Alt Summit - Part Three: Dinners, Parties and Lounges

Sure, Alt Summit is about learning, but it's also about interacting and making new friends.  One of the bests parts of Alt is meeting other like minded people that share the love of creating.  And there are many ways to do just that, including attending a Tuesday Night Dinner, the evening parties or simply hanging out in one of the sponsored lounges.

TUESDAY NIGHT DINNER sponsored by Gumroad

A few weeks before the conference begins, you get invited to choose one of the "Tuesday Night Dinners" you would like to attend.  Each dinner has a sponsor and takes place at a SLC area restaurant.  I chose a dinner hosted by Gumroad and it was held at The Oasis Cafe.  Gumroad is a company that helps you sell products directly to your customers.  Whether it's a tutorial, music, book, whatever, they can help.   The dinner was fun, delicious and very casual.  Not a sales pitch at all, but yet Emmiliese, from Gumroad was there to answer any questions you had about their product.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

The Oasis Cafe was a beautiful courtyard setting and the company was so fun and interesting.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

It was the first is what would prove to be a string of wonderful evenings.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT OPENING PARTY:  The Black and White Party

The first of two big parties at Alt was held in the Grand Salon of the Grand America and how very grand it was!  Most everyone was dressed in black and white and though the party started inside, the beautiful outside courtyard space was also utilized.

"We're going back to the pre-internet days", the itinerary said of the event and the room was filled with cute nods to the way "social media" used to be before high-speed internet and smart phones.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

You could type a note to a friend using a typewriter and paper the way we used to, pre-Facebook, of course.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Or snap an instant photo a la a Polariod instant camera.  The most instant a photo could be, before Instagram, that is.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Or one of my favorite past-times, cutting pictures out of magazines and pinning them with actual push pins to a bulletin board.  Vintage Pinterest, anyone?

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

The Black and White Party was a lot of fun and the weather could not have been more perfect.

SPONSORED LOUNGES

In between presentations and Break Out sessions, the sponsor lounges were the places to be.  The SquareSpace lounge, located at the entrance to the Keynote Ballroom was basically a huge coloring book where all the tables and multiple dividers were giant Jenean Morrison coloring pages!  Honestly, I spent more than my fair share coloring in there.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Across the hall was the Shared Lounge where stepawayfromthescreen.com, macy's, tagspire.com, Easy Closets and Woven Pear each had an interactive space.

Step Away from the Screen created a paint-by-numbers type mural, but instead of paint, consisted of putting colored dots on designated lettered spaces.  That's my yellow triangle/dog shape in the lower right hand corner.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Woven Pear's photo opp was one of the cutest spaces ever featuring a big, fluffy bed and poses the conjured up memories of slumber parties, plus we all got to choose a free pair of socks.  Thanks, Woven Pear!

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Though not officially in the Sponsored Lounge, I had to mention Make My Notebook, a fellow Colorado company, who let us all do just that, when we checked in for Alt Summit on Tuesday.  Mine has a bronze binding and is full of calligraphy paper.  Cute, right!

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

All of the sponsors were so generous with their gifts and expertise.  A big thanks to all of you!


THURSDAY NIGHT PARTY:  The Picnic

On Thursday night there was a picnic in the courtyard sponsored by hayneedle.com.  What a beautiful setting is was for such a beautifully crafted party.  Aside from a short, but powerful cloud burst right as the shindig was getting going, it was another perfect night.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

Many different bloggers and sponsors pitched in the make this event extra special.  There was a giant bubble station, as well as bubble wands and solution on each table.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

There was also temporary tattoo body painting, various photo ops and balloons everywhere you looked.

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

There was even a badminton court set up.  It was used for photo ops as well as a pick up game or two.  

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

And to top if off, they brought in a photo booth in the form of a Volkswagen Bus!

Photo by Justin Hackworth or Brooke Dennis for Alt Summit

This whole party was such a great idea and so well executed by everyone involved.  What a great day to end a fantastic conference and get everyone ready for summer!

A huge THANK YOU to Alt Summit, all of the sponsors and all of the creative ladies and gents who helped make these events so wonderful for all of us!!!