Alt Summit 2014

Last week I attended my first ever Altitude Design Summit in Salt Lake City.  It was just as overwhelming as everyone said it would be- luckily I felt pretty prepared after reading about it for a few years, but I’m still digesting everything that I learned.  I’m hoping to share some bigger picture takeaways this week, but for now, I wanted to share some of the many pictures I took while I was there!

Also, this post has an unprecedented number of selfies.  Consider yourself warned.

Thanks to some really annoying weather, the flight I spent so much time scoping out with a cushy 10:20 AM departure time that  was cancelled on Tuesday morning, before the snow even started falling.  The good news was that I would arrive in Salt Lake earlier than expected, the bad news is that my flight left at 5:30 AM.  I woke up at 3 AM on Wednesday, which was a first for me.

By the time I landed, attended the early bird sessions and an awesome dinner hosted by MailChimp, I was pretty much toast.  I’m thinking that contributed to the ridiculousness of that monkey hat selfie.  But the advantage of passing out at 10:30 is that I woke up nice and rested and ready to go for day 1!

The first day was a whirlwind of meeting people, being inspired by the sessions I attended, and just generally being in awe of the hotel and the event itself.  I didn’t realize how all-out sponsors go with decorating the lounges, and popping into the different rooms was one of my favorite parts!

{pictured: friend & fellow Virginian Megan of Freckled Italian, client turned friend Josie of Fraser & Parsley, and roomie Lisa of Elembee}

The themed party this year was hosted by Cricut, and the decorations were AMAZING.  I’m not a craft blogger but even I was thinking about getting a Cricut by the end of this party- there are just so many cool things that they did with it!  The party was a lot of fun, I loved meeting new people as well as connecting with old friends!

{Pictured: Lisa, me, Joy of Frock Files, and Mere of Not Merely Living}

The second day was just as good as the first, and the decorations for the mini parties were equally amazing, but I seem to have been lame on the picture-taking front!  I loved walking around and checking out all the different themes and chatting with the other attendees, and I also got a sweet Tattly tattoo (like Lisa’s).  There was also beer and a mashed potato bar, so I was pretty much set.

The next morning Lisa and I got breakfast in the hotel one last time, and then it was off to the airport!  It went by so fast, but I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat!

Have you ever been to Alt?  Tell me about your experience!