Sorry for my plethora of random tweets this weekend… I was at Altitude Design Summit in Salt Lake City and couldn’t help but relay some of the info I was hearing. The Alt is a design and blogging conference talking about how to make a living doing what you love to do. It was a two day conference split up into 3 different panels of speakers every couple of hours. The panels all had different topics like “How To Grow Your Readership”, “Creative Collaborations”, “Better Faster Blogging”, and “Advertising Beyond the Banner”, and so many others. And it was SOOO hard to choose which one to go to. I did not take these photographs… some were taken by an iphone and others by the ALT Summit.
They had SUPER cute welcome tins with fun sponsored goodies in them.
One of the main Keynotes sessions was an interview with Seth Aaron and Mondo from project runway. Mondo has a really sweet and sincere heart with a great perspective and good things to say about his experience on and off the show.
Most of all i had an amazing time connecting with other bloggers, friends, and people that are SOOO inspirational. To be honest I was nervous about going and getting outside of my comfort zone, but everyone was SOOOO nice and eager to meet other people with the same passions. swapping business cards was an inlet into conversation with everyone there. I have a whole stack full on my desk. and I cant wait to finish going through them and looking up everyone’s site.
I roomed with the Girls with Glasses, Summer Bellessa and Brooke White. I also helped them set up for their party that they hosted with Kate Spade the last night of the conference. IT WAS AMAZING. Bright and colorful, cupcakes, balloons with glasses, photobooths and more.
One friend that specifically stands out is Design and Interior blogger Kirsten Grove of Simply Grove. I had the BEST time getting to know her. She is definitely living her life striving towards her dreams and serving people and others along the way. I LOVe what she is doing.
Other amazing people I met include talented photographer and entrepreneur Crystal Goss, Fashionista Anna from Tuliplouise, The UBER talented Angela Kohler (brainchild of the stop motion Kindle commercials), Erin Hiemstra from Apartment 34, and I was smitten with Erin Loechner from Design for Mankind.
Kelsey from Kelsey’s Essentials show on the Cooking Channel was in my round table discussion group. I TOTALLY made her egg salad thing and it was so good. I was a little star-struck to meet her. Haha.
photobooth photos taken by Angela Kohler
Here are a few things that I took away from my time at ALT. It wasn’t all that was talked about…. but a few tips and tricks that I jotted down. Thanks to Tauni for her recap docs i remembered a few more things.
1 // AMAZING TOOLS I LEARNED ABOUT
From designblahg, houseofbrinson, and notmartha
-Easy blogging platform Squarespace
-Online organization system for you images, links, etc. Evernote
-Visual bookmarking website Pinterest
-Simple business-card-like websites, Flavors
-Magazine reading app Zinio
-A beautiful online to-do list, Teuxdeux.
2 // TIPS ON GROWING YOUR COMMUNITY
From The Jealous Curator, babble, A Practical wedding, and Little Green Note Book.
-Regular posting will give people something to come back for.
-Learn to re-work what you have… instead of wasting time ALWAYS developing new content.
-Find three points that resonate with your readers.
-Be a part of the conversation: After you post, initiate discussion, ask questions, follow up on comments to connect to your readers.
-Network. Find ways to network with other bloggers and collaborate. Be of value to them too.
-Original content. Have at least one really good post every week.
-Look for inspiration and record it everywhere you go.
-Splash in personal stories and content so that your readers connect with you personally.
-Remember what inspired you originally.
3 // TIPS FOR GETTING PAID TO DO WHAT YOU LOVE THROUGH SPONSORSHIPS
From DesignforMankind, Mightygirl, Coolmompicks, Dooce, and FM.
-Media kit. Put together blog stats (page views per month, unique viewers per month), descriptions, verbalize your readers interests. Figure out who you are, and why you do what you do.
-Update blog often
-Be authentic & transparent with your readers. Make sure to tell them when a post or item is sponsored. Or else they will feel tricked.
-What is the company getting out of this deal… make sure you are getting equally compensated.
4 // BLOGGING ETIQUETTE
From DesignSponge, OhjoyStudio, and OnceWed.
- Giveaways should be saved for only REALLY good items or products that directly align with your brand. That space is special and should be worth it.
-If you get a lot of nasty comments, develop a comment policy and post it.
-Always credit photos, ideas, and sources. Save the url as the image name so you won’t forget.
-Do not use the comment section of other bloggers to promote your site or products. Use it to build friendships and community.
- Make an effort 2 come up w/ unique original content from ur heart 2 create a niche blog that stands out.
+ - 40 comments
Lori Jo - really, really great tips, thanks for sharing those Promise!
Michelle - Seriously, your recap makes me even more bummed that I missed it this year… and I loved all your tidbit tweets this past week, by the way…very good lessons to learn!
nicky - thanks promise! great recap and such useful info that you passed along. and it looks like it was a total blast! we hope to go next year!
katy {of} katy loves. - I’ve been searching for recaps of the summit! I would love to go next year, it sounds AMAZING. I haven’t even finished your recap yet, but thank you for posting this. Also, I just found your blog recently and I LOVE it!
Stacey Long - Wow that conference looks and sounds like it would be an amazing experience, I’ve never been to anything like that. Is it something you would recommend to a fledging designer/blogger/photographer???
Gabriel - Looks like a great time! Will you be using squarespace from now on?
Liz - Love your recap, and thanks for all the great links from some of the panels I had missed. So glad you had an amazing time–and that party kicked some Salt Lake booty!
tiffany. - so GOOD Promise!
I’ve been looking at alt summit recaps today and yours has been the best of them so far!! i had no idea of this event until it was actually happening but i plan to be there next year FOR SURE!!
xo.
http://dropsofjupiterBLOG.com
Brooke - Thanks for sharing! I was obsessively following the Alt Summit hashtag on Twitter last week and am loving all of post-conference updates.
christina - Thanks for this great recap – I followed a lot of tips and tricks on twitter and it was extremely motivating even though I was not there.
jeanne - I loved meeting you. I am having the best time checking out everyone’s site and getting to know them more. I am already looking forward to next year.
kelly ann - this is so helpful, promise, thank you! i didn’t get to attend this year (sadly), but i’m DEFINITELY going next year!
pilgrim - promise, it was so great to meet you at alt summit and awesome to check out your corner of the internet. now i have hair envy AND blog envy
keep up the fab work
Emma at The Marion House Book - Thanks for posting what you learned. I wish I could have been there but reading this was a close second.
Renee - Aww great post! I loved this recap, especially since I couldn’t make it. I am hoping WPPI has this same effect on me this year. I want to learn SO much and meet SO many creative people there! I, too, am stepping out of my comfort zone this year—EEEK!
Teri - Thank you so much for sharing these great tips. I hope to go next year.
Tauni - Promise, thanks so much for the link back…I loved your recap.
I had such a fun time at Alt and though we didn’t meet, I remember seeing you there – you’re simply lovely!
Hope you’ll be back next year, maybe we will actually meet.
Annie - Thanks for sharing what you learned
Sounds like an amazing conference, I hope I can go one day!
mandiegirl - This is SO good to hear! Sounds like it was a really great conference!
Thank you so much for sharing these bits.
Lydia - Thanks for sharing, Promise! I had fun reading your tweets and wished I had been there in person!
Claudia - i wish i would of know of this summit! thanks for the info & tips!
Ashley - I love all the tips! Thanks for sharing! I was on the Kate Spade website the other day and saw “Girls with Glasses” feature! I got so excited, I feel like I know y’all
Anyways thanks for sharing!
Rebecca - What an awesome conference! Wish I could go… maybe next year. Great tips, and everyone looks so friendly! Thanks for sharing!!
Design Blahg - This recap completes me…and also reminds me what a crappy note-taker I am.
Loved your photos, too! [NOTE TO SELF: BE WAY THE HELL BETTER ABOUT PHOTOS NEXT YEAR]. Also, your site is fab and I want you to come and redesign my whole online life! You rock!
Trina - Great recap. Gorgeous photos and great notes! Loved meeting you (we sat next to each other in the party planning session!
xo Trina
ps- i’m totally gonna check out you’re hubs cd – looks amazing!
Amy Anaiz - This was Awesome! Great material, thank you for sharing it with us!
Kathleen - Promise! My big hair wanted me to tell your even bigger hair that it misses you but is happy to not be feeling so jealous anymore.
Love your work – I can’t wait to see more.
Lindsay - Really helpful tips, thanks SO much for sharing!
Jennifer - Sounds like an amazing time, I loved ready your tweets and the tweets from “DesignSponge”.
I like the idea of saving the link as the image title.. I save my links in the “info” section of the image (apple+I to find this) and then I add a color label the image so I know that I have the link for it. This way I can title the image and file it appropriately and not have it be a guessing game with links as the title.
kat curling - what an amazing experience. i wish i could attend something like this! i enjoyed your random tweets though! very cool! i would have loved to listen to mondo and seth aaron speak. theyre definitely on my top 5 favorite contestants from the show.
Megan - Thanks so much for including notes from our panel on Bigger Strong Faster Harder Blogging, and for sharing notes on sessions I couldn’t make it to.
Brittany @ The Aubergine Notebook - sorry i didn’t get to meet you! hopefully next year!
Shaylah Fawn - That looked like the best time! And that kate spade party looked like HEAVEN! Thank you for sharing all those awesome tips- i’m going to jot them down myself!
Ashlee - Love this! It sounds like a fabulous time! Can I go next year?
Kali Brou Norton - WOW! So much good information and great resources! I can’t wait to hear more posts about how you’re utilizing the things you learned. Did you get any tips on any good social media/branding books at the conference? I’m looking for recommendations for a good one!
Caroline - Great, thanks for the ideas! I’ve created a Flavors website already, it’s exactly what I needed, and it led me on to discover Toggl for time management for design projects.. awesome
Julia - Wish I could have been there, but your recap was much appreciated. These points helped me see why I like some bloggers and why I don’t like some bloggers.
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