I had the opportunity to attend the Go Wild Planner Conference this year. The first time I went was in 2019 in Las Vegas. This one was supposed to be in 2020 but we know what happened then! In 2021, we still couldn’t meet in large groups so we were postponed until now. This was the 5th year of Go Wild. The conferences have also been held in New Orleans, Nashville and Austin.
WHAT IS GO WILD
Go Wild is a chance for those who engage in various forms of paper planning to get together to share their love for the craft. Everyone plans in their own style and process. There are those who use stickers to decorate their planners, others who are very minimal with decoration and still others who engage in bullet journaling.
It is also a chance to talk about productivity and goals. Go Wild also leans heavily on self acceptance as well as accepting others just as they are-you are enough as you are is a consistent theme.
DAY ONE
My friend, Debbie and I drove down from the Bay Area. The Anaheim Convention Center was the site of the activities. The 1st day is for registration, meeting new people and attending the welcome party at night. The vendor room was open for exploring which is always a ton of fun as the vendors usually hand out lots of freebies. The Go Wild staff decorate the bathrooms and the lobby including the sides of the escalators.
There are often many opportunities for fun photos!!
During the welcome party, I got to meet Plan with Laur who has a Youtube channel devoted to productivity and goal setting.
DAY TWO
The next day is full of speakers including Stephanie Fleming, creator of MAMBI (Me and My Big Ideas) and the Happy Planner, Choe Hilliard, comedian, Kristina Kardous, creater of the Plum Planner, Amanda LaCount, Dancer and many more. The atmosphere is electric with fun, vibrant energy. There is a DJ who plays fun dance music in between the speakers.
When you walk into the conference room, the tables are all decorated by their sponsors with lots of swag. It is a race to get to what people think are the “best” tables. The truth is that all of the tables are good. You receive hundreds of dollars worth of products.
Debbie and I chose to sit at this table (1st photo) with the water bottles-the Erin Condren table. This was our choice because we liked that the products were functional and not too “cutesy”. Neither of us “decorate” our planners too much. We are what are considered “functional” planners. We use our planners to actually keep information, appointments, etc… and use stickers and washi tape sparingly.
The atmosphere is very lively and party like. They gave us these light up wands when we walked into the room and several times we had dance parties with our wands!!
We had several speakers, received lots of swag and had energy breaks with yummy food and drinks.
This morning’s speakers included Chole Hilliard, comedian, Megan and Myra of Planners and Wine podcast as well as Lameka Alston, designer and owner of Capital Chic Designs. In 2019 during Las Vegas Go Wild, Lameka attended the Maker’s Showcase to talk about her products and was chosen by Michael’s to have her products sold at Michael’s stores all around the country! While the conference is mostly about planning, there is also an aspect that includes business development for creators.
During a break in the afternoon, Debbie and I headed to the mall where there is a brick and mortar Erin Condren store of which there are only 3 in the U.S.
In the evening, there was a crop night where speakers showed us possible ways to use their products and we got to play with the products!
DAY THREE
This is the final day of the conference with more speakers and then the pajama party to close out the night with more food and an open bar!
Again, most of the speakers were fun and inspiring. However, there was one very disappointing speaker and unfortunately, she was our keynote speaker. Actress and activist, Alicia Silverstone, talked a lot about being a vegan and her book. That was not a problem. The issue was that she was very condescending towards those who are not vegans and at times came across as an anti-vax, anti-mask person. She talked about traveling to another state to make a movie and being required to quarantine but breaking quarantine so that she and her son could walk outside! It was really unfortunate because as I stated previously this conference is big on being your whole authentic self without judgement.
Thankfully, the party was fun enough to kill those vibes. Debbie and I had met some really nice and fun women earlier in the morning who we hung out with all day and met up with for the party. We had so much that one of the women and I will be going to the West Coast Planners conference in April!! This is very fitting because one of the goals of this conference and many like this are to develop supportive friendships with people who share the same interest!! I’ve never been to the West Coast Planner conference so I’m looking forward to comparing the two!
While the conference was more scaled back than in 2019, it was still a lot of fun. We don’t know where or when the 2023 conference will be yet but I think that I’ll want to go!
I know that a conference for paper planners seems strange in this digital world but I say it’s no more strange than adults who dress up like cartoon characters or play fantasy card games and hang out together!
Thoughts? Share in the comments!!
Me and Debbie on the light up see saw at the pajama party!!! Lots of giggles!!!
Click on the video for a little joy!
I saved this for a few days to read and it was worth the wait! Loved all the pictures and the comments – really gave the feel for the conference. Glad you guys had such a great time. And I started reading it from my email, but there was no video at the end, so switched to the website. It’s such a different experience in reading through – so much easier! And the video was there – so much fun!!