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The Ten Things I Learned at Alt Design Summit

January 27th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

Remember when I promised to have my Alt Design Summit post by the day before yesterday? C’mon, you didn’t think I was serious, did you? I’m officially running on Carly time these days, which means everything is about a week late. It’s one of the perks of being my own boss.

I do have lots of loveliness to share…probably more than I should even put into a post. So, to make things pretty and easy, I’m just going to do a quick run down of the awesome people I rubbed elbows with and the top ten things I learned during the conference.

Awesome People Who Were There (not a complete list at all, but these come to mind):

DJ Earworm (I’m a little obsessed now, I have to admit!)
Photo from alt design summit on Flickr

  • Rachel Jones of Black Eiffel
  • Nicole Balch of Making It Lovely
  • Emily Goligoski of The SanFranista
  • Kathryn Storke of Snippet & Ink
  • Victoria Smith of SFGirlbyBay
  • Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl
  • Kelly Beall of Design Crush
  • Sarah Jane Wright of Sarah Jane Designs
  • Erin Loechner of Design for Mankind
  • Megan Reardon of Not Martha
  • Joslyn Taylor of Simple Lovely
  • Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl
    • Tempest, another local who’s studying photography.
    Isn’t she too cute?
    Photo from alt design summit on Flickr

    Top Ten Things I Learned

    1. Blogs are the most successful when you use them as a marketing tool for what you want to do.
    2. Readers don’t want you to be perfect, they want you to be real.
    3. Most of the blogs I follow started because one person randomly wrote about their passion just to pass the time.
    4. The brands you advertise should fit the brand of your blog.
    5. Everyone gets stuff by asking for it. Nobody is ever going to hand you anything. (Thanks, Maggie!)
    6. Keep communication up with readers. The advantage blogs have over magazines is an intimate relationship with the person enjoying your content.
    7. Blogrolls = bad idea.
    8. If you don’t want people to give you feedback on something, don’t share it. – Heather Armstrong
    9. Do what you love in a way that doesn’t cut into time with the people you love.
    10. If you aren’t persuing your passion, you’ll lose to the person who is.

    P.S. As if all this awesomeness wasn’t enough, I’m enjoying the stuff from my swag bag AND I’m loving the promo cd I got from DJ Earworm AND I won an awesome giveaway from Lifestyle Crafts and came home with this letterpress combo kit. Thanks, Lifestyle Crafts and Altitude Design Summit!

    Read more here:
    The Ten Things I Learned at Alt Design Summit

    Categories: Blog Postings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Adam and Deborah

    January 24th, 2010 Classmate Blogs No comments

    I know I owe you guys a mammoth post about Altitude Design Summit and I promise it’s coming tomorrow, but in the meantime I just had to share this Save the Date that I received for my cousin Debbie’s wedding.

    Isn’t the squashed penny cute? It ties in with their engagement story:

    On the afternoon of June 14, we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was an absolutely amazing day. No fog and no clouds, just glorious sun and clear skies from the Farallones Islands to Mt. Diablo. You know, just like every evening . . . in San Francisco . . . in June.

    As we got out of the PT Cruiser, Adam pretended to listen to a non-existent voicemail and continued to weave his tangled web, claiming his parents were stuck in traffic and would have to skip the walk. And with that little white lie, we took our first steps towards the Bridge and our lives together.

    We made it about one-third of the way down the Bridge. Adam looked both ways, found a nice gap in the tourists coming from either direction, and pulled Deborah into a little nook. Of course, Deborah suspected nothing because Adam usually gets winded one-third of the way down and needs a break.

    Adam began: “As you know my parents got married on June 15, and you may not know that my grandparents got married on the same day and my other grandparents, just a few days earlier. Unfortunately, we probably will not get married on that day, as it’s a Monday this year.”

    Deborah, always one to introduce logic and completely unaware of where Adam was going with this, interrupted to point out that June 15 won’t always be on a Monday. Adam digressed from his romantic soliloquy to confirm his understanding of how the solar calendar works and that, yes, next year it will be on a Tuesday, then a Wednesday, and so on. . . . It was clearly shaping up to be one of the more romantic proposals in history.

    Still unaware of the import of Adam’s story, Deborah suggested, “Who knows? It might be a few years before we get married.” With that, Adam reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a little wood box, and said “I don’t want to wait that long, will you marry me?” After the fastest utterings of “oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” on record, Deborah caught her breath and said “yes!”

    (Adam note: No, I didn’t get down on one knee. First, I’m old and there was no guarantee I’d be getting back up any time soon. Second, I was a little nervous about carrying this expensive ring on the Golden Gate Bridge. There was no way I was going to increase the degree of difficulty and the risk of dropping the ring over the side. Luckily, Deborah doesn’t expect that kind of traditional showmanship.)

    Adam had one more surprise. As you may know, Deborah had never owned a diamond but her smashed penny collection is world class. Adam reached into his other pocket and pulled out a specially-made elongated coin with a picture of the Bridge and the announcement that “Deborah Said Yes – June 14, 2009.” Deborah was maybe even more excited about the penny that Adam had thoughtfully made than the ring he had artfully picked out. . . . And that, our friends, is just one of the many reasons we are getting married.

    I’m so happy for you guys! We’ll be there with bells on! (Not really. It would be obnoxious if we wore bells to your wedding. But we really will be there.)

    Read more here:
    Adam and Deborah

    Categories: Blog Postings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,