Two waves of tickets, two sold outs, one wave left#.
It's more than event, it's an experience. See the recap from 2013.
I bought my ticket when they first went on sale almost a year ago.
Some of you who have been part of this community for a while know I have been a long time friend and supporter of Chris Guillebeau. So much so that I participated in the Unconventional Guides affiliate program and invited him to guest post at this blog. [Guest posts are upon invitation only -- save your pitch.]
Life happens for a reason
My plans have changed. And I am glad to have the opportunity to help someone else go instead. Life is a "both/and" proposition.
I have been very lucky to have enjoyed an early education in Italy that was very much about meaningful interactions and experiences. Luck followed me in the U.S. where I had the privilege of serving the families of brain injured children for six years; those children drove home the value of life.
I wrote about the experience in my forward to The Age of Conversation. It was a gift that keeps on giving over the years. That is what I call making a contribution.
Both my early experiential education and the experience of serving others in exchange for not much more than a roof over my head made up a good chunk of what I call a good education in being human and living up to one's potential.
Life is what you make it. When you learn to keep on going through personal set backs and family hardships, you realize that not much else measures up to the specialness of knowing from experience.
Resilience, courage, endurance, all the stuff best sellers talk about is more vivid when you live it on the inside. It changes you, and in a good way, if you let it. It changed me.
Building a community and all that jazz that followed the enthusiasm of real time conversations with the Fast Company network and attending the incredibly engaging experiences they organized were the cherry on the top.
They brought to life conversations with Jim Collins, Kevin Roberts, Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Bill Taylor, Alan Webber, Keith Yamashita, and so many others. It was like being at a condensed college program at the time when everyone was developing the focus of their life work. It was incredibly rewarding, and I am lucky to be able to call so many "friend".
#WDS2014: your chance to go
Those multi-year experiences were invaluable in helping me see the bedrock from the sand. They made me realize the uniquely specialness of each moment.
Make it your moment this year. I am choosing to transfer my ticket for the original price -- about $500. Contact me if interested.
[image credit iStock]
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Valeria is an experienced listener. She designs service and product experiences to help businesses rediscover the value of promises and its effects on relationships and culture. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. Book her to speak here.