A storm descended on Dallas Texas this weekend.  110 of the brightest up and coming minds in the financial planning profession met at the University of Dallas Texas in Richardson for the annual FPA NexGen Gathering conference.

This was my 4th year attending.  At the end of each year I feel exhausted and energized, looking forward to the next year.  This year was no different.  We covered some amazing ground.  Folks discussed in depth how we were pursuing our careers, how we were developing as a profession and what it meant to be a professional.  In short, how to “Think… Like a CFP”

Easy topics, right?

Of course there’s never enough time to discuss everything as fully as we’d like and I have dozens of steps for follow up.  I feel closer to the people who have come before and honored to learn from the new people who came.

This conference is one of my greatest inspirations.  From the friends that I’ve made over these weekends to the innovative ideas that I and others find, it’s amazing and completely unlike what most people project.

I wanted to share a couple of my highlights:

1. Marty Kurtz, of the Planning Center, asking the next generation of CFP® Pros if they are going to carry the baton of the profession to the next generations
2. That there were 3 sessions (!!!) on Life Planning and Financial Planning 3.0
   1. I am *very* excited for Financial Planning 3.0: Evolving Our Relationships with Money (Update: IT’S IN PRINT!!)to be in print
   2. Bringing Richard Wagner, into one of the sessions virtually so the next generation could ask him their burning questions
3. Getting to see my study group in-person
4. Watching all the hard work Rianka Dorsainvil of Your Greatest Contribution manifest into an incredible conference
5. Meeting in-person with a few of the up and  coming interviewees for Digital Marketing 4FP

to name a few examples but there are so many more.

From a selfish perspective, I encourage you to NOT COME to this conference, for the simple reason that I want to go.  We’re starting to hit capacity and there were a number of people who weren’t there that I wish were (This is the first Gathering where Michael Kitces wasn’t able to attend).

Okay, that’s not really true, I just don’t want the special nature of the FPA NexGen Gathering conferences to ever lose that special something that I fell in love with in back in Minnesota so many years ago.