THE MOTHER OF ALL ALT DESIGN SUMMIT ROUND-UP POSTS

So the Alt Design Summit is goin' down this week in Salt Lake City and the whole internet is abuzz. The Blogarazzi are shining up their DSLR's, last minute ban.do hair pieces are being purchased, messy bun pins on pinterest are being power searched, and "express ship green party dress" is showing up in many a blogger's browser histories. Shit's about to get REAL, ppl. 

Lucky for you, virtually every blogger on planet earth has done an Alt focused blog post to help you figure out: wtf to wear, wtf to say, wtf to bring, and wtf to do every minute of every day while you're there. Whew! 

Truth time: I actually found these sorts of posts super duper helpful before my Alt maiden voyage, and so in case you are looking to read each and every one of them, I thought I'd round them all up in one spot. 

Herewith is the mother of all Alt Design Summit round-up posts: 

WTF TO WEAR: 

+ Design Crush created this fantastico Wardrobe Planner & Packing List. I *highly* recommend you spend some time figuring out what you're gonna wear before you get to Alt as it's just one less thing for you to worry about in the midst of all the blog-mazingness there. I promise: once you have your outfits all sorted, you'll feel as cool as James Spader in 1986:

+ Good Life did a post on what to wear to Alt. With a super fab visual of exactly what your ass should be packing (thumbs up for the faux fur collar, leopard flats and red lipstick). 

+The Efficient Traveler's Guide to Alt on Pippin & Pearl has some great suggestions of what to wear, how to pack and everything in between (with pics!). There are too many good tips in there to pick a fave, but based on the unpredictable temp in hotels and outside, I'd say don't forget to wear layers is a good one. 

+ Ok, fine. I'm a big fan of the visuals, and Harlem Lovebirds has all sorts of great pics/suggestions for what to wear. Also, she's preggo! So she had a whole other layer of challenges to deal with. Here's all her scoop.

+ Some inspiration for the Green Party from Design + Life + Kids. She even fesses up to the fact that she's wearing a black dress to the party (!) and then accessorizing with green. Kind of a brilliant idea, if you ask me. This is what I looked like when I read it: 

Ok, so the Suburban Bitches have got you covered, yo! In this post they each share every outfit they are wearing for every day/night at Alt. If you're still confused about any of your choices, you'll likely feel much better after peeping two other women's entire wardrobes for the whole damn conference. Nice work, ladies!. 

WTF TO BRING:

+ Business cards. Duh. If you want to zhush yours up, Oh Happy Day has a great tutorial on painting stripes on the edges. 

+ Ez from Creature Comforts has a faboo Alt Summit Survival Guide that also includes a "what to bring" tip list and a packing list. My fave though is her tips for Introverts. What up fellow I's!

+ Blogging it Forward breaks down what you do, and more importantly DON'T need to bring with you to Alt (though I gotta say, I disagree with the don't bring your laptop/ipad tip. I have a an Air--which basically weighs the same as an ipad--and I loved having it with me last time around to take notes, tweet, etc). 

+ In 21 Tips for Alt Summit on A Blog About Love, there's a great list of stuff to bring. Also some awesomely specific advice about some not-to-miss speakers including Meg from A Practical Wedding, Jenny Komenda from Little Green Notebook (a blogging goddess and DIY queen empress) and The Girls with Glasses...all of whom are speaking this year! So when figuring out your sked, try not to miss these sassy ladies or you might be all like: 

WTF TO DO:

+ Bunny & Dolly has some good tips on Networking...and creating a "networking toolkit." My fave tip: bring breath mints. 

+ Networking 101: Going Beyond First Impressions When Meeting Bloggers is a great post on The Road to the Good Life. It includes an awesome link to this thing called the "typealyzer" which you can run your blog through to see what sort of first impressions you're likely getting. I did this for Design Blahg and all I can say is: 

+ At Bright, Bold & Beautiful (sidenote: I hope the name of her blog was inspired by the Bold & the Beautiful...I miss soap operas), they have 7 Tips to Make Alt Summit SLC Work For You. I dig #6 the best: Be Comfortable. Of course you wanna look good, but if any of your day shoes look like this: 

You are NOT going to be a happy camper. 

+ Lulu The Baker's got: Surviving Alt Summit: A How to. Have a plan for follow-up after the conference is a *great* tip. Cause trust: you'll have so many business cards by the end of this shebang, you'll be able to do stuff like this: 

+ This is going to be Alexandra Hedin's 5th time to this rodeo...so she's go the whole thing down. Here are some of her best tips: like bring your own damn coffee if you need a jolt in the morn. 

+ Braid Creative & Consulting has a great post on Calming The Conference Jitters.  I love these ladies as they seem to also be fans of the "tell it like it is" school of thought. Case in point: "First off, that “I-think-I-might-puke” feeling is TOTALLY normal. Everyone gets that. Even hot-shit rockstar bloggers get nervous before attending conferences." After you read it, you'll probably feel like this: 

+ Inward Facing Girl offers up some Top Tips for Alt here. She thinks you should define your mission before hitting SLC, and I don't disagree. What do you want to get out of this whole thing? Figure it out, write it down, and get er' done. This way you won't get there and be all: 

+ Pars Caeli's best advice: GO FOR IT. And to that I say: word.

+ Top 10 Alt Summit Tips from Michelle Edgemont's blog includes som goodies like: leave the Grand America at some point during the conference for your own sanity. I actually did not do that the last time around and by the end I was feeling a bit stir crazy. Though now that I live in Southern California, every time I come into contact with weather below 70, I'm usually just like "step off, bitch!" But I did recently manage to find my coat at the bottom of a box in our garage, so maybe I'll be all adventurous like Bey and venture out into the cold in my bathing suit and fur coat. KIDDING! PROBABLY!: 

+ Cupcakes & Cutlery has a Things You Should Know Before You Go To Alt Summit post with some great practical advice: like be prepared for how damn hard it's going to be to find a cab after your Weds night dinner (hmm, thinking maybe I need to arrange a pick-up with a car service ahead of time?). There are many more jewels there too, so definitely don't miss this one. 

MISC: 

+ Gluten free and going to Alt? Gluten Free Travelette has got yer back. 

+ Lovely Indeed has a great post on Alt Summit Prep for your blog. 

+ Of course you should do some additional reading up on Alt's own blog here. 

+ Check out the #altsummit feed on Insta (and follow their official account here). Also follow the feed on Twitter here. 

+ Follow Alt Summit on Pinterest. And catch up on lots of links/posts from years past. 

+ My Alt Summit wrap up and take-aways from a billion years ago in 2011. Much of what I was complaining about has already been solved, and some of that stuff won't apply if you're going this year, but if you're bored and wanna clickity click it, I ain't gonna complain. 

+ 10 day weather forecast for Salt Lake City.

+ All the scoop on the Grand America (location, phone #, hotel amenities, yadda, yadda, yadda). PRO TIP: call now just to double double check that everything is Aok with your reservation.

Ok, ppl: what did I miss? Lemme know in the comments and I'll add it toute de suite!

Oh, and p.s. Let's say hi and be besties at Alt! If you're going, I'd love to connect with you there! Here I am on Instagram and here I am on Twitter.