The first step towards the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World had already been taken in the fall of 1904 in an informal conference of six leaders in the socialist and labor movement: William Trautmann, George Estes, W. L. Hall, Isaac Cowen, Clarence Smith, and Thomas J. Hagerty.
Those at the informal conference decided to arrange a larger meeting to be held on January 2, 1905 in Chicago, to which about 30 people were invited.