Alt Summit (Cont.).

Day 2, 10:45 am MWT

Alt is turning out even better than I imagined, if that’s even possible

The early bird panel yesterday – How to Find the Best Design Sites – with Nicole Balch of Making it Lovely, Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant, Jaime Derringer of Design Milk and Karey Mackin of Mackin Ink was wonderful. And hanging out with all of these women (and a few guys, too!) that are my own personal design crushes has been nothing short of empowering.

This morning I had my own moment of celebrity awe while listening to the keynote breakfast – Why Design? – with Heather Armstrong of Dooce, Jean Aw of NotCot, Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge and Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan of Apartment Therapy. I even got to sit about 2.5 feet away from Heather’s husband, the infamous Jon.

My own panel – Designer vs. Design Blogger – was during the first breakout session. I got to speak with an amazing group of women, too. Joy Cho of Oh Joy!, Jaime Derringer of Design Milk and Rachel Jones of Black Eiffel. It was thrilling to hear about how the others balance their lives and how design impacts both areas of their lives. And as a surprise to even myself, I wasn’t even a bit nervous.

Next I’ll be hitting up Build Your Brand and Your Business with Emily Goligoski of The SanFranista, Victoria Smith of SFGirlbyBay, Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl and Sarah Jane Wright of Sarah Jane Designs to hear about how they started out and turned a nothing business into a big something. After that is the Keynote Lunch with artists Erik Natzke and DJ Earworm. Then the last breakout session (I’m still undecided), the closing session and the Blurb Meetup and Happy Hour. Whew.

They have us running non-stop, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing. If you weren’t able to make it out to Salt Lake City this year plan on signing up for Alt 2011 for sure!

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