alt begins

Goodie box all tied with a bowIt was nice to have a day off with no particular schedule. Although I'm disappointed that I will miss all the design camp activities on Saturday (flying home), I think it was for the best to have some down time before Alt begins. If the "Dinner with" and Speakers' reception this evening are any indication, the next few days are going to be intense! 

When I first saw all the girls (yes, the women probably outnumber the guys 50 to 1!) congregating in the hotel lobby chatting in groups or waiting outside for taxis to their dinners, I was a bit overwhelmed with that old highschool feeling... you know the feeling: being shy, awkward, intimidated by the cool kids... But the "Dinner with" event was a nice way to ease into the very social aspect of this conference. There were various groups of 15-20 people at restaurants throughout downtown, each hosted by a particular sponsor. It was nice to meet Erin of Designformankind (at last! she has contributed to UPPERCASE magazine for quite along time now) and to visit with Kate of Chronicle Books (she initiated the Shoegazing Notecard set, see the sidebar for a picture).

Here's a partial list of the folks at the Squatter's Pub dinner, thanks to Christine and Bo.lt for hosting.

Erin M - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/ErinMcGovney
Jessie - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/StyleandPepper
Megan - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/NotMarthaBlog
Kate - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/ChronicleBooks
Amy - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/AmyWingDesigns
Janine - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/UppercaseMagazine
Jessica - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/ShimmerKai
Trina - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/LaLaLovelyThings
Erin L - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/DesignForMankind
Tyler & Wendy -  http://christineharmel.bo.lt/BlueLilyPhotography
Kathryn - http://christineharmel.bo.lt/SnippetandInk

See you tomorrow at the conference (and on Twitter and Instagram).