 2013!! The World Domination Summit, started by Chris Guillebeau, is the world’s premier gathering for travelers, entrepreneurs and artists of all kinds. What unites this diverse group of people is an interest in answering the central question of “How do we live a remarkable life in a conventional world?”

When Drew and I bought our tickets, we had both just left our full-time jobs, bought tickets to Europe (which we are leaving for next Thursday!) and well, didn’t really have plan except to “Make Things Happen.” I had debated about buying my ticket but when I heard that the 1st round of 1,000 tickets sold out in the first 13 minutes, I knew there had to be something special about this, something that I didn’t want to miss out on. Luckily we got in on the second and last round of 1,000 tickets, which were gone in an hour.

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Last year's event kicked off with a sprawling opening party, complete with sumo wrestling, an outdoor ping-pong competition, a “dunk-a-blogger” booth and food carts parked on both sides of the street. This year's opening party takes place at the Portland Zoo! Activities to be announced, and the following morning we will attempt to break a World Record for the the longest floating human chain, random right? This record is currently held by a group of Italians, who achieved the record with more than 500 people in 2008, at this point there are over 3,000 WDS attendees, odds are looking good!

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There is an awesome lineup of speakers scheduled to steal the stage too. I am having the hardest time deciding which ones to go to! Unfortunately, each person can only attend 2, but luckily we have a great group of friends from college (Go Gators!) who are joining so we can all swap notes. The workshops at the top my list include:

How to Build Confidence and Destroy Fear

Presented by Leo Babauta and J.D. Roth

Your life is filled with potential, but too often fear holds you back: fear of

failure, fear of rejection, fear of not being good enough. In this interactive

workshop, J.D. and Leo will share their own stories, talk about strategies

for tackling fear, and teach you to let go.

Leo Babauta has an awesome blog call Zen Habits, which I discovered a few years back. You can check out the small post I wrote about him on my other blog that includes one of my favorite of his posts.

Travel Hacking Academy

Presented by Gary Leff

Wondering what travel hacking is all about? Jealous of your neighbor’s hefty Frequent Flyer mile balance? Gary Leff, founder of the MilePoint.com community and Condé Nast recommended expert, will sort you out. Come prepared for an actionable session where you can learn everything you need to return to next year’s WDS with an almost-free flight.

How to Publish a Book

Presented by David Fugate

Veteran literary agent David Fugate has sold more than a thousand books, generating tens of millions of dollars in royalties for authors. Whether you’re interested in working with a traditional publisher or doing things on your own, come and learn the process of generating interest and getting a commitment for your book idea.

ProBlogger Academy

Presented by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett

This workshop will examine the four pillars of building a profitable blog: creating killer content, finding readers, building community, and effective monetization.

Oh! I have also decided to host a MeetUp while we are there! It is called “Motivation Activation + Adventure Bloggers Unite!” Can’t wait to fill you all in on the adventures of this weekend!

Be sure to check out our after-the-fact post on our favorite things about WDS2013 🙂

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