Beautiful People – The Best Part of WDS2012 (Dispatch #2)

I met some amazing people at the World Domination Summit 2012. Rarely have I been amongst a group of such open, passionate, spiritual and inspiring people. People who just got me and what I’m about, because they’re on a similar mission in life.

Right up until a few weeks before, I was conflicted about going. I had a ticket, but I hadn’t yet booked my flights. Thanks to the wise advice of my friend Fabian, I decided to go a few days early. That turned out to be the best decision I could have made (cheers Fabian).

WDS’s “resident genius”  Nicky Hajal put together an impressive mobile site for the event which enabled attendees to add details of informal meetups. These began on Wednesday, which just happened to be July 4th, with a barbecue arranged by Sean Ogle and friends.

I spotted the meetup on the mobile site but wasn’t sure how to get there, so I was extremely grateful when I spotted a tweet by a fellow attendee who was staying at the same hostel as me, offering a lift to anyone who wanted to come along. It turned out this was Gina’s first ever tweet!

This was a great starting point for me as I met some fantastic people at the barbecue, and got to shake hands with organiser Chris Guillebeau.

The next few days involved watching the Independence Day fireworks, visiting the city’s beautiful and peaceful Japanese and Chinese Gardens, eating delicious ice cream, having a pint with Jonathan Mead and meeting his wife Ev’Yan, doing my usual Kanye West impression at a karaoke event organised by the delightful Emilie Wapnick (and enjoying her and everyone else’s performances),  and eating delicious, healthy food. More importantly it involved some great conversations and connections which I hope will last a long time.

The whole event ended with a massive party which involved four hours of crazy Bollywood dancing.

These are just a few of the people I met and managed to get photos of/with. There were loads more I met who were really lovely but I didn’t get photos of, and many, many more I didn’t get the chance to meet. There’s always next year..

Find out more about One Girl’s Do It in a Dress campaign to get girls back to school in Sierra Leone

See lots more lovely people in the official WDS photos, including Katie B (web developer at Yellow Rubber Ball), Louise, Shenee, Kristen & Friends (Fortune Cookie Crumbles, Hey Shenee & {r}evolution apparel), John L. Moss, Gregory & Oliver (Radio Enso & ohhphotos). Phew! Sorry if we bonded and I haven’t managed to include you –  I have to sleep off this jetlag now!