Altitude (Alt) Design Summit and Alt Online Classes

Last winter, I sat staring at my computer screen wanting to cry real tears.  Yes.  REAL tears.  The kind you cry when you know you are missing out on an amazing experience that all the cool kids are witnessing.  You see, I had just learned that I was missing the Altitude (Alt) Design Summit that was already in progress a couple thousand miles away from me and my sad face sitting in Atlanta.  So, what did I do?  I did what any self-respecting woman would do.  I stuck my lip back in, picked a random date in the fall when I figured I should see about getting tickets to next year’s conference, and set a calendar reminder to get my ticket!  I also signed up to receive an email newsletter from Alt Design.  Score!  From the newsletter, I learned about the Alt Summit Channel, which is a great resource for bloggers.  Aside from all of the great topics that are covered, one of the best parts is that each hour-long class only costs $15.  You can’t beat that with a stick!  (Or, in plain language, ‘That’s a great deal!’)

Even though I am a photographer, I immediately was drawn to the classes for several reasons.  1. Because I like design-y things, as you can probably tell from some of my DIY projects (like the one below), and 2. Because I am a blogger looking to connect with more people around the world.

I’ve taken two classes so far.  The first class that I took was a class called “Growing a Readership” and was held by Nicole Balch who runs a design blog called Making It Lovely.  I was so energized after I took her class.  She focused on different ways that you can blog content to keep the material fresh and interesting for your readers.  In addition, Nicole talked about the importance of consistency.  The second class that I took was called “Getting Noticed” and was taught by Susan Petersen of Freshly Picked.  In addition to blogging, she makes the cutest moccasins for babies and kids.  Susan also mentioned the importance of consistency, in addition to seizing opportunities that will help you grow, taking people on your “creative journey,” and what you can learn from celebrities about what sells.

I highly recommend the Alt Design classes and can’t wait to delve into more of them!  Each of the presenters highlighted websites and blogs that I had never heard of in my photography sphere.  It was so refreshing and inspirational to visit those websites and see the amazing work people are doing all over the world, not to mention get new ideas that I can apply to my own field.  Also, it was fun to “chat” with the other 99 participants who were online to share additional resources and encourage one another.  In the first class, one of the participants volunteered to compile everyone’s contact information and send it out to the group, which helped to further expand my network and allow me to continue to follow new voices.  Interested in seeing what all the hype is about yourself?  Click HERE to check out the July classes.  You might even have the opportunity to sample two classes for free!  Find out how HERE.  Thanks, Bing (#thanksbing), for providing everyone with this opportunity!  Enjoy!