Today, you can find a conference for anything. Technology, finance, entrepreneurship, retail, beauty, and fashion are just a few of the industries that promote several conferences a year. Thousands of people travel as groups and some solo with the intention to network, learn something new or maybe just a good way to get out of the office. Though the agendas are packed with speakers and activities to keep you engaged from early morning to late in the evening, many leave you wanting more. Joshua Jordison, cofounder of The Human Gathering, was one of those people. “I started to realize that the entire conference industry was broken. I just couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I decided to create it,” he said.
Jordison and cofounder, Wes Chapman, launched The Human Gathering in early 2016 with the concept of bringing together those who desire to “leave a mark” on this world. It attracts some of the most influential founders, executives, scientists, celebrities, artists, investors and philanthropists. “I was in Las Vegas when I thought of the idea. I had just attended another disappointing conference where I wasted more time and money,” recounted Jordison. “I wanted to create something that would be intimate, and world-class in terms of the speakers and more importantly the people who would attend,” Jordison said. “I wanted to find the optimal number of people to come together for an immersive experience that would lead to a real connection and actual value. We allowed 185 people to attend the first year and have cut back that number ever since,” he explained.
While Jordison never reveals who all of their attendees are, their collective net worth is purported to be more than $25 billion. “It isn’t just about how successful or wealthy people are. We look, first and foremost, for people who are good human beings. I know that sounds weird, but it really does make a difference. Once we figure out that an applicant is a good person, we look for passion and specifically for people who have access to the resources to leave a mark on the world,” he said. “This isn’t a new concept. Steve Jobs referred to it as “Denting The Universe”. Leaving a mark is just our way of talking about this concept,” he added. All attendees fill out an application and go through an interviewing process.
Going into their fourth year, The Human Gathering has featured speakers like: Peter Diamandis (Founder, Xprize), Sheri Salata (Former President of The Oprah Winfrey Network), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Randy Jackson (American Idol), Justin Kan (Founder, Twitch), Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story), Kara Goldin (Founder, Hint Water), Bill Burton (Former US Deputy Press Secretary) and dozens of other notable names. “My goal is always to bring in speakers who are hard to get to or who may seem untouchable. Most conferences pay through the nose for their speakers. I think the audience can feel that they’re just there to collect a paycheck. We’ve never compensated a speaker to be there – not a single dime. That’s possible because they all come in through our personal relationships,” said Jordison.
Given his rolodex, it’s easy to imagine Jordison being born into a wealthy, well connected family. In reality, Jordison grew up in a poor, violent suburb of Los Angeles called Norwalk. “For most of my childhood, our family of four lived on about $2,000 a month. We would get food assistance from our church and my grandparents would help out a lot,” he said. “We didn’t have a lot of money, but I was given a foundation of absolute, unconditional love. With that foundation, I’ve been able to do some pretty remarkable things by the age of 32,” Jordison said. “I won the lottery when it comes to my parents and family,” he added.
He recalls waking up in the middle of the night when he was 7, and seeing his father laying half-way on the couch in the living room with a bloody gunshot wound to the arm. He was shot by gang members one night after he was leaving church from volunteering to help at-risk youth. “We found out years later that our next door neighbor had hired those gang members to kill my dad. Thankfully, he survived the attempt on his life. But that incident changed me in a profound way. It has driven me ever since,” he said. He realized that he took on the responsibility of saving himself and his entire family. “I can remember being in my early 20s and feeling angry at myself for not having everything figured out already,” Jordison laughed. “But I had this desire to accomplish so much,” he said.
Jordison eventually dropped out of college and took on a survival job for a short time working in a machinist shop making $10 an hour. “I would weld, drill through solid steel with my bare hands and a handheld drill and basically just do anything that I was qualified to do which wasn’t much,” he said. After being frustrated with going from job to job making little to no money, Jordison stumbled into a bookstore and picked up something that would change his life forever. He discovered the book Awaken the Giant Within, by Tony Robbins. “I went to Barnes & Noble several times to finish the book, because I couldn’t afford to buy it,” Jordison said. “I can remember reading the first chapter and thinking that this was the first time anyone outside of my own head thought the way I thought. It was like Tony was in my head and knew the way I saw the world. It was unbelievably freeing,” he explained.
After finishing the book, Jordison made a decision to focus on building a strong network. “In my 20s, I started to connect with powerful people and just give, give and give times a thousand without asking them for anything. I looked at that years as a time to build,” explained Jordison. “I started going to the right parties, dinners and meeting people in different industries,” he said. Now, Jordison is no more than one degree of separation from anyone he wants to meet, in any industry. “I just got really good at introducing one powerful person to another, even if I didn’t know one of them or in some cases either of them. Connecting with interesting people is something that just comes naturally to me,” he added.
“He’s one of the most well connected people I have ever met in my entire life,” said Tom Bilyeu (Founder, Quest Nutrition) of Jordison. A two time speaker at The Human Gathering, Bilyeu met Jordison at a private event years ago. “As with all my relationships, I spent years giving Tom value, getting him into meetings with household names and never asking for anything,” said Jordison. Over the years, Jordison has worked with some of the biggest celebrities, founders and brands in the world including companies like Facebook, Pepsi, and Apple.
When Jordison isn’t running The Human Gathering, he works with the family members of the some of the most famous people in the world to create their own legacy. “I’ve been managing Rodney King’s daughter [Lora King] for the past two years. We have an incredible partnership. She’s launching a scholarship program to celebrate and support African American fathers. We have been able to secure some incredibly influential people to back it,” Jordison said.
Last December, Jordison had a full circle moment when he and King were invited to attend Tony Robbin’s flagship event “Date With Destiny”. “It was surreal for me, because ever since I read his book I made a promise to myself that I would meet him one day and find a way to collaborate. I was honestly in shock for a while when Tony invited us to attend as his personal guests. I mean, you don’t get to do that unless you’re Oprah or something,” Jordison laughed. “They say you should never meet your heroes, because they might disappoint you. Tony is an exception to that rule,” he added.
Jordison is also working on a special project with his longtime friend James Haven, actor and older brother of Angelina Jolie. “James is brilliant, and I’m convinced he’s a creative genius. I want his name to stand on its own, because he is a truly special person,” he expressed.
The future of The Human Gathering is a bit of a mystery, but Jordison claims he will never allow more than a hundred people or so at any given gathering. “We will never be one of those large conferences where you find yourself smashed together in an ugly hotel ballroom with thousands of other strangers. I can’t stand that. I will never let The Human Gathering turn into that. We will stay small and magical, forever,” he said. “My main goal with The Human Gathering is always to blow people away. It’s also one of the ways I share my network. I have to be incredibly careful about who gets access to me, because those people ultimately get access to my friends, many of whom are some of the most interesting, powerful people in the world,” he said. As he continues to scratch his own itch and disrupt the world of conferences, Jordison does not plan to talk much about it publicly. “If anything, we will reveal less and less about The Human Gathering as time goes on.” He added, “This may be the final interview I give.”
