{Alt Summit Recap} Some Snapshots

January 31, 2013

I guess I owe the world an Alt Summit recap, huh?

If you follow me on Instagram you may have noticed that something was a little different. Photos hit my feed of cooler things that my computer and coffee (hate to break it to the world but the life of a blogger is basically computers + coffee). I wore cute outfits and I put on makeup every day for 5 whole days! I even wore heels most of the time. Oh ya, that  is definitely different.

Well, I was in Salt Lake City to attend a blogger conference, Alt Summit. I’ve been wanting to go every year but this is the first year that I for reals decided to go for it. After that decision came an unexpected surprise, I was asked to speak. Yep, speak. As in attempting to form sentences in front of a couple hundred people and hopefully impart some knowledge to these eager ears. Talk about feeling honored.

Prior to stepping on that plane I was both completely terrified and totally ready. I had been packed for a week, I printed out my schedule for the next few days, and I had a few meetings set up with sponsors. I was ready, let’s do this. But, the other side of things…. Being a totally unsocial butterfly, I was dead scared. I don’t do well in places where I am forced to talk to people. I know that sounds terrible, but it is the cold hard truth. I’m behind a computer all day for a reason BTW. How was I ever going to do this?

Just a few of the awesome business cards I collected.

First thing Thursday morning I went to a panel about collaborating with sponsors. Right off the bat Camille Styles absolutely killed it. 10 minutes in and I knew I made the right decision in coming to this conference. I knew it was going to be exactly what I needed.

Thursday’s keynote speaker  Chris Anderson (editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine) was another major turning point for me. I felt my entire life change at that moment. No seriously. Life changed. As in, I. will. never. look. at. anything. the. same. I immediately delved into his book Makers, and again, Life. Changed. I love surrounding myself with big thinkers, and this guy definitely does that way too well.

Here is a shot of my Friday morning panel Social Media 101 : Following The Conversation Panel. Meg of MegBiram.com, Kelly of Design Crush, myself, Erin of House of Earnest, Natalie of Bing.

I’ll leave you with possibly the most important thing I learned from Alt Summit:

Here is the first thing to know about Alt Summit. It isn’t a conference. It is a culture. A culture of creatives, of thinkers, of makers. What is known in the conference circuit as “networking” Alt attendees know as collaboration. It isn’t about meeting people, it is about cultivating relationships.

This industry is filled with feelings of competition and comparison. Here you have the chance to strip everything down and realize at the core of it all, we are all in this together. We are creative people who add beauty to this world  and together we are trying to build a new industry. We couldn’t do it alone, and sometimes we just need to remind ourselves and each other of that. 

(I was hired by iBlog Magazine to blog about my experience at Alt Summit. This is an excerpt of the article I wrote. It’ll be published soon, so stay tuned)