Have you ever heard of Altitude Summit? It’s a conference for bloggers, small business owners and social media folks that I’ve been following for YEARS (I guess because I follow a lot of bloggers that go or have gone).

This is the first year I’ve been able to attend, and now that I’ve had a minute to think through the experience, I thought I’d share what it was like for me in case you’re interested.

For the 10th anniversary of the conference, the Alt Summit organizers made it massively bigger (someone told me that ¾ of this year’s attendees were first-timers). The conference was much longer than before (6 days) and spread out among 4 different hotels in Palm Springs.

This meant that the ticket was also more expensive: $700-$1100, depending on when you bought the ticket. (And that’s JUST the ticket, so adding in hotel, travel, meals, etc. meant it would get pretty pricey.)

So, when the Alt Summit folks put out a call for presenters and I realized that if you presented you didn’t have to buy a ticket, I decided to pitch a presentation.

You guys, there were HUNDREDS OF PITCHES.

I knew the chances were pretty slim that mine would get chosen (a feeling that was magnified x a million after I read some of the other amazing pitches). But it did!! So I decided to go for it, and I was so so so excited to finally get the chance after wondering what it was like for so long.

WHAT I LOVED:

• By far, the best part for me was meeting so many entrepreneurs. I think that this conference was originally designed as a blogger conference, but over the years it’s also become a conference for (mostly female) entrepreneurs in creative fields. It was so exciting and inspiring to see how many types of businesses can exist and really become hugely successful.
• A close second for me was a meetup I attended with other Latina jefas. I’m naturally an introvert, and although it’s easy for me to chat with people, I definitely do best in a smaller group setting. There really weren’t very many Latinx at this conference, so it felt like such a treat to meet gente and really get to know them & have fun in a very relaxed environment.
• Staying at the Saguaro. I had originally planned to attend with a friend that couldn’t make it at the last minute, so I ended up with the room to myself. I thought about finding a roommate, but I wasn’t really that excited about sharing my bed with a stranger for so many days. Also Josh was like, “You’re pregnant! Just enjoy it!” so I was like WELL OK THEN! I promised myself I’d make time to work every day (instead of socializing with roomate/s) and honestly was way too excited about uninterrupted sleep for the first time in, oh, about 4 years. The Saguaro was definitely the least fancy of the 4 hotels, but I thought it was fine and super convenient to be able to run back to my room at any time, especially since one of the parties and many of the sessions were held at this hotel.
• Many of the sessions/classes. I think the behind-the-scenes of blogging and small business ownership are so fascinating, and I loved hearing from people that are doing big things in their businesses. It was kind of thrilling to be able to learn from people like Joy Cho of Oh Joy, or Elle Rowling from Solly Baby; and it was just as helpful to pick up tips on copywriting, batching your social media content, working with brands, or improving iPhone photography from other very nice folks I had never heard of before.

WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE:

• How long the conference was. 6 days is a LOT of days. And I technically missed the first one, because I caught a ride with a friend from Phoenix on Sunday (when it started) and we got there after that day’s sessions had ended. It felt like people started off so excited and chatty, but by Thursday everyone was getting pretty tired. I also didn’t like that Friday was billed as another conference day but there weren’t actually any sessions scheduled (just informal meet-ups organized by conference attendees). For me, taking that much time away from my family and business was logistically challenging (and also I just really missed them all by Thursday!). If I attend again, I probably won’t stay the whole time.
• I feel like in years past, people just RAVED about every detail of Alt Summit. And while there were many really lovely things, I was underwhelmed by some of it, too. Maybe it’s because I was pregnant and super tired by the end of the day, but I didn’t think the parties or closing concert were particularly great. I also know some people were upset that only the first few rows could actually see Joanna Gaines during her keynote speech, since she sat on a stage with no risers and her speech wasn’t broadcast on the big screens in the room. I sat in one of the last rows so I definitely could only hear her and it didn’t bother me, but I can see how those details either elevate or bring down an event.
• The food situation. There was only one meal provided per day (lunch), and since the conference was spread all over, you got three meal tickets at random hotels. If your lunch ticket happened to be at a different hotel than where you wanted to do a session or class, it was on you to exchange it with someone (or miss lunch). Every other conference I’ve been to has at least a couple of meals included, and while it wasn’t a huge deal to buy my own food, for a conference ticket that’s pretty high priced I was just surprised (and hungry, #sopregnant).

OTHER THINGS:

• I mentioned before that this is the first time the conference has been held simultaneously at four hotels. There were shuttles that ran between the four hotels all day long, though I know a lot of attendees used Uber or Lyft to get back and forth instead because sometimes the shuttles could take a while. Personally, my strategy was to just choose one hotel per day and stay there for most sessions (instead of trying to go back and forth between different hotels all day long). Unfortunately this meant that I couldn’t get to EVERY session I was interested in. I know this bummed some of the other attendees out, but hey, life is about making choices, no?
• I’d heard for years that the fashion at Alt Summit was crazy and also really important. I suppose being pregnant was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I didn’t really have the luxury to stress about what I would wear— I just took the 5 things that still fit me, haha. Once I got there though, it really wasn’t a big deal. Lots of people do wear fun, bright colors and there were plenty of fashion bloggers taking outfit pictures. It was so fun to see what everyone was wearing, but I felt fine wearing my regular clothes (and I wore the same outfit all day).
• It’s a BIG conference. This year was bigger than ever, with something like 1200 attendees I think. I went by myself and met plenty of nice people, but there’s no way to meet even a fourth of the people there.

For me, the big question is “Would I go back again?” (or buy my own ticket). I am still thinking this one through.

Because my business caters to bilingual families and a Latinx audience, I feel that We All Grow Summit (a conference for Latina creators and entrepreneurs that I attended last year, and was planning to attend this year until I realized I’d be about 5 minutes away from giving birth) is a much better fit. At Alt, while plenty of people thought my business was really interesting, it just wasn’t right for the audience of most of the influencers that I met.

However, now that I know what it’s like and how to prepare, I would consider attending again to learn more about the business of blogging & connect with sponsors (so from a blogger perspective, not necessarily a small-business-owner perspective).

So there you have it! If you have any questions about Alt (including “um, why did you think I’d be interested in reading allllll of this?”), I’m happy to answer!

(First and third photos by Paige Major. Fourth photo my pic of the Frida Kahlo mural created at Alt Summit by Michael Corr.)

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