I know, I know… wasn’t ALT SF like 2 3 weeks ago?
Yes. I know, sheesh…
I could say it was a lot to take in, and properly digest, and that as a creative individual I just simply couldn’t be rushed to post about it when I wasn’t quite ready. And part of that would be true, but the rest of the truth would be that I’ve been beyond busy lately. Like, HUGE life changes for our little family as well as the Westover Family at large. And when big things happen I can almost litterally feel the creative juices being sucked right out of me. Which is probably why I choose to clean when I’m stressed… it’s about as non-creative as you can get.
But, I digress…
This is truly a fantastic recap of the speakers from ALT SF. *wink, wink*
THE MORNING
Began with some super fun round table discussions and breakfast. (I totally sat next to Liz Stanley!!! Celebrity blogger moment, check.)
Mariam Naficy, founder & CEO of Minted, kicked off our morning with her 7 C’s to help Sustain oneself while managing a creative biz.
I loved how real she was when she shared her successes and failures with us, and then her basic ‘how to’ survival guide, the 7 C’s…
1. CONVICTION
2. CONSUMERS
3. COURAGE
4. CASH IS KING!
5. CREATIVE MANAGEMENT
6. COLLABORATION
7. CHILDREN & FAMILY
Meg Keen, Alix, & Lane Becker then held an interesting panel all about the business of blogging.
I only took away top level info from this panel b/c I’m not running my business with employees, but here’s what I got from it…
Running your business should be broken up into parts – 40% is content, 40% is big picture stuff & 20% is management. Be very thoughtful about your time management by utilizing an Editorial Calendar, a Social Site management system or plug in and always, always, always think like a BIG BLOGGER! If you act small, you will always be small, so think BIG!
And finally, be strategic about your investing and marketing. You can either really build your blog with your marketing monies or you can kinda-sorta-build-it…. if you haven’t formed a plan.
And one the most interesting quotes of the day came from Lane Becker – ‘If you’re not failing at something you’re leaving money on the table somewhere else.”
LUNCH
We took over the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel and ate an incredibly delicious buffet in a fairly Disneyland reminiscent setting. Tiki room anyone…
If you haven’t eaten at the Tonga Room I recommend you fix that, like now.
AFTERNOON
The next panel of bloggers talked all about social buttons. Led by Kasey Fleisher Hickey, Wendy MacNaughton, Maia McDonald & moderated by Emily Olson.
The biggest take away from them was to choose your top 2-3 social sites and rock those. You can choose to plug them in to others or to just not even deal with the others at all, but you do need to choose the ones you want to stick with. Slapping another button on your website for the sake of having the button isn’t going to do much for you if you don’t take the time to maintain that platform.
My fave speaker of the day was Rena Tom, who got up and really leveled with us. She spoke from the heart, while just getting over pneumonia no less! And told us all about her dreams and how she made them realities, and how those realities now differ from her original dreams. It was really fun to hear how Makeshift Society came to be, and how she was willing to sacrifice her first dream project because she recognized it was not the right fit for her.
The title of her talk was Roadblocks, Detours & Potholes. She highlighted the typical creative and blogging roadblock – that nothing is original. And told us the solution was to accept it, because it’s true, and then to make that same old idea into something unique by making it your own. She said the best ways to do this were
-BE A SPONGE – Gather your data & then understand it.
-BE THE DRIVER – embrace the detours and investigate the potholes in life.
DETOURS ARE GOOD
It helps to find a creative partner. Someone to bounce ideas off of and to listen to your rants and ravings.
Be IN the world you want to emulate. Proximity stimulates productivity.
POTHOLES ARE FUN
Dig deep into a subject. Talk to everyone about what interests you. Creatively document what you find. And, don’t be afraid to change your mind!
It’s better to know it and kill it than to continue on with something you’re not passionate about.
Grant Gibson chatted a bit about how to design a space and Cathie Toshach got up and chatted about the importance of connecting with your audience through your site’s UX. How the little things matter and to be sure to develop your own personal voice. It’s okay to be silly and have unexpected details on your site. Sometimes those unexpected details can become signature moments.
Aaron de Simone spoke about fear and happiness and really kicked our butts with his grand statements –
‘without fear, we do not do what we want to do.’
and
‘good things happen when you commit to facing your fears’.
And our fabulous closing keynote came from none other than Mike McCue, founder and CEO of Flipboard.
His words really spoke to me, he talked about not overreaching. About how it is important to know what you want, and be happy when you get it.
He gave the personal example of being seen as the King and then almost immediatlely being seen as the fool – When he sold is first company he went into the negotiations with a specific number in mind and when the offer hit the table it was the exact number he had desired, so he took it. He told his accountant and lawyer what he had sold it for and they praised him for getting the number that he did. When they asked him what the negotiations had started at he told them the same number. They immediately told him he was a fool for not asking for more! But he knew what he wanted and he was happy when he got it.
Like I said, it was a lot to absorb and properly digest. So there, now you can all digest it as well. 🙂
And, a HUGE thank you to Atly for sponsoring the fab event photographer!
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