Everyone Lost Their Sh*t at Alt Summit

I'm back from my third year at Alt Summit (that's short for Altitude Summit) – a conference that attracts hundreds (this year it seemed like a thousand) design bloggers and creative entrepreneurs from all over the world. The themes that typically course through the hallways and conference rooms of Alt Summit are as follows: be your most authentic self, make connections, keep it real, say no, say yes, do more, and dream big. They all seem like total cliches unless you're actually there – then you really do become inspired to do more and dream big.

But in my recap I want to talk about all the things I, and others, lost their shit over at Alt Summit.



1. A few people lost their shit over the fact that I packed just one small backpack for the entire event. Yup. In an attempt to attain a minimalist lifestyle I decided to pack three outfits and one pair of boots to Alt Summit – all of which would fit in one small backpack.



2. Everyone lost their shit. Literally. Two days in and I wasn't feeling well. at all. And the fact that the bathrooms in the super fancy Grand America smelled like Nepal made me think everyone else wasn't feeling too hot either. My guts were audibly rumbling and tumbling inside my body the whole time. Was it something I ate? Was it the altitude? It was a total mystery until my friend Claire shared this rumor that at conferences they sprinkle this chemical over your food that acts as a laxative. Apparently, they do it to avoid food poisoning in case any of the food they're serving is bad. I believe it.



3. Everyone lost their shit over each other. The best part of Alt Summit is seeing all your old online buddies and making new ones. And then hitting up all the photobooths with each other. I met some super amazing and inspiring ladies this year – too many to list but I'll be sure to share throughout the year.



4. I lost my shit over The Equals Record (Offline) Magazine. I became smitten with Miya and Elisabeth at Alt Summit last year. Shortly thereafter they turned a big dream into a reality and started an online space for women to really dig in, explore, and share the complex stories of careers, life, relationships, and culture. Well, this year they launched a sneak peek of the Equals Record quarterly print magazine and I couldn't be more thrilled. I flipped through the pages immediately but decided to savor each and every word on the plane ride home.



5. We all lost our shit over Stefan Sagmeister. I've had a long time design crush on Stefan Sagmeister – so when I saw him appear on the Alt schedule as a key note speaker I became consumed with excitement. I saw him speak years ago at my alma mater and was really looking forward to seeing him speak again. I'm going to write more about everything I learned from his talk (that had EVERYONE captivated) over at the Braid Blog tomorrow. After his keynote I wanted to say hi and maybe get a photo but I chickened out (and my stomach wouldn't stop flipping over on itself). So when I spotted him at the mini parties that evening I knew it was going to be my only chance. I approached him and said "I saw you speak years ago at OU. I have a huge design crush on you – you're work means so much to me. I was too shy to get a photo then. Can I get one now?" He obliged but only if he could give me a kiss too. DONE.

Were you at Alt Summit this year? What do you lose your shit over?