ALT Summit! Or in otherwords, design heaven!

Last year I was lucky enough to attend ALT, which is an amazing design and social media conference. If you are on Twitter, you could be seeing a lot of chatter about it recently as people are preparing to go again next week. I was thrilled when I found out that I would get to go again this year (won a ticket thanks to the people at Minted), so even though I am a little late to the party, I thought I might give you all a sneak peek at what it might be like!

First of all you need to know that it is winter here in Utah. While we haven't had much snow this year, it has been very cold. The upside is that it has also been quiet sunny! And besides, when you are at a conference most of your time will be spent in the hotel where it's nice and toasty. However, I do encourage you to get outside into the hotel courtyard! It's gorgeous.

The sponsors last year spoiled us in the lounge. So many tasty treats, hot chocolate and coffee, and the food at the lunches is downright amazing! Also, don't forget to try the cookies in the hotel lobby, and make a visit to the sweet shop too. There are French macaroons and gelato there!

The parties are a blast too! And also full of amazing food. Would it be strange to tell you that we had the best macaroni and cheese ever? And the chocolate fountains in the HGTV party were so good! You could smell the chocolate before you even reached the room!

The Grand America hotel is a treat in and of itself. There are tons of interesting chandeliers, and yes, the bathrooms are everything you have heard that they are!

Other advice I would give anyone coming to the conference:

• There will be free WiFi, so you won't be out of touch.
• Name tags are provided, which is really nice when you will be meeting a lot of people.
• Everyone likely feels as awkward as you do! Don't be afraid to say hello first!
• Have a card that you can give people, and ask for cards in return. Write something memorable about the person on their card so you can easily remember them after the conference ends. 
• Make some time to enjoy what the city has to offer outside of the conference. Anyone up for shopping at Anthropologie?
• Take a lot of photos, especially of the friends you meet. 
• Follow people attending on Twitter. The hash tag is #altsummit. Even if you aren't attending you might learn some fun new things from those who are.
• Above all, have fun! These moments only come once, so you might as well enjoy them.

Keep up with all ALT Summit news via their website. Dates have been announced for 2013, with tickets going on sale in August.