In late 2005, I got the idea for “Q” and doyouQ.com.  It was a game that helps people have fun, really connect and build a sense of community.

My wife, Melissa, and I felt so strongly that there needed to be more fun ways to connect in the world, so we decided to start a publishing company to launch the game.

Well… things were humming along great, but in April of 2006, we started to run into road block after road block.  Little things like printing challenges… computers going down… and yes… the big one… running out of capital (Ouch!).

In May… we were at a breaking point.  We had to decide whether to cut and run… or dig in deeper.  So… what did we do?

We threw a party.  Yeah… I said a party.

We thought… hey… EVERYBODY has big dreams.  And… EVERYBODY comes up against obstacles… challenges and road blocks… in pursuit of their dreams.  So… why not bring everybody together to dream… connect… and see what happens?

So… we pushed our furniture out the way…. and we got ready for people to post their dreams on our walls.  And… then we sent an e-mail to 20 to 30 friends inviting them to come and dream big.

People were able to post their dreams anonymously… and they were encouraged to write down anything that was getting in the way.  Then… every body had the opportunity to go around and look at other people’s dreams to see if they could connect with a dream… and/or help out in any way.

People moved around the house like it was an art gallery.  Looking at the dreams like they were pieces of priceless art.  Then… they started connecting with the dreams.

People wrote down things like… “Hey… if you need a contact at that business… let me know.  I can help you out. Just give me a call (###-####)” or “Wow… I totally want to be a part of this.  Call me. ###-####.”  Others just wrote down encouraging stuff like: “This is an awesome dream!  I can’t wait to see it happen!  It just has to!”

Well… we thought that the party was only going to last one night… but instead… it lasted an entire week!

The word got out and people started calling to see if they could come over to post their dreams.  Complete strangers started to show up at the door to put up their dreams.  A Satellite TV salesman even stayed for 3 hours… writing down his big dreams and reading about others!  (Later… he let us know that he quit his sales job and went after one of his dreams!)

It was an amazing event.

The last step was getting the written dreams back to the dreamers… so they could read the notes other people had put on their dreams… and connect with the other dreamers.

Honestly… that’s when the real miracles started to happen.  People with dreams of launching businesses started to do it.  Someone who wanted to go to Africa found a way to do it.  People needing help on a service project… got the help.

And… some even happened around Q (www.doyouQ.com)… and so… one of our BIG dreams moved back in to high gear.

Then… a year passed… and we got the nudge that we were supposed to do it again.  But… that it was supposed to be open… literally… to the world.

More importantly… a talented group of dreamers came along side us on this.  And they all did their stuff for FREE.  So… the event could happen… FREE.  Cool huh?

Here’s a video of me talking about the 2nd BIG Dream Gathering… in 2007.

Here’s another video we shot as we were getting ready for our 2nd BIG Dream Gathering in 2007… where I’m talking about why were were doing it…

The event in May of 2007 helped to launch even more dreams and connect people!

So we’ve continued with the BIG dream gatherings and thousands of people have been touched by the events.

We’re continuing to work with organizations and communities to hold BIG Dream Gatherings around the world.

In fact… I now have a new big dream that I write down at each BDG… and it is that I want to help launch ONE MILLION DREAMS in my lifetime.  It’s a little crazy… I know.  But… in some ways… that’s what we are all about.  BIG DREAMS… that might even be a little crazy!

But it’s something that is needed right now… isn’t it?  There’s power in real people dreaming BIG together!  There’s something amazing that happens when people come together for the express purpose of dreaming big and helping each other to achieve those goals and dreams.

Heck… we figure… real people dreaming big together is about the most recession-proof idea there is!

And let’s face it… WE NEED TO BE DREAMING BIG RIGHT NOW!  And we need each other to achieve those big dreams!

So… if you’re a community interested in bringing the BIG Dream Gathering to your area… contact us at contactus@BIGdreamgathering.com and we’ll talk!

And… when a BIG Dream Gathering visits your area… we invite you to come… dream… connect… have some fun!

Let’s just see what happens with YOUR BIG dreams!

Until we hit a million dreams launched,

Mitch Matthews

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