Welcome to the second post of the Top Tips for Alt Summit series!
It’s practically here. On Wednesday we’ll be in Salt Lake City for Alt Summit! Or as Estelle Hayes described it on The Huffington Post last year, the New Bohemia. It’s happening, people. It’s time to #bingittolife! Pre-tip: Be sure to use the hashtags #bingittolife or #thanksbing to let Bing know how excited you are!
Let’s get down to the art of the conference. I can’t tell you much about the Wednesday night dinners. Last year Jenny and I were snowed in at the Seattle airport for hours, so we got in late and missed that part. I’m super excited to go to my first one this year. I’ll be at Lugano with Better Homes and Gardens and these awesome people. Be sure to say hi if you’re there!
Which brings me to my first official tip…
Say hello.
There she is. That well-known blogger that you really love. The one you feel like you know because you’ve read her blog since the beginning. It’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning! What do you do when you see her? She’s always talking to someone, and you hate to interrupt. Maybe you’ll try again tomorrow.
What? Sundance? She was only here for one day? She’s at Sundance now? Seriously!? Wait…Sundance is here? Is Don Draper here?
This is what happens when you’re too hesistant. You’ll either get distracted by the thought of Don Draper (for absolutely no reason) and start muttering to yourself while you wander around the halls of the Grand America “looking for Sundance” (tip within a tip: it’s not there). Finally you’ll realize that you missed your chance to introduce yourself to your very favorite blogger on the planet ever.
Just do it. Walk up and say hi, no matter how nervous you are. You’ll regret it if you don’t. And you know what’s funny? There’s probably someone else out there that feels the same way about saying hi to you.
Note: Winking Don Draper found on VH1.
Take notes.
You are going to learn so much at Alt that you may feel like your head will literally explode. You’re going to want to take lots of notes. Last year I brought my laptop, my iPad, and a hot pink notebook. Any guesses on what I used to take notes for the panels?
Yep. Paper and pen. And an iPhone to tweet with. I’ll be bringing all of the same things back again because I need my laptop in my hotel room and an iPad for reading on the plane. But I’m sticking to my trusty notebook during the panels again.
Get comfortable with the fact that you’re going to miss something. Inevitably, there will be panels or roundtables that you REALLY want to go to that are happening at exactly the same time. You’ll have to make a choice, but you can always learn from the one that doesn’t make the cut by checking out #altsummit on Twitter after the session is over. When you get home you can read the recaps!
Take breaks.
When you get to Alt Summit you might meet a lot of people who are just like you – extroverted introverts. Extroverted introverts (and other people too, I’m assuming) need to take breaks. Too much stuff going on around us, lots of new information for our brains to process, meeting new people, and talking and listening a lot more than we usually do can take it’s toll.
You have to take a break.
I really cannot stress this enough. Yes, you’ll miss stuff, but as we already covered, you’re going to miss stuff anyway. Take a few minutes and walk around the courtyard, get some macarons or gelato, or browse one of the coolest toy stores I’ve ever been in before.
If you’re staying at the hotel, go to your room. Lie on your huge comfortable bed and take a moment of silence. Or a bath. Or order room service. Oh my God I may never leave my room…
Take photographs.
Of the rooms. Of the decor. Of the people. Of the clothes. Of the food. Of your favorite bloggers. Of your new BFFs. You’re going to want to document this experience. It’s beautiful. Alt Summit may be the one place on earth where you’re not just tolerated for photographing your lunch. It’s expected!
Come to my roundtable.
On Friday morning at 9:00 AM I’m leading a roundtable. I hope to see you there!
The Power of Women: How Community Builds Confidence and Success
Do you dream of leaving your day job behind and becoming a professional blogger, artist, photographer, crafter, or small business owner? Let’s sit down and chat about how women can help each other fight through one of the biggest dream killers of all, and how your creative community can lift you up, help you believe in yourself, and get on the road to living the kind of life that you want most.
I can’t wait until Wednesday.
Find more posts about Alt Summit here.
This post was sponsored by Bing. All opinions are my own.