kay! I promise this is the final Alt Summit recap! There was just so much! Geez! I just wanted to make sure I shared all of it with you. So here it goes... enjoy and take notes!
"Social Media, Make It Work For You"Started off Friday morning with a roundtable discussion led by Caitlin Flemming of Sacramento Street and Crystal Gentilello of Plush Palate (also Editor-and-Chief of Rue Magazine).
I learned a lot of valuable information from these two lovely ladies as well as the other amazing bloggers at the table. It was fun and it felt like chat time out with friends! One lesson I learned? Tweet! Tweet! Tweet! Twitter is the new Facebook! Or... something like that. Twitter is apparently the social media of choice for bloggers. But, whatever method you choose, stay in touch with your readers, visit other blogs, make meaningful comments and network, network, network!! : )
The morning was then followed by a wonderful presentation led by Heather Armstrong of Dooce and Neil Chase of Federated Media. This panel was about The Art of The Pitch. Lessons learned?- Always keep contact information current for PR reps.
- Metrics that matter are page views and unique users... not hits.
- Good sources for metrics? Google Analytics or Quantcast.
- Keep the front page fresh to generate multiple page views.
- Figure out what your time is worth.
- Is a product you are promoting authentic to you?
Oookaay... I then went to my Tabletop Photography class taught by Tyler & Wendy Whitacre of Blue Lily Photo. Lessons Learned? Weeelll....my notes here were not the greatest. I did learn, however that the best lens to buy is a 50/1.8; match shutter speed to lens length to prevent shaking; purchase a macro lens to photograph small items; increase the ISO in a dark room and um...??????????? I tried. I have to say. I tried. Perhaps photography is not my forte. Sorry ya'll! But, I did take the pretty picture above!
Saturday morning I signed up to go on a photography tour of the city of Salt Lake. Very cool. Beautiful! Led by talented photographer Jessica Peterson of Jessica Peterson Photography. There she is on the right guiding us! : ) She made a great guide! We had a ton of fun and it was awesome to see the city with someone who lives in it!
I ended my Alt Summit adventure with a trip to Park City. This is where the Sundance Film Festival is held. It snowed pretty heavily when we first arrived. But, while we sat down to gobble up some Mexican food, it cleared up. So, we were able to walk around and see what was going on. Very cool to see choirs singing on the street, random piano players playing on the sidewalks, folk singers singing on the streets (really good too!!), paparazzi and video cameras everywhere, James Franco! I mean, come on! Pretty awesome!
Whew! I feel like I've been writing about Alt all week! Wow! Well, it was a lot of stuff crammed into 4 days! But, it was well worth it and I'd do it all over again. I wish I could've gotten to know more people while I was there. But there was so much to do in so little time. Hopefully I will get to do more of that next year. Okee dokee! Until Monday everyone! Sweet dreams...
Happy Decorating!
Mina
