Saturday night I arrived back at home after a full week (well Tuesday night through Saturday) in Salt Lake City for Altitude Summit. It was super fun and I met some really great people. But it feels good to be home too – it was an exhausting week (but in a good way). Everyone I talked to on the last day kept saying how tired they were, myself included.
I didn’t take as many photos as I thought I would. But I know almost everyone who went is going to post a recap, so I’m sure you’ll see plenty of photographs (this is a super good place to start for Alt recaps – fellow Seattle blogger Melanie put together a pinboard of all the recap articles + there are 100s of pictures on the Alt flickr stream too).
Anyway, here’s how it all went down from my point of view…
(above image) Awesome window display that I saw on the first day. In a lot of ways I feel like Alt is a monster (the conference is huge- as in 500 attendees huge). But it’s a monster that is totally adorable and cuddly and I just want to give it a big hug. Much like this window display.
On Wednesday night, Danni and I went to a yummy dinner at Ruth’s Chris thanks to the lovely folks at HP. Later on that night, I went to a Blog Brunch meet up and then found out that there was a drive by shooting at one of the other Alt dinners earlier in the evening?! So weird! Luckily, no one was hurt.
The next day, the panels started and they were good. But the keynotes were great – Ben from Pinterest was awesome (and I am sure you’ll hear that a lot if you read other people’s recaps). He is a charismatic guy, but he’s really smart too, which makes for an interesting speaker. My favorite panels from Thursday + Friday were Blog to Book, Growing your Readership, Kickstarting your Next Project, and Building a Personal Brand.
I had a few take-aways from pretty much every panel I attended, but one of the themes I heard over and over again was this idea of investing in your business (time, money, etc – whatever investment means to you – just taking what you do more seriously and treating it professionally).
Lillian (left) + me chatting with Piper (who was just outside the photo) before one of the panels. *picture by Justin Hackworth via Alt’s flickr page
Art prints to be released by Minted in March. Aren’t these great? Can’t wait for them to launch in a couple of months. Love that mountain print in the middle.
Here’s the Method smilebooth from one of the Friday parties. After a few drinks, somehow Kate and I ended up taking the largest piece of cake possible back to our room and scarfing it down. It was fun. You know I love cake.
(back row) Kate, me, Zoe (front row) Margot, Sarah, Meg
Fun Friday night party hosted by Uppercase + Squarespace . All the parties were great, but I couldn’t get good pictures of the others.
Swag! Lots of amazing free stuff. I actually barely crammed everything in to my suitcase at the end of the week. But it was all for you, I promise because I am thinking about doing a giveaway with some of the awesome goodies I snagged. What do you think? Would you be interested in a giveaway?
And finally, I ended up with the most gorgeous stack of business cards on the planet. On the planet I tell you! I lost a few along the way. AKA all of the cards I collected on the last day, but I still have a great stash. *I’ll be posting more photos of my favorite business cards from the conference next week because they are so good, they deserve their own post.
Overall, I really loved the conference and was so glad to have been able to meet some new (wonderful) ladies and catch up with old friends. Next year, I hope to see you there. And I also hope that will have the wardrobe to keep up with all the stylish ladies and gents that will be attending. 🙂
20 comments | Click here to reply
i love to read about all the alt recaps on your blogs right now, it’s such inspiring! i am on a shopmakeover at my etsy shop and reading all your suggestions makes this pretty much easier. I am just sorry that there are no thing like this going on in italy, sound such inspiring!
internodiciottoLyndsey- It was really great to meet you too. And Jack! He is so cute. Definitely looking forward to meeting up more in Seattle.
papernstitchHey Lou- yep, it’s a bit pricey from Germany, but you won’t be alone if you decide to go next year. I met a few people from Europe who made the trip this year and they loved it.
Thanks for all the positivity ladies!
-Brittni
Horray for giveaways!
Benedicteexcited to see the business cards (!) and how i wish i could have made it to alt – sounds like you had an awesome time 🙂
amy - thank you cards shopafter being to hello etsy last year i wanted to come to alt as well but totally forgot about. it’s on my to do list for next year for sure. i’m reading about it since 3 or 2 years now and always find it amazing. when i read through the schedule there is always so much i wan to learn and people i want to meet. sure, it’s a pricy trip from germany but i believe it’s worth the experience and it would be priceless to meet all the bloggers that i “meet” daily in person. i’m glad you had so much fun! looks like you had a blast!
louLove the photos & recap- next best thing to being there 🙂
AllisaOh it looks like you had so much fun! I am def hoping to go next year, gotta start saving up 🙂
Michael AnnThanks for the feedback on the giveaway Sarah and Coral Lee. It’s in the works – just as soon as I can find the time to schedule it. So look out for that next week or the week after.
papernstitch-Brittni
great recap! so glad i finally met you — had to go all the way to SLC to do it 🙂 looking forward to seeing you again in seattle soon.
lyndsey @ the stationery placeGiveaway sounds awesome. Can’t wait to see more details of the business cards. I have this hesitancy to create my own, as it would only have an email and phone number (I don’t have any site or business or anything) but I have seen so many creative and beautiful ones. They are like mini pieces of art!
SarahLove the idea of a giveaway 🙂 sounds like a delicious, delerious(?) time. Can’t wait to see your posts on the business cards. Looove arty, beautiful, thoughtful biz cards. Thanks for sharing.
Coral LeeYou should definitely go next year Corissa, Mariah, and Casey (and anyone else who is considering it). It was really fun.
papernstitch-Brittni
I’m totally going next year! It’s good I’ve decided this early on, it will give me enough time to strategically plan my wardrobe… 😀
CaseyEmily! It was so good to meet you too. Yes, you know exactly how big that piece of cake was. The picture makes it look so much smaller than what it actually was.
papernstitchAnd thanks for the feedback about the giveaway Heather.
-Brittni
That sounds awesome! I’m jealous that you get to meet all of those cool-i-o people in person!
HeatherAnd, um, a giveaway? that’s always fun! I’ve never won one!
I remember that large piece of cake!!! It was so great to meet you, and it sounds like you had as much of an awesome time as I did. Talk soon!
EmilySo happy you had fun! I’m definitely going next year. That stack of business cards is GORGEOUS – I love what creative people do with their cards 🙂
Mariah | Oh, What LoveHey Lillian. So good to meet you there too! I wish we would have had more time to talk but I know we’ll keep in touch. I have been sleeping like crazy too. Its so weird.
papernstitchI love that photo too. We look very intense! But it makes sense considering what we were talking about. 🙂
-Brittni
This really makes me want to go to Alt. Just to party with awesome people like yourself.
CorissaIt was so great to meet you there, Brittni 🙂 I totally agree about the being tired…I’m STILL recovering! I’ve been sleeping like a bear. Anyway, so many fashionable people, so many ridiculously creative business cards…and the keynote speakers were awesome! And I love that photo of us – we look so intense and concentrated 🙂
Lillian (Unstitched)