Well, this post is incredibly overdue but it was only now that I felt prompted to write it. It has been just over a month since I attended Altitude Summit in Salt Lake City. It really took me a while to absorb exactly what I learned and achieved out of the three days of extreme networking. As soon as I had returned from ALT, I headed back down to Colorado for a media fam trip to Vail Resorts for a week. The end of January was kind of a blur but now it is all coming back to me.

I have to really give a big shout-out to everyone who wrote amazing recap posts about ALT. Here were my favourite recaps that absolutely captured the essence of ALT:

Leslie Fandrich: After ALT – Making New Connections

The Proper Pinwheel: The Business of Alt’s Business Cards

Whitney Johnson: Advanced Blogging Skills

Bright Bold & Beautiful: 25 Things I Learned at ALT

It was my second year at the design conference and just like the first year it was overwhelmingly inspiring and creative for me. I thought instead of recapping every single thing I did while I was there, I thought I would break it down into my ultimate highlights from those three days.

Traveling with Shelley. I was really lucky to be traveling with a great friend and kindred spirit to ALT. We traipsed from the Grand America all the way to Whole Foods and back again with heavy bags stocked with Pellegrino, fruit & gluten-free treats. We partied and listened and learned. I think I also learned a lot from Shelley during the trip and I look forward to see what she does this year.

Crafting tiaras with Land of Nod. During a particularly busy day at ALT (the combination of panels & freelance work deadlines was stressing me out a bit), I decided to take a break and craft with the lovely ladies from Land of Nod. The tiara I made ended up being part of my outfit that night for the Mini Parties.

Spending time with Jana. My other ALT roomie was the delightful Jana Roach from the Vintage Whites Market. I met her last year at ALT and had also attended two of her markets in Montana this past summer so I was super excited to see her again. That girl is one vintage glamour queen. I loved checking out here amazing outfits every night at the parties. I know so much more will come out of our friendship – hopefully a collaboration soon!

Spontaneous Balloon Party with Color Me Katie. This was quite possibly the moment where the overwhelming goodness exploded in my brain. It was like “ohmygosh! this is so amazing and i can’t believe it is happening right now -slash- i think i am going to cry because i can’t believe this is happening right now’. Yes, I was feeling a little emotional during my trip. Anyways, Katie was so endearing as a public speaker and was so inspiring in her art practice. It was really refreshing to hear from someone who was so actively ‘do-ing’ and ‘living’ her life as opposed to the feeling you get from some bloggers that they are strictly just doing things to make a buck. She ended her keynote with a big balloon party that was an absolute blast. What a great way to end the conference.

Thought-provoking conversation instigated by Chris Anderson’s keynote on the next industrial revolution. I have still yet to delve into Chris Anderson‘s book that we were kindly gifted during the first lunch keynote of the conference but I have been thinking about his talk ever since. Essentially, he talked about how we are entering a new age of industrial revolution where we will start using the technology that has been invented over the past 20 years to the fullest extent. He focused a lot on 3D printers, a concept that still boggles my mind.

There was truly so many aspects of ALT that have already impacted my outlook on blogging and freelance work. The community surrounding ALT is incredible and exciting with new opportunities to be the best you can be around every corner. I am sure I will still be mulling over my experience until next January. A year goes by quickly…

Images all from my Instagram.