The Year of Conferences

The Year of Conferences

If you had any doubt about it, dispel of it right now. 2020 will be the year of conferences. The financial independence movement has reached a turning point, and the number and interest of conference goers has exploded. There are many fascinating, fun, and downright exciting meetings planned for the next calendar year.

Some are large. Others are small. Some are specialty oriented. Others will attempt to catch all. Some are more financially independence oriented, others focus on early retirement. Some are B to B, others B to C, and some are just plain old peer focused.

Here is what to expect.

Big Tent

The number of big tent conferences is exploding as we speak. While FinCon has been the yearly staple, there are specifically two new players this year. In early March, the Econome conference has been dubbed a Ted X type format for financial independence. It promises to provide provocative speakers discussing a new American dream. A crowd of about 700 is expected to show for this much awaited event at The University of Cincinnati.

Grant Sabatier has teamed up with Cody Berman and PT Money of FinCon to create the Financial Freedom Summit which will take place in St Louis in early May. This event will focus on the business to customer model instead of the business to business atmosphere of FinCon. There will be over fifty speakers, a focus on community, and likely many more surprises before this one launches.

And, of course, FinCon is already rapidly selling tickets for next years event in Long Beach, California. This will be year ten for this epic conference that has not only entertained, but provided digital business people with a burgeoning marketplace and a concentrated few days of educational opportunities. Mark off day one, Sept 30 2020, on your calendar immediately.

Specialty

The physician financial independence community continues to grow, thanks in part to James Dahle of The White Coat Investor. His Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference (Dubbed WCICON) will also be in early March 2020 in Las Vegas. This event brings together the best in personal finance as well as medicine.

Bigger Pockets also is having a large conference this October, and I suspect will continue the trend with a similar function planned for October 2020. Here you can learn just about everything real estate, and rub shoulders with the movers and shakers in this lucrative asset class.

Don’t forget, of course, Podcast Movement. A conference I have missed for the last few years, I might just make it to Dallas in early Aug 2020 to up my podcasting game for the future. Apparently not only podcast producers, but also many who want to be podcast guests show up to this event.

Small Tent

Alas, no year would be complete without at least one trip to CampFI. By far one of my favorite get togethers all year, CampFI gathers 50-60 “regular folks” and a handful of speakers to get real about personal finance and financial independence.

Camp Mustache, another small tent favorite, continues to cater to the followers of Mr Money Mustache in the Pacific Northwest and will most assuredly continue in 2020.

Chautauqua is for those seriously interested in financial independence. It comes in a few different flavors. JL Collins and the Donegans put together a small group get together in exotic locations with intense one on one interactions with the experts. In 2020 it is rumored that they will be in Portugal and Croatia. The cost provides a high barrier to entry, but insures that those who attend are serious about life change.

Misc.

There are countless other conferences likely to continue in 2020. Cents Positive (Tanja Hester), Adventures to FI (Jillian Johnsrud), Financial Freedom Through Investing n Real Estate (Peter Kim), and many, many others.

Final Thoughts

2020 will be the year of conferences. As the financial independence/personal finance space continues to grow, there will be more places to meet, learn, and socialize. Big tent events continue to be popular, but there are also a number of small tent and specialty conferences to attend.

I hope to see you at a few.