Conferences. You might attend one because you have to for employment, business, and/or educational reasons. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to want to attend one for more reasons than just a day or two away from work.
For me and many in the personal finance community, FinCon is a conference we wholeheartedly want to attend.
It provides us with a real-time opportunity to connect with others, contribute to the community, conduct business-related blogging activities (or other types of media activities), learn, and celebrate a bit too.
Vicki and me taking a photo op on the ‘Green Carpet’ heading into the Plutus Awards event.
I started this blog post with the intention of recapping my FinCon18 experience…it morphed into something a bit different…
Last year I experienced FinCon as a newbie, and I loved it. From the people I met to the sessions I attended, FinCon17 was awesome. I had so much fun I bought my ticket for FinCon18 as soon as I got home from 2017’s event.
2018’s event is now well in the books, and I can indeed say it was awesome too (so much so that I’ve bought my ticket for 2019). I spent time connecting with new friends and those I met last year, contributing to the community through meet-ups and volunteering, and conducting some business at the expo and in arranged meetings.
Me, Laurie from TheThreeYearExperiment.com, and Vicki from MakeSmarterDecisions.com and my partner at WomenWhoMoney.com and WomensMoneyTalk.com
Me and Steve from ThinkSaveRetire.com
Yes, I was truly shocked to win a Plutus Award!
With the many FinCon18 recaps circulating on the Internet, you could gather it’s excellent for all the connecting, contributing, and conducting. But you might be a little confused too by some of the headlines:
- FinCon is Like High School
- Five #FinCon18 Takeaways That Won’t 10x Anything
- The One Main Thing I Learned at #FinCon18
- Why I’m Not Buying a Ticket to FinCon19 (& FinCon18 Recap)
- FinCon… It’s Really All About the People
- How to Know When You Need a Break at a Professional Conference
- Chief Mom Officer Goes to FinCon 2018, Wins An Award, And Rounds Up 50+ Recaps
As you’ll see from the few posts I listed above, or the 50 plus one’s Liz has linked to in her post, there is no one right way (or wrong way) to do FinCon. But you don’t need me to tell you it will be different for everyone.
Hell, it will be different for you year-to-year even. Not because it will be in a new location, or because there will be different attendees, speakers, vendors, sessions, or activities. But because you will be different.
If You Choose to Be.
But first, you’ve got to choose to go. To FinCon or any other conference, event, party, job, etc.
In 2016 I didn’t know there was a FinCon, Plutus Award, nor did I have a blog or have any experience at blogging let alone know what a plugin or SEO was.
In February 2017, I launched this blog, and a few months later I won my way to FinCon17.
In March of 2018, I co-launched another blog, followed by another in May 2018, and at FinCon18 won a Plutus Award! Every day I still find it all hard to believe.
All that to say, I made choices instead of just wanting.
I stopped just wanting to be a blogger and chose to be a blogger. I stopped just wanting to go to FinCon and chose to go to FinCon. I stopped just wanting to meet Mr. Money Mustache (Mr. MMM) and chose to meet Mr. Money Mustache! (And ask for a selfie!)
Pete aka Mr. MMM and Me at FinCon18
So What’s My Point?
Life goes fast. Wanting doesn’t help us live it. Choosing does.
Whether it’s FinCon, a new career, a new city, or even a new habit we think we want. We get to make a choice. We need to make a choice. Or life just goes by.
We don’t know what next year or even tomorrow will bring. It could be just as thrilling as this one, more so, or it could not. Chances are if we choose to live it instead of just dreaming about it we won’t be disappointed.
Does everything work out as we imagine? Hell no. I’ve had many failures, embarrassments, and tears, to prove it. I’m just glad I made choices and tried though. Because just wanting doesn’t get us anywhere.
So, get over your big but, make a choice and see what you can accomplish today, tomorrow and this next year.
If you’d really like a recap of my FinCon18 experience, let me know by email – amy@lifezemplified.com
Cheers!
FinCon18 friends toasting Fritz, from TheRetirementManifesto.com, on his Plutus Award win
You and everyone at Women who Money were my FinCon faves! <3
Ditto Penny! So awesome to meet the Mr. and HP too! ?
I love this! Get in the game. Best line, “Chances are if we choose to live it instead of just dreaming about it we won’t be disappointed.
Get in the game, Yes! Okay, some games I’d be better off on the sidelines…but yessss get in there! 🙂
Just choose to do something, indeed! Wow, I’m honored to have my toast made public to all!! Congrats on your Plutus Award, well earned! I’ll see you at FinCon19!!
I hope you celebrated in some capacity, Fritz! Glad we’ll see you in 2019!
It was so good to see you at Fincon. I teared up a bit when you and Penny won awards! And you have such a good point about just choosing to go/do/be. You never know what will happen in life until you start showing up and see where it takes you!
Always great to see you as well Jillian! Lean in right? 🙂 XO
Love it, Amy! Congrats on the Plutus and thanks for being such an awesome friend! So glad we got to hang out again (even though you would have ditched all of us to hang with Mr. Money Mustache a little longer!). 🙂
— Jim
Gonna miss you so much next year! Thanks for hanging with me and sharing your beer. 🙂 Looking forward to our meet-up in Cleveland next year! ?
There was a lot of love to be shared at FinCon. Meeting you and Vicki was like finding these invisible cheerleaders that had been secretly rooting for me from behind the curtain of the Rockstar Forum. Cool thing is, you both exceeded my already high expectations.
I love your documentation of eliminating the boundaries between your ideal life and your real life, and how consequently your “job” has morphed into this wonderful community you are so central to.
Lots of us share in your victories, big and small, so keep up the awesome work.
Fondly,
CD
I was so thrilled to meet you!!! Thank you for all your kind words. Hope to converse more someday soon. I do love this community I’ve fallen into. ?
Wait, what? You mean WANTING something isn’t enough? You have to take action to get it?
Congrats again on the Plutus. That photo of you backstage is my favorite for the year. Priceless. And congrats on all of your achievements. You’ve done a lot of good choosing.
HA! I know I’m stating some of the obvious but I even need to remind myself sometimes. 🙂
Thank you, means a lot to me. 🙂
And on that note, today I’m choosing to go to Greece for Chautauqua. Alone. Scary, but of course with this community, there is no such thing as alone! It was a pleasure meeting you and Vicki and many others. And yeah, I already bought FinCon19.
You go, girl! That’s awesome, Susan! I look forward to hearing all about it. Great meeting you too, I wish we could have talked more. We’ll have to make a date for ’19.
Congrats on the win! Glad you enjoyed FinCon ’18. I did too (despite all the walking necessary in the hotel) and am definitely looking forward to FinCon ’19. Maybe we’ll meet!
Thanks, Abigail! I actually was keeping an eye out for you but didn’t see you. Spotted your mom once or twice though. I’ll definitely look for you again next year!
“So, get over your big but” – I like that 🙂 I’ve got multiple buts to get over, BUT the power to choose is greater than any of them. Thanks, and congratulations on all you’ve accomplished. Wow!
Congratulations to you again too, Ruth! Keep moving forward. 🙂 Thank you!
So glad I chose to go to FinCon this year! Had such an amazing time with the Women Who Money crew!!!
I’m so glad we finally met in person. Looking forward to our next adventures! 🙂
My content is maybe 15% from the PF world on my blog and maybe why I hesitate going. That being said I have FIRE’d because of the blogs I read. I am sure the networking and the education sessions would be a great benefit to my social media and blogging knowledge though.