If you’ve never been to Alt Summit, you might be wondering what it’s really like. Well, Monica Packer was in your shoes when she attended Alt Summit in March. And after the conference she sent out a newsletter with the subject: Three Ways I Was Wrong About Alt. Here’s what Monica said:
This week, I’m living a long-held dream of mine to attend ALT, which is a major blogging/social media/female entrepreneur conference.
Let me admit something terrible to you: I thought this conference (or any blogging conference) would be a huge Petri dish of oozing egos.
I was so wrong.
Yes, I was THRILLED to come and learn, learn, learn. BUT I imagined feeling like a tiny fish in a sea of sharks. And these sharks would look like models from Anthropologie and be taking selfies non-stop.
Well, I’ve eaten some good kind of humble pie, and here are the three ways I was wrong about ALT:
1) People will be consumed by their phones: Nope. Yes, people are doing work here and there and checking in with their families. But I don’t see people constantly taking selfies, posing for photos, scrolling Instagram, and talking to their “fans.” These women have better things to do, so they do them. They’re here to learn and support. Which leads me to . . .
2) Egos will be popping: Again, so wrong! I’ve met people who I’ve loved and followed for YEARS and they are as kind and as humble as can be. I’ve seen so many class-acts and women sharing alllll they know about things and cheering others on who are barely getting started. It’s been eye-opening.
3) Confidence will rain like glitter: Nu-uh. EVERYONE feels insecure. Whether it’s about having to talk to people they’ve never met all day, every day, about their outfits, their platforms, their business, their performance, etc. Every single woman here feels insecure about something. We all struggle.
Why am I sharing this? Not because you have to go to a blogging conference to learn any of these things.
But it has been a fantastic way for me to be reminded that there is SO much goodness in the world, even where I didn’t quite expect to find it.
