Camp Mighty update, part 1

By Jaime Willis

Even though I was super excited to go to Camp Mighty, my excitement was equalled by nervousness. Camp Mighty attracted a "best of the best" blogger crowd -- big names that were pretty intimidating to think I'd be mingling and goal-setting with. I was definitely worried that I'd stick out like a sore thumb as a "nobody."

So, I talked to my coach about it on Tuesday while I was in LA. After a fair amount of coaching, she helped me set the intention to "be powerfully motivated and impacted and to powerfully motivate and impact others." I also decided to think of Camp as going in and meeting my friends (that I'd never met) before.

Boyo, did Camp Mighty deliver. On Thursday evening, we had a sort of ice-breaking 'meet and greet' dinner. I arrived at the tent at 7:05pm (the longest I could hold back in the "fashionably late" category), and NO ONE was there.

"Wow," I thought. "These ladies must be serious fashionistas."

I went back to my hotel room, watched another episode of House Hunters on HGTV (I don't have a TV at home, so it was a bit of a guilty pleasure to watch HGTV all weekend).

At 7:40pm, I went back to the tent and a smattering of people were there -- maybe three or four. I thought, "Ok. I don't know what's going on, but let's do this."

I went in with smile on my face and said, "Hi!" A woman greeted me with a pleasant, but quizzical look.

"Is this Camp Mighty?" I asked.

"Ah," she said, "You are in the wrong place -- let me walk you to the commune."

(Seriously. It's called the Commune. Camp Mighty was held at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, which is a very popular renovated Howard Johnson in the mid-century modern style. It's pretty much Hipster Mecca, so of course the property has yurts and a commune, and each room comes equipped with Joseph and the Technicolor Coat robes, a walking stick and two crystals.)

We walked around the hotel to the commune, where, at 7:45pm, the party was in FULL swing. First, I was afraid of being too early, but now I *knew* I was coming in late. Bummer.

I looked around the room for a minute from the comfort of the buffet. Bam! There's Jon and Heather. There's Maggie and Laura. There's Holly. There's AB Chao. Alice. Eden. Heather Spohr's brilliantly red hair stood out in the crowd.

I almost wanted to pinch myself. Am I seriously here? In this room? With these cool people? Wow! I found a smaller, less occupied table and bravely introduced myself to the two attendees who were sitting there, Anna and Sara. They also came to Camp Mighty alone and we spent some time gushing about how nervexciting it was to be here.

And then, the networking began! I met Keryn that night who became my partner in crime the entire weekend. An events planner for Pop Tech, Keryn is the living embodiment of Tinker Bell. She's tiny -- a dancer's body, a pixie haircut, a penchant for large beaded necklaces, and a permanent twinkle in her eye. She's the kindest person -- so incredibly nice, in fact, I think she could successfully rehabilitate the hardest of criminals in a single conversation. She taught elementary school prior to her current gig, so we geeked out a bit on education reform & coaching before we decided to mingle more.

I sat down at the table with my Team Two teammates. I met Jules, who has this amazing smile that makes you want her to like you, just so she'll smile at you more. She was so polished looking that night (and throughout the whole conference). I envy people who can wear a suit jacket with style, as I always feel both incredibly stifled by the structured cut and a bit of a faker -- "I'm not adult enough to wear a suit jacket," I think. She's a non-practicing lawyer (like me) and I swear lawyers must have some innate attributes in common because I could just tell we'd been through the same hell that is law school.

The night begins to blur a bit after this -- The TonTons came on and did an awesome set. I sat down next to Holly and took a picture of her and Anna Beth, who were wearing matching Navy-striped shirts. I even danced a bit. And then, I collapsed back into my room into an almost instantaneous sleep.

To be continued.....

(p.s. I'm posting this from a hotel room in San Antonio, where I am going to another awesome conference. The wifi here is clocking in at late '90s internet speeds, so I apologize for the lack of pictures with this post. I'll update it with photos next week and then you can come back at read it again!)