World Domination Summit 2012: Community, Adventure, Service

This year, this theme could be seen in Scott Harrison's talk about his Charity: Water project, which has raised millions of dollars to build wells in Africa. It could be seen in my own talk about personal change (which I'll post here on Monday), which I ended by arguing that after attendees change themselves, they should change the world. And it was seen in the attendee stories session, where folks shared the projects they've started to change the world.

But most of all, this desire to be a positive force in the world was felt at the very end of the conference, as Chris Guillebeau sent everyone on their way. He took the stage to tell a story. And to do something radical.

Backstage at the World Domination Summit

Last year, Chris lost money on the conference. WDS has no corporate sponsors, is run entirely on volunteer help (nobody is paid), and is essentially a not-for-profit organization. For the 2011 edition of the conference, Chris lost about $30,000 of his own money. This year, he invited more people and he raised ticket prices. As a result, we had money left over.

As Chris was pondering what to do with the money, he was approached by somebody who had attended the conference last year. This person wanted to do something special, something that might make a lasting difference. After some discussion, Chris and his “anonymous donor” reached an agreement. Together, they'd give $100 to every paid attendee, and they'd encourage folks to use this money to do something awesome.

Here's a quote from the conference send-off:

Here's what's going to happen. In a moment, you're going to exit…As you leave, if you're a paid attendee, we're going to ask that you pick up one of these envelopes…In this envelope, you're going to find $100. And you're also going to find some very basic instructions.

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