Alt Summit 2014: A Brief Recap
January 29, 2014
Hey there! I’m back from my first Alt Summit in Salt Lake City and returned home completely filled to the brim with information, plans and goals for the year ahead. It was a whirlwind experience and I feel like I’m still absorbing what I learned in the seminars, discussed at the round-tables and chatted about with countless other bloggers and attendees. Not to mention the fashion, thank goodness for my sis-in-law Amy’s help in that department! The word overwhelming puts it mildly for a conference like this one. For those of you wondering what in the world Alt is all about, you can find more info here but (in a nutshell) its basically a meeting of the minds for approx 700 bloggers, designers and creative thinkers from all over North America. Here’s just a teensy glimpse at what my time in Salt Lake looked like:
Instagram photo by me. Alt 2014 Mini Parties: I Wish I May, I Wish I Might hosted by Danyelle Mathews, Danni Hong, and Kelly Smith.
The Grand America Hotel. Alt Summit 2014. Photo by Brooke Dennis.
Can I just mention how incredibly stunning the Grand America Hotel is? Sooo beautiful (with chandeliers like the one above absolutely everywhere!) and I found it extremely sad to leave my suite (especially turndown service!) after 4 luxurious nights on my own, sniff sniff! The entire convention took place in the hotel and staying there, while a splurge, definitely made the experience all the easier and I had many a conversation in the elevator and lobby going to and from seminars and quite possibly several more over cocktails in the lounge 😉
The Grand America Hotel. Alt Summit 2014. Photo by Gabrielle Blair / Design Mom.
The sponsors really pulled out all of the stops with lounges, DIY stations and swag for everyone and there was always something delicious to sip or nibble on in between sessions. To be honest, looking through the rest of the pictures I feel like I didn’t see nearly half of the displays or interactive DIY’s happening, there was simply too much to take in!
Wayfair Lounge at Alt Summit 2014. Photo by Brooke Dennis.
Although I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was really impressed by all of the speakers, starting with keynote Garance Dore and capped off at the end with Ben Silbermann, founder of Pinterest. You can see a list of the rest of the star power here too:
Garance Dore at Alt Summit 2014. Photo by Justin Hackworth Photography.
Melissa Esplin w/House that Lars Built + Spoonflower.
I’ll share more about my Alt experience very soon, including a few tips I learned and a several things I’d do differently next time. But overall, I had an amazing time and am so thrilled that I had the opportunity to go this year. My brain is already full to capacity and I haven’t even started sorting through the gazillion gorgeous business cards that I collected along the way! I’m looking forward to checking out many new blogs and websites and will definitely share a recap of my favourite card designs too. Talk to you soon!
