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Hello friends! Last weekend I hosted NeuroDiversion in Austin, Texas—here’s a short writeup with some pictures.
Coming up in a couple weeks: I’m hosting a free online conversation with Mike Michalowicz and Nir Eyal on liberating beliefs for time and money. Everyone is welcome and I’d love for you to join!
NeuroDiversion Year Two: A Mentalist, a Hula Hoop Teacher, and 500 Special People
A weekend gathering with neurodivergent humans and the people who support them.
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In life, if you’re lucky, you get the chance at some point to work on something that feels deeply meaningful. You probably do a lot of random work as well, and that’s just part of the human experience—but hopefully some of the effort ends up shining through as “things to be proud of.”
Last weekend I hosted NeuroDiversion 26, the sequel to our inaugural gathering last year in celebration of all types of neurodivergence. This time, more than 500 people traveled in from all across the U.S. and Canada, as well as 11 additional countries.
The first year was solid, but this year was a real leap forward. I’m very proud of our team! We leveled up all-around, with 40+ speakers, the debut of an expo format for dozens of vendors, and a lot more attention to detail.
In this post I’ll share a few highlights and stories. I realize if you weren’t there, it’s hard to fully experience the moment—and you also might not be interested. (Feel free to skip this post if so.) But for those who like live events, or neurodivergence, or just a rundown of an intense weekend, keep reading.
A Tale of 8 Photos
Rather than take you through everything that happened sequentially, I’ll share the experience through these eight photos. (There are more than 1,000 additional images on my Flickr, if you’d like to keep scrolling.)
Gary Ware All Tied Up
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My co-facilitator Gary Ware and I like to mix things up when we open the show. This year’s bit involved Gary getting a little too inspired by the cowboy “trick roper” who performed at the opening party the night before. One thing led to another, and Gary ended up stuck overnight in the green room.
We had security cam footage and everything—him trying to lasso his way out, pacing around, the whole ordeal—before another speaker finally came to the rescue and delivered Gary to the stage. It was completely ridiculous, which is how we like to start things.
The Amazing Dr. Scott (Barry Kaufman)
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Scott Barry Kaufman is a psychologist and author, but apparently he’s also a mentalist? His talk turned into a full interactive experience—onstage magic, a live FaceTime call with a random stranger somewhere in the United States, and a card trick that somehow involved each person in the audience.
I still don’t fully understand how any of it worked, which I think is the point.
The Vibe With Ky (Westcott)
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It was really great to have Kyrus Keenan Westcott with us this year. I didn’t know Ky very well before the conference, and connecting with him turned out to be one of the highlights for me personally. He brought this energy that just landed with the whole room. Before the talk, he told me he was going to “bring the spunk”—and clearly he did!