1.28.2013

preliminary reports


Photo by the inexhaustible Justin Hackworth.

I returned from Salt Lake City and the Altitude Design Summit Saturday and I am still without words. I am addled. I learned a lot, I challenged myself A LOT, and I met a lot of great people. I have so many different feelings about the whole experience and event that I can't even sort out right now. I should note, the importance of getting away without the kids outweighed the importance of anything that happened at the conference itself, and the deeply cold and icy weather trumped everything because it reminded me of home, old home. 

That said, the one thing I came away with loud and clear is that most things that mattered to me at the conference were things I didn't expect. I didn't expect to start my first morning there chatting for the better part of an hour with Danny Kofoed of A Blog About Love (and my literally-and-figuratively-on-fire friend Danielle). I'd never met Danny before, but we had a conversation that felt real, and I have to recommend that to anyone going into something like this flying solo. A meaningful conversation is great for getting grounded.

Center of photo: Danny, Leslie Fandrich, Danielle, me.
Photo by the supertrooper, superpregnant photographer Brooke Dennis.


The first of many.

I didn't expect to see my donut marshmallows sitting in a bowl in the lounge next to vats of lavender hot chocolate, but there they were. And the next day my biscotti donuts. Crazy! Part of a "Bing it to Life" campaign by Bing, the conference sponsor. Thank you so much to whoever nominated them, and hats off to whoever made the marshmallow donuts, they're not the easiest thing in the world to make.




Chemistry was so important. I was drawn immediately to certain people and not others. I think we all were. To me at least it was pretty clear when things didn't click. That's a hard thing to navigate, when there are people you'd really like to meet for the first time and awkward introductions to be made. So I ended up feeling very close to a handful of women (and men!) that I hadn't expected to, and a little disappointed in some other connections that didn't work out. 

I didn't expect my roundtable to fill up, but it did, and I was so grateful! I think it went well, I think the conversation was helpful. I got the feeling people were there to learn more about "growing" their blogs than "maintaining them with pride" (the two parts of my program), but we went a half hour over the time slot finishing sharing our stories of where we are and where we want to go, so I hope people feel like they didn't waste their morning. I got some good information out of it that I'll write about when my head is clearer. I want to share links to the blogs of all the attendees soon, too.


I didn't expect to feel so invigorated after listening to graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister speak on his work and his film The Happy Film. Forget the brilliance of his work, however controversial some of his moves have been, I am just so deprived of East Coast designer energy in my current life that listening to him talk was electrifying. And let's not forget the kiss (everyone got one).


Finally, I didn't expect to sit down and talk about art and bodies of work and burlesque dancing with an artist I admire so much and have been following for the last few years, but I found myself in the corner having a drink with Katie Sokoler Friday night. Katie is completely singular in her work and in every fiber of her being. She gave the final keynote Friday afternoon and I was thrilled to be able to talk to her at length that night at one of the mini-parties. We were surprised to learn that we both know burlesque superstar and body acceptance guru The World Famous *BOB*! I've kittened for her and Katie has shot many of her events in New York. It was such a treat for me. Now I don't just admire her, I adore her!


I'm going to write up some more thoughts about Alt when I get a chance this week. All in all, I'm glad I went. It was quite a scene!








12 comments:

  1. I'm just stunned coming back to "real life". Tired but good tired. Full. Of inspiration and ideas and all that. And I can SOOO relate to having a taste of that east coast energy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Was nice to meet you Sandra! I knew it was going to be exhausting, but it was in such a strange way that I can't put my finger on! :)

      Delete
  2. This is such a great post! Honestly, your round table was one of the highlights for me and has really got me thinking and realizing a few things about where I am with blogging. It's a lot to process but I'm hopping I can sit down this week and think about things more. I'm happy to know you now! Happy week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Emily! Thank you so much for saying that about the roundtable, it was awesome to have you, you have a lovely and positive energy about you and I feel like you have a big future ahead of you! I am happy to know you too! It's funny how no one can really wrap their heads around anything yet! xo

      Delete
  3. I'm so glad you had a wonderful experience Tiff. I'm very shy so I'd definitely be tongue tied to meet all those new people but what a great opportunity!

    I really wish I could've gone and been at your table :-) It's such a bad time for me, it's unlikely I'd ever make it to this particular event.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Tania! The smartest thing they did there was have everyone go to a sponsored dinner the first night, before the panels and seminars started. So you were sitting at a table eating dinner, which made it SO much easier to have natural conversation than if the whole thing started as one giant mixer.

      I have always had this idea we would meet up there, something one of us said this time last year. I understand about this time in the year though. xo

      Delete
  4. Tiffanie, you were totally one of my favorite new friends! Thanks for the shout out, I hadn't seen that picture yet but I'm so glad that moment was captured! I enjoyed hearing about your work sitting next to you at lunch and I loved seeing you repeatedly during the conference. Isn't it funny how some people just seem to be around, like there are threads drawing up together. I also had great conversations with Danny's wife Mara, those two are good people. Looking forward to getting to know you better online and I hope to see you again someday! if you are ever in New York, please let me know and I will do the same if we come to SF. xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leslie! Yes, you are so kind and I enjoyed meeting you and sitting with you during lunch on Thursday. You are lucky you had a great group of ladies with you there. I was flying solo, more or less, so I was so thankful each time I made a connection! We actually vacationed last summer not far from you (Red Hook) and hope to go back again this year, so I'll let you know if we're around. And of course look me up if you're ever out this way! xoxo

      Delete
  5. I have to tell you that the "maintaining your blog with pride" was really one of the profound moments of the conference for me. Thinking less about whats next and more about fostering the ideas I've already developed. It really got me thinking, even if I didn't have that "aha" moment right then and there. PS - I hope I didn't come across as pushy during your roundtable, I certainly didn't mean to!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh, thank goodness for you! You were a great asset to the table. You had experience and knowledge about things I didn't and I really appreciated you being there. Sort of why I brought a "workbook", because I knew we'd all have things to teach each other and could "fill in the blanks". I love your blog and your energy! I meant to try to hook up at the mini parties but I felt like it was total chaos! Please stay in touch (and I'll put together our facebook group after I get over this bug I caught on the plane!). xoxo

      Delete
  6. So great to meet you and I enjoyed the round table so much! I left with so many notes to go back and process this week. There was so much info given and now it's just a matter of seeing what speaks to me personally.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Deborah! I was so happy you were there! I checked out your blog a few days ago and it's really lovely. During the roundtable it was really great that you had just gotten that big exposure from Design Mom and were able to speak to the feeling of "big" exposure. Loved the Design Mom piece, by the way. What a great place you have! xoxo

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...