ITO Compass in Chicago

I picked up some useful things during the first day (Saturday), but wasn't able to make it back down for Sunday because of some family health problems. Kind of a shame, it seemed like Sunday was going to be more of the technical side and perhaps a bit less of the business coach push side.
 
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Another great meeting! Bushed after the 8-hr drive to and from, but well worth it nonetheless. I always get a couple of 'aha' moments and a list of things to implement in my business. Listened to the keynote speaker's other book on the way to and from: "Profit First." Excellent read. Recommended for everyone running their own businesses. Especially for accounting-types like me, it's giving me a new lens through which to view my business. Outstanding.
 
I picked up some useful things during the first day (Saturday), but wasn't able to make it back down for Sunday because of some family health problems. Kind of a shame, it seemed like Sunday was going to be more of the technical side and perhaps a bit less of the business coach push side.
Sunday did have some peer focused stuff, however, the schedule was completely a mess because the AC wasn't on at WeWork. The importance of reading those terms of service!
 
Another great meeting! Bushed after the 8-hr drive to and from, but well worth it nonetheless. I always get a couple of 'aha' moments and a list of things to implement in my business. Listened to the keynote speaker's other book on the way to and from: "Profit First." Excellent read. Recommended for everyone running their own businesses. Especially for accounting-types like me, it's giving me a new lens through which to view my business. Outstanding.
Mike is AMAZING. He was worth the cost of the event by far. Wish he would have been been able to do his workshop and boatride with us.
 
the schedule was completely a mess because the AC wasn't on at WeWork.

In addition, the reason for the Saturday at Harry Caray's was because (from what I heard) when Lori went in there to double check everything the space was large enough for everyone - as long as they were standing all day. Makes it a little challenging to take notes.
 
In addition, the reason for the Saturday at Harry Caray's was because (from what I heard) when Lori went in there to double check everything the space was large enough for everyone - as long as they were standing all day. Makes it a little challenging to take notes.
Yes. That is correct. I heard the same thing from sponsors. There was never a meeting of the minds regarding the venue. Cardinal rule we business veterans learn. Everything must be signed and in the contract. Until it's written down, it doesn't really exist.
 
I'm excited for next year. I'm sure things were learned from this one and the next will be that much better. I wonder if there will be a survey. I hope so, for constructive criticism.

Edit: posted to the FB group. Apparently their will be.
 
Mike is AMAZING. He was worth the cost of the event by far.

Indeed. He's a great speaker - fun to listen to and engaging. Having gotten through two of his audio books now (where he does the reading), I can confirm they are the same. Not to mention that he is NOT afraid to admit his own road to success was pretty rocky - and give the ugly details.

Edit: ..and Lori did an amazing job with the conference - a lot of things went wrong, but she managed to keep things moving and roll with the punches. Despite having to be a little flexible, I still enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. I'll definitely be back next year for #4.
 
Edit: ..and Lori did an amazing job with the conference - a lot of things went wrong, but she managed to keep things moving and roll with the punches. Despite having to be a little flexible, I still enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. I'll definitely be back next year for #4.

This was a reboot if we want to call it that. This did not share any DNA from the Unconvention, except the general concept and a few of the participants. She started completely from scratch on this, making it even more impressive the amount of work. Starting something like that takes a HUGE amount of work. She took ownership of the whole project and got it done!

It would be year 2 of ITO Compass and/or year 3 of Unconvention. Separate brands, separate products. We see this in IT. Someone leaves a company to spin off their own product.

I know I got a bit confused but she sat me down and explained that all to me. I didn't realize all those details, which also explained the snags. It's been spun off into an entire coaching product and program. I didn't know all that and hadn't adjusted or managed my expectations.

Honestly it was great. I learned a ton and already made my money back with some of the products I'm setup to sell. Kinda like when I went to Germany and thought I was ordering one thing and got another. I was shocked, it wasn't what I thought I ordered (darn Google translate) but it was still tasty.
 
I know I got a bit confused but she sat me down and explained that all to me. I didn't realize all those details, which also explained the snags. It's been spun off into an entire coaching product and program. I didn't know all that and hadn't adjusted or managed my expectations.
That's interesting. I feel we were led to believe that it was the Unconvention with a new name, not a completely different event. It wasn't until everyone was there that it was realized.
 
It's been spun off into an entire coaching product and program.

Ahh. I gathered that from context - just didn't have the whole story. I think this is how the event gives the most value, btw. Most techs who start a business already have the 'tech' part down or at least partially-learned. It's the 'business' part that we/they are lacking. I've survived (I'll reserve the term 'succeeded' until I'm debt-free & handing over a well-oiled entity to my progeny) 14 years now, so I didn't screw it up too bad; but I STILL got several great ideas from the event about how to improve my business. That is worth the conference fee & travel time many times over.
 
Ahh. I gathered that from context - just didn't have the whole story. I think this is how the event gives the most value, btw. Most techs who start a business already have the 'tech' part down or at least partially-learned. It's the 'business' part that we/they are lacking. I've survived (I'll reserve the term 'succeeded' until I'm debt-free & handing over a well-oiled entity to my progeny) 14 years now, so I didn't screw it up too bad; but I STILL got several great ideas from the event about how to improve my business. That is worth the conference fee & travel time many times over.
Personally I was looking forward to the tech stuff. I had no interest in the people trying to sell me leads for $2000. We'll see how this progresses for next year. I was looking to have more in the trenches, this is how we do stuff on many topics. You can't please everyone though.
 
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