We’ve attended Rise every year, and it continues to be a wonderful collection of kind humans perpetuating greater gentleness to the rest of the world. This is the third annual Rise gathering, and it promises to be just as third eye-opening as the previous ones.
Last year, Graham and Ashkahn got to sit down with Kevin McCulloch and Jacob Resch, the organizers of
During that conversation, Kevin shared his thoughts on how Rise compares to the Float Conference. As he says, it’s a “gift that the Float Conference is already operating” since it’s “the pulse of the entire industry… and we wanna focus on this little sliver. And it wouldn’t even make sense to do that if the Float Conference wasn’t servicing the whole industry.”
(If you’d like to see some of our coverage from last year, you can check out the podcast episodes where Graham and Ashkahn took live questions all day or you can check out the live blog we ran during the presentations.)
It’s difficult to talk about
Kevin and Jake will no doubt be leading us in thoughtful conversations, introspective meditations, and sharing the warmth and love that they feel for everyone who comes.
At Rise, everyone does everything together at the same time. If there’s a presentation going on, everyone is in the audience. If there’s lunch, everyone is at lunch. If it’s time for guided meditation, you’re right there for guided meditation. Each event bonds you closer with the rest of the people there until
One of the best ways to see this contrast is to look at the speakers who attend both events. Justin Feinstein, the head researcher at the Float Lab at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, shares updates on his research every year at the Float Conference, and at
While Glenn and Lee Perry are consistently delightful and kind, in the context of
Even Graham and Ashkahn are more laid back at
Not to mention that St. Louis itself is such a lovely city. There’s always something to do, and getting to visit Float STL is really a treat.
So far, every year we visit, we take a group trip out to the City Museum, which is like no other place on Earth. If you’ve never been, it’s a surrealist wonderland for children and adults. Beyond being just a museum, it’s a monument to the oddities that exist within the human mind. While yes, there are historical artifacts, artwork on display, and educational experiences aplenty to be had, the entire building functions more as a giant playground filled with wrought iron structures, disturbing tile mosaics, and a giant ball pit at the center of a climbing maze. Honestly, it’s something that needs to be seen to be believed.
In short, if the Float Conference is like a family reunion, Rise is like coming home for the holidays. It feels so cozy and familiar. In both cases, everyone there is family, but the setting for
*Also, consider this an open invitation to join us this year at the City Museum! We’ll be visiting Monday, May 6th, after the Rise gathering has concluded. Below are just a handful of images from the museum to help entice you.
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