I went to a wonderful conference this past week called Alt. Summit. I was very impressed with the speakers, the sponsors and the overall setting in general. The conference was held at Martha Stewart's Omnimedia studio in New York City. Many people worked tirelessly to make the conference a success. There are some amazing things happening in our world as a result of social media. I would love to share some links to other blogs and websites with you this week, so that you can see for yourselves.
Today though, I want to share something that was less than impressive about this conference. Something that totally surprised me. Something rather disappointing. Before I share this, I want to say that this is totally my own personal opinion and in no way a reflection on the conference, its organizers, or presenters.
I went to Alt. Summit really hoping to connect with other bloggers. I am so new to this whole genre of communication, that I am craving authentic connections with other like-minded people. While I was able to connect with a few (exactly 3) ladies, who were warm and lovely and completely authentic, what I got as far as connections go from the rest of the attendees was basically nothing, nada, zip, zilch.
It was disheartening to spend an entire day and evening in at a conference and have the majority of the attendees seemed disinterested in me as a fellow blogger or human being, really. I sat alone at breakfast, until I walked over and introduced myself to another lady who was also being left alone. I sat alone at lunch. Actually, I was surrounded by a group of women, none of whom gave me eye contact, let alone a "hello". I sat alone during the first half of the conference. Then, I had a great conversation with the lady next to me and another lady who engaged me in conversation. Afterwords, at the cocktail party, I spent the majority of the time alone. It stunk! I am a people person. I'm not shy. I'm not stand-offish. I've never meet a stranger. Yet somehow, I felt so very lonely at a conference whose focus is networking and communication. Go figure.
The only consolation that I have is that it was really nice to see other people connecting, or groups of bloggers that traveled together to learn more and to celebrate together. I loved seeing all of that togetherness, I just did not feel a part of it.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Tomorrow I will tell you about the wins. The losing story is now over.
Like this candy table that was at the conference...
Who needs social interaction when you have candy.
Or these cupcakes...
Hugs,
Melissa
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