World Domination Summit 2018

July 5, 2018 by albertkaufman 1 Comment

How to live an extraordinary life in a conventional world!

I’ve been hearing about the (World Domination Summit) WDS for many years. Little drips and drabs of “this was amazing” – “this blew my socks off“, etc. But somehow it never led to me actually attending. I have a high threshold of awesome (visiting Burning Man Place for 14 years does that). And, every time I’d dip my toes into checking it out I’d run into a sales-y website that was very sharp and newish looking and I didn’t see the appeal. I wish I had asked deeper questions about this event years ago because it freaking rocked! It was easily the best conference I’ve ever been to. Granted, I hear 2018 was one of the best years – but still – I would take a terrible version of this thing any day! OK, so, here goes. I’ve been hesitant to write something about this partly cause I’m still having fun connecting with the other attendees and following up on various links and hand-outs and bits of inspiration.

Know that it’s a beautiful day in Portland. The kind we only see maybe 5 of per year – so I’m sitting here in the shade listening to the KBOO radio screaming the Waterfront Blues Festival at me. So, at some point I may jump up and get on my bike – or, more likely, my friend Steve Bennett will arrive and we’ll play some tunes together on the porch.

So, #wds2018 – what is it? What was it? And, how did I end up going? In the beginning was a conversation with Terry Tomei on my porch about 8 months ago. Terry and I were discussing various things and I brought up WDS. He followed up and when tickets went on sale, he bought me one. I hadn’t exactly said “buy me one”, but he did – and then I paypal’d him the $707 for the ticket and then spent months hemming and hawing and wondering if I should sell the ticket. By the time of the event I had missed the chance to transfer the ticket to someone else and so I pulled up my britches and started attending on the Wens. before the main weekend events. I’m so glad I did. Conferees organized and led Meet-ups for one another and you could sign up for them via an easy-to-use app. The first activity I attended was one of the conference-offered academies – it was on turning your hobby into a business. It was fantastic. The next thing I went to was a meet-up by the Portland Art Museum by Jan Keck.

Jan led the group through a wonderful introduction/deep questions deck that he sells. Check it out @ https://www.jankeck.com/ask-deep-questions/ – that was my favorite physical thing I received all weekend. A deck of these cards. Jan is very kind and welcoming and is up to interesting things, for sure.

Meet-ups. This conference ran like nothing I have ever experienced. Participants through meet-ups for one another and each meet-up was listed on the app and was available until registration filled (and some also encouraged you to come even if the event was full). So, for the next 7 days I went to a mix of meet-ups, academies and then on Sat. and Sunday to main stage presentations – speakers and more – held at the Newmark Theater. The staff running the event is mostly volunteers (maybe all volunteers) – and people were very friendly, pumped and professional. I always felt held; welcomed and respected. WDS has attracted a lot of incredible people.

Many of the attendees are digital nomads. Many are people who are experts in their fields – a very inspiring bunch. I learned about masterminding; how to run workshops/events; how to be more vulnerageous; found an accountability buddy; attended a mens’ workshop that was quite ably led; learned some great new facilitation techniques from fellow Portlander, Marli; Amy and Gary led an incredible ice-breaker evening (which Jan joined for round 2 – campfire conversations). Overall, I’m super impressed by the organization and the people who attended. It felt like a big, happy family.

On Saturday, Chris, the founder, announced that there will be only 2 more years of WDS. This was year 8. Then, he announced that 200 tickets would be available for the next two years and 300 for just 2019. The first set of tickets sold out quickly. I ended up buying one for 2019, and then came home and bought 2 more for 2 people that I hope will join me. I am excited to share this with friends (and my brother, red rover red rover, let Dan come over!).

OK, now I can play! And, I’ll have a lot more to say about this – but wanted to share a first draft with you now! Whew – that was quite the firehose!

Here are some pics – sorry for the weird titling – but that’s all I got at the moment. Enjoy! Hopefully you can get some of the flavor of the event here 🙂 (more below as I think of things!)

So, more highlights – one of the last events I attended was on the Tues. after the big weekend. Paul Paul Lopushinsky led an Offers and Needs meet-up. More of this, please! The idea is that people can write up their offers or their needs or both and then find one another – people posted offers of consulting; personal coaching and a hundred other things while other people posted their needs. It was remarkable to watch community building and support in action!

Ah, the people! They came from all over the world – some live here. We were organized via a FB group – and there’s also a FB group for WDS alumni, too – both are very active. There are also local WDS FB groups, too. The people are an interesting mix. Many accomplished writers; thinkers; world travelers; athletes; coaches; and people busy following their passion. There are many who are doing whatever they can to leave the rat race and take others with them! Many entrepreneurs and business leaders. Then there are the deep thinkers; strategists; and people who are leading in the personal growth field – add them all together and you get a group that is willing to take risks to be more vulnerable with one another and create magic and lasting friendships. I was kind of surprised not to meet more Burners or people I know through other realms – but I was very pleased at who showed up and how they showed up. These people have their shit together – or, so it seems, because…

None of us have our ISHT together – as @yesyesmarsha – shared with us from the stage. She also set up 3 large boards for people to write about ways they are not pleased with themselves. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. How humbling (you can see the post it notes in the photos above, but there were hundreds of them). It was a good reminder about how everyone has something they are not pleased about. There’s a whole book just on this topic, and I’m signing up for what ever Yes Yes Marsha is selling – her newsletter to start with.

More to follow. Advice Dice – noone talked about the advice dice we all received 🙂

WDS Swag photo by Armosa Studios

While at WDS I worked on workshopping and talking a lot about my dream to have guitar camps in Oregon and Maui. It’s a fun thing I like to do. I’ve been attending PSGW – a music camp outside of Seattle – since 1995. I love it – there are various formats, but key is – camp; 3 meals a day plus fun snacks at night; a group of people who are like-minded and there to play music and sing together; rinse and repeat. I’ve been dreaming that this would be a fun thing to do in Oregon and of course during WDS – the universe pushed back with “really, you want to do this? – OK, here, then. 2 camps responded back to me with interest. So, now I get to move this dream forward 🙂 You can sign up to be notified about when these will happen here.

Downside: of course with all this goodness there must have been some problems or issues, right? Of course there were. But interestingly, downsides tended to be that there weren’t enough hours in the day to absorb the firehose of information and awesomeness coming my way. A good problem to have and very Burning Man-like. Many of the WDS activities took place in NW Portland – which is one view of the City (I think many attendees probably have a warped view of Portland because of this – they spent most of their time downtown). That said – this is not anyone’s fault and led to a lot of potential meet-ups and HQ all being close – and so everything was pretty walkable. I think a downside would be each of our own resistances to growth, myself included. I noticed sometimes wishing – OH, I wish this was a little more like RC/Re-evaluation Counseling, or Solsara. Or, being underwhelmed by a fellow attendee’s response to something or having a bright light shining in my eyes from the main stage; or the app not working perfectly with my ancient phone. But otherwise? From the moment I landed @ HQ I was treated well and so many of my interactions with people started at a good and interesting place. So, kudos to WDS for a job very well-done. Other conferences could learn a ton from attending this. Kind of like how Vancouver Folk Festival sets the standard in how to run a large music festival (and go Beloved Festival for the mantle for a smaller festival 🙂

Many more pics here. by Tera and Armosa Studios.

Melinda Robino “I’m with you Albert. I’m still processing and thinking deep thoughts. As much as this is a global event (people from all over!), it could be about self-domination (is that weird?). What I mean is, I started opening up and taking control of all those negative thoughts about myself that I just harbored and had adapted as truth. I gave back when someone seemed to need a little confidence. So was this all woo-woo topics? Not a chance. It was play, work, performance, connecting, reaching, curiosity, taking, eating, making and a meet-up on just about anything. The Main Stage speakers were not just people that have “made it.” But more of people that work to live their life on their terms and a willingness to show us their path, tips, tricks and compassion. If that’s woo-woo, I’ll take an extra serving please!“

Here’s a great video that shared some of what 2018 was about and where the event headed next.

Filed Under: World Domination Summit Tagged With: #wds2018, acro, acroyoga, ecstatic dance, improv, offers and needs, vulnerageous, WDS, world domination summit

Howdy Pardner

June 26, 2018 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

Want my Help with your Marketing?

I’ve partnered with a few local businesses over the years. One thing I’ve noticed by working closely with them is that their lists have grown and they seem to be succeeding. In one case a local restaurant definitely is busier (they also have great food and are awesome at what they do). The second is a terrarium store that I have been supporting since I first walked through the door. Again, great product; wonderful people and email LIST-BUILDING has been a part of their marketing!

This has led me to wonder what the exact effect of having a super fan working on your marketing is. I don’t have any exact statistics, but my guess is that having me or someone like me backing you and your business or organization could be very valuable. If you’d like to see if we’re a fit for a partnership, please get in touch.

I’m happy to discuss working for trade or other type of exchange.

I hope you’re having a great Summer. I look forward to hearing from you,

Albert Kaufman

Albertideation

PS – You are Amazing!

The confluence of the Callowash and Clackamas Rivers in Oregon, USA!

Filed Under: albertideation Tagged With: expert, having a super fan, marketing, working together

How to use Nextdoor.com to effect Neighborhood Change

June 25, 2018 by albertkaufman 2 Comments

Using Nextdoor to Effect Neighborhood Change

I posted an article about my love of Nextdoor.com and why it’s useful a few years ago. Since then, my thinking about nextdoor.com has changed and grown. I see Nextdoor as a much more powerful tool for neighborhood change than I did in the past. Here are some of the ways I’ve been encouraging my neighbors to make changes that may be for the better. Please read through these and give this a try – if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or write me.

Be the one who starts the conversation. If you want to move the needle on an issue it’s important that you be the one to initiate the conversation on Nextdoor. This allows you to choose which neighborhoods (just yours, others around you or “anyone”) are part of the conversation. For instance, if you’re missing a kitten – you’d want to alert just your neighborhood. If you’re trying to show people a better way to park, the further the reach the better. And, if you’re trying to raise funds to save a theater or movie store – working with friends in other parts of the City is a great way to get maximum coverage. Also, by starting the conversation – you can clearly explain in detail what you’re hoping to achieve and you can provide clear action steps for people to take. You can also moderate the tone of the conversation and possibly edit the original post once new information is added to the thread.
Something is broken on the internet. Eventually, or possibly right away, someone will pooh-pooh your idea or disagree with it, or go off-topic. There’s a wide variety of responses people have when they’re presented with information asking them to change their behavior. I started a conversation recently on why loud motorcycles are not such a great thing. You can imagine the push-back – everything from “having a loud bike saved someone’s life” to “freedom!”. You just toughen up and get used to it. It’s not necessary to respond to every comment in a thread – and, if someone is mean or posting irrelevant information you can “mute” them. I don’t recommend this as a common practice, but it may make your life a little less stressful. I think in the 5 or so years I’ve been active on Nextdoor.com I’ve muted 2-3 people. I often will write the person directly and try to get a discussion going. The key thing is to stay on message – you’re likely trying to make things better for your neighbors – stay with the original topic and don’t get too concerned with off-topic rants.
Nextdoor is different than other social media platforms in a number of ways. If you’re going to post anything on Nextdoor – esp. within a conversation – take a moment to make your point. Longer, careful explanations of your thinking beat short retorts (which also may end up out of order and make no sense at all!) Snarky comments – or questions that don’t exactly follow the stream may get ignored and the person posting probably will end up looking foolish. Don’t be that person – tell a story. Take a moment to educate and illuminate your point.
Spelling, grammar – double-check… Providing links to back up your comments/points – are probably all good things to consider.

Like with all social media – you’re potentially speaking to a large group of people. Take a moment and review what you’ve written to make sure it makes sense – and try for clarity. Sarcasm, and wittiness can easily confuse people.
Remind people about the issue every once in a while. If you have new information to share or you just think it’s time for the 1,000 NEW people who’ve joined your neighborhood group to learn about why it’s not a great idea to beep your car to lock it – add a new comment to the conversation. This will add your thread to the digest version that many people receive daily and thus keep the conversation fresh in peoples’ minds. (This also works in FB groups – if you post a new comment to a conversation, that conversation rises to the top – it doesn’t matter how old the conversation is!) You’ll be surprised that new people will join the conversation whenever you raise it again often adding valuable information to the neighborhood hive mind.

What’s a way that you’d like to see your neighborhood grow and change? Want to start community potlucks? Get more people to rip out their lawns and plant gardens? Encourage people to use less pesticides? Whatever it is, take the plunge – give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised that if you can start with a positive tone and stay on topic, you’ll actually have your neighbors listening to you and possibly following your suggestions which will improve life where you live. I’ve tried this with everything from some of the above to issues like gun control and trying to stop fighter jets from using residential neighborhoods for their flight path. All of the conversations are still there waiting for me or someone else to continually add to them. To me Nextdoor.com is the best tool ever invented for local organizing. It’s not perfect (where’s the ride-share app? Neighborhood dating match-up? But as it is, this is quite a powerful tool and I recommend giving it a try where you live in the way I have outlined above.

Happy activating!

Albert Kaufman, 5.25.18

PS – If Nextdoor.com is not popular in your area, hop on and get started. It likely will grow and like many things – it’s good to be involved early. Perhaps you have something similar where you live – use the above guide with whatever platform is available.

PPS – Here’s my next Nextdoor.com article. It’s about how to use Nextdoor in combination with other digital tools to build a local friends/cause network. Check it out.

This article was updated on 10.17.19, and again on 3.28.22

Filed Under: nextdoor.com Tagged With: caring, community change, making a difference, nextdoor, nextdoor.com, you can do it

Guest Post: At the Root: Trees Rule

March 20, 2018 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

At the Root: Trees Rule

By Guest Blogger: Eileen Stark, Portland, Oregon

Although the region’s unique wetlands and grasslands carry the greatest diversity of species, it is the forests that dominate and most distinctly characterize the Pacific Northwest. Structurally complex, dense, and immense ecosystems, forests sustain trees that substantially outgrow and outlive other plants and tolerate temperature variation and soil differences better. When the first European settlers arrived, conifers covered nearly the entire landscape of western British Columbia and Washington, and northwestern Oregon–from coast to Cascade crest–including the Puget Trough and parts of the Georgia Basin and Willamette Valley. Real Gardens Grow Natives

These conifers (and other dominant species) are known as keystone species because of their strong and often unique effects on their ecosystem. Though they are greatly outnumbered by smaller plants in the forest, their contributions are mammoth. Cool, wet winters and mild, dry summers, along with rich soils, have made for optimum evergreen growing conditions.

Conifers are able to photosynthesize during much of the year and are essential for watershed stabilization. Some species are the most massive on earth, often growing over 200 feet tall and living for more than 500 years. Worldwide, conifers represent the largest terrestrial “carbon sink,” where carbon is packed away in plant tissue above and below ground. The wettest forests–those on the west side of coastal mountain ranges–were once especially complex, with lush layering and much variation in tree age. Logging has eliminated much of the original, most productive old-growth forests, and massive clearcutting has resulted in severe fragmentation. Today, much forested land is “second growth” that has followed logging and wildfire.

Garry oak (or Oregon White oak) ecosystems, where these oaks grow naturally, have become rare, with only a very small percentage remaining. The loss of these unique ecosystems puts all the species that rely on them in jeopardy, and indeed, some species have already been lost, while many of the remaining are at risk. If you live on land that was once part of a Garry oak ecosystem and are starting with a blank slate, consider planting Garry oaks and associated species like madrone (Arbutus menziesii), oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium), and baldhip rose (Rosa gymnocarpa). If your site is too small for large trees, grow the smaller associated species in a meadowlike garden or rock garden. Spring ephemerals include white fawn lily (Erythronium oregonum), Henderson’s shooting star (Dodecatheon hendersonii), and camas (Camassia quamash). Mid-bloomers include tiger lily (Lilium columbianum), nodding onion (Allium cernuum), stonecrop (Sedum spp.), harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), and western columbine (Aquilegia formosa); for late blooms try yarrow (Achillea millefolium var. occidentalis), showy fleabane (Erigeron speciosus), and goldenrod (Solidago canadensis).

Most yards can support more trees, whether evergreen or deciduous, than they do. If you have the space, grow large trees–the oaks, the pines, the firs–that are quintessential to our region and will help replace some of the habitat that has been lost to development and logging. Just one Western red cedar (Thuja plicata) will provide dense shelter and nesting sites for various birds and small mammals, bark that can be used as nesting material, food for seed-eating birds and browsing mammals, and, as the trees mature, cavities for roosting and cavity-nesting birds.

In urban areas, street trees that grow in parking strips could be native species (as well as the other plants you grow there). Some good choices for narrow parking strips (not less than 4 feet wide) include cascara (Rhamnus purshiana), Douglas maple (Acer glabrum), and black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii), and for wider strips (greater than 6 feet wide) and without overhead utility wires, Garry oak (Quercus garryana), and Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia). Always check with your city’s urban forestry office before planting.

Excerpt from Real Gardens Grow Natives: Design, Plant, & Enjoy a Healthy Northwest Garden by Eileen M. Stark (Mountaineers Books, 2014)

Filed Under: tree planting Tagged With: conifers, eileen stark, Oregon, pacific northwest, PNW, Portland, tree planting, trees

Oxygen

March 19, 2018 by albertkaufman 1 Comment

Plant Trees – Leave Trees Standing – For better health for all living beings

Humans and other species thrive on oxygen. Trees and other plants create oxygen. So, you’d think if we wanted to live long, healthy lives and save other species – we’d plant as many trees as possible. Big trees also give off more oxygen than young trees – so, leaving big trees standing also makes sense for oxygen production.

If you’ve ever been in a plant store or the middle of a forest you know how good it feels to be breathing higher concentrations of oxygen.

So, for greater planetary health and better longevity – plant trees whenever possible and work to stop trees from being cut down everywhere. The End

Well, not exactly. So, the thoughts above came from me mulling over a friend who has a tree in her front yard and two trees in her planting strip out front. She’s got yellow tags circling all three – and mentioned that the 2 trees in the planting strip are not well and that the big tree out front threatens her house.

Here’s where my mind goes.

The trees in the planting strip – The City mentioned that she wouldn’t get permitted to have 2 trees there, and so if she replants she’ll only get to plant 1 tree. I didn’t look closely at the trees – but will encourage her to feed the trees and take care of them and see if she can keep them going. They are about 10 feet tall and possibly could grow much taller. Every street tree adds shade, oxygen, traffic calming, bird habitat, and property value increase (I think it’s $10K per tree).
The big tree in the middle of the lawn – the shade to the house in the Summer (the past couple of summers in Portland have been incredibly hot) – probably reduces heating bills and glare + the other attributes mentioned above. Yes, there are costs to owning trees – pruning, and caring for the tree.
One thing that most people don’t think about is the whole canopy – the trees covering Portland and what the cumulative effect of many trees has on our lives. IMHO, the more trees the better = more oxygen. It’s also a beautiful thing. I’m looking out a 2nd story window right now across the roofline of SE Portland and there are many trees. Remove one and you remove beauty for someone who is used to seeing your tree. + Autumn Leaves.

I hope you’ll reconsider when you think about removing a tree for some good reason. Tree companies who come out to talk trees make money from the tree removal. The Urban Forestry folks at the City of Portland are also not in the business of keeping trees standing and we’re losing Portland’s canopy at an alarming rate. Mature trees are Biocarbon Heavyweights.

If you’re interested in this topic – we have a group on Facebook organized to keep tall trees standing. As well as an email list for this topic. Thanks for your consideration.

Oh, and plant trees (see above) – fruit trees, nut trees, shade trees – Friends of Trees is a great place to start.

Here’s to your health and our planet’s health.

3.19.18: Eileen writes: “Yes and don’t forget about carbon sequestration. And that regional native trees provide more food and other habitat for wildlife.”

Filed Under: tree planting Tagged With: biocarbon, leave tall trees standing, mature trees, oxygen, photosynthesis, trees

City Parking – how to make the most out of the space we’ve got

March 16, 2018 by albertkaufman Leave a Comment

City Parking

I heard of the term “city parking” years ago. What it means is that in most situations, you pull your car up forward as far as it will go – leaving some room between you and the car in front or a driveway. And then the person who parks behind you does the same. This can lead to a lot less parallel parking and a better use of space.

I tried to find something on this online, but have not succeeded – if anyone has a better resource than my simple explanation, please post it here 🙂

Given that we’re growing by 112 people a day in Portland, Oregon (Lynn Peterson, candidate for Metro Council President mentioned this in a speech the other day) – figuring out how to park more efficiently will save us all time/energy/frustration. Give this a try and see what you think.

And – I just figured out the best reason to pull forward all the way: it makes YOUR life easier when you continue driving! Pulling out with no car in front of you is way easier than pulling out with a car in front of you!

I did find this article which has some other ideas possibly worth thinking about.

“Cruising around the block to find an open parking space can contribute to as much as twenty-five percent of the congestion, so there is recognition now that if you manage your curb space more efficiently, then you’ll manage your street congestion more efficiently,” says Soumya S. Dey, director of research and technology transfer at the District Department of Transportation (DDOT).”

After posting this on Nextdoor, I got some interesting responses which leads me to think that I should have included in my explanation what not to do:

1. don’t leave a lot of space between you and the car in front of you
2. don’t park in the middle of a block when there are no other cars there – pull up as far as you can to the intersection
3. don’t pull back to the beginning of a block (not sure how to best describe that in urban planning/parking terms)