June 24-26th I spent 3 of the most enjoyable days of my life in Park City, Utah. I’ve never been to Utah, nor have I ever had a desire to go. Now that I’ve been I long to go back.
EVO is a social media conference: the evolution of women in social media, that totally knocked my socks off. I was a conference “virgin” until EVO, and I can say that it will definitely be hard to top it until EVO ’11. Jyl from Mom it Forward, and Rachel from Today’s Mama thought of everything. They were amazingly energetic despite the lack of sleep, and the last minute snafus I’m sure happened behind the scenes. I will admit to having a seriously critical eye for flaws, it’s not something that I love about myself, but I embrace it. It was apparent to me that Jyl, Rachel and their team of volunteers took care of everything. Their attention to detail, and thoroughness is what impressed me most about the conference.
The venue was gorgeous. I never knew the mountains of Utah were so pretty at this time of year, and I was so happy to experience it at a time when the weather was so perfect. The staff at The Canyons couldn’t have been any nicer or more attentive. The food was delicious. I also won a free massage, so my take on things may be slightly biased. 
And the speakers? Oh, the speakers. I only feel bad that I couldn’t clone myself and be in 4 places at once during the sessions.
There was the heart wrenching, honest and funny opening keynotes from lovely ladies including Heather Spohr (The Sphors are Multplying), Stephanie Qualio (Noshtopia), Niri (Mommy Niri), and Wendy Sachs which started the event off on the perfect note.
I learned so much from the amazing panel on storytelling with the lovely Laura (Kirtsy), Catherine (Her Bad Mother), Maya (MeMeTales), and Alexandra (Modern Kiddo) on the craft of storytelling. I love that they all came to storytelling from a different place, and their own paths.
I wrote a whole post about the amazing lessons I learned from Ghennipher Weeks, Liz Strauss, and Carol Roth in the social media in business session. They were all sharp, gorgeous, and funny.
Another favorite session was Sales and Monetization with Stephanie Smirnov, Stephanie Schwab, Neil Chase, and Naomi Hirabayash. They seriously packed hours of content, and useful advice into about an hour. Each of them had their own brilliant take (based on their experience) on what works, and what doesn’t, and how to best approach monetization.
I also loved the morning keynote from Jon Sinclair and Andrea Howard, both producers at Oprah, who discussed new media and old media. There were so many smart things they both said, but I loved that they really understood that we don’t consume media in the same way anymore and they have to adapt to the changing times. One interesting thing they shared was how they can now use social media as a tool for vetting guests. They no longer need to have extensive interviews because most of their guests have websites, twitter accounts, and Facebook pages.
There were some common threads that ran throughout the conference.
Be authentic.
Know your message.
Know your audience.
Adapt.
Value yourself and your time.
You are not your numbers.
Appreciate what you have.
The closing keynote by Brene Brown (Ordinary Courage) and Karen Walrond (Chookooloonks) was about authenticity. I really could have listened to them talk for hours. Their presentation was moving, personal, and funny. It left me feeling high on life and the possibilities. Karen’s passion and talent for photography have helped me refind my passion for photography as a hobby and Brene’s passion for her work in worthiness and courage is amazing. Just thinking about them inspires me!
Another feature of the conference was the venue. I was completely hooked on the scenery. Utah is gorgeous at this time of year. Simply beautiful. So while we sat inside and learned and dug into social media, we came outside to the most glorious cool, sunny weather with the amazing mountains surrounding us.
The closing party was held at the fantastic Park City Mountain Resort, and was so much fun. The resort has an Alpine Slide, Alpine Coaster, Zipline and more for summertime fun. The Bush’s Beans sponsored food was delicious, and of course the company was fab.
Did I mention the zipline? There was a big kerfuffle in the beginning of the night-not enough tickets to go around. I was totally bummed, but as chance would have it right at the end of the night (5 minutes before the lift closed) I headed up the mountain with Maya, Amy, and Laura, and we took a chance. There was no line, and 2 guys who like their jobs a little too much. I was nervous, and asked if I was all buckled in, and the guy said, “I guess we’ll see!”, and then opened the door. Thankfully I am not prone to panic attacks!
I wish I had video, but I was too scared to think of that. You can see Amy’s videos of the Death-Defying ride, and the aftermath.
I can’t wait for EVO ’11.
Kelly
