The Southern C Summit: Recap

I'll admit something nerdy- I love learning. I'm talking real, honest to goodness, "I'm dying to know more about this subject, please teach me" learning- not the type of disengaging "learning" you experienced in school. You know what I mean, when you were forced to sit in a math/science/spanish class that only made you feel beat down and like you were the worlds least intelligent person. Real learning is exciting and inspiring and passion inducing- it never leaves you feeling bad about yourself. #endrant

Although I've been out of college for almost a year, I sometimes I find myself wishing I could spend time sitting in a classroom soaking up useful, interesting (read: relevant to my profession) information. It's easy to think that you diploma signals the end of your education, but I've learned that I will never stop needing to challenge and better myself. Working in social media I feel like there's a new skill to learn or tool to utilize every single day. I don't think I'll ever feel like I've gained all the information about this ever-changing digital medium and that really excites me.

This week I had the awesome opportunity to attend the Southern C Summit, a professional conference for creative business people here in Charleston. I spent two days attending various seminars and learning from creative, passionate, successful people from all different areas of the professional world. The conference was held in the historic American Theater (aka where Noah and Allie have their first date in The Notebook) and its next door neighbor, the William Aiken House. It was incredibly cool to go inside these buildings rather than just walk past them like I've done for years. Their interiors were just as beautiful as you would expect- the history nerd in me was in heaven!

Day 1: 

Day 2:

From magazine editors, to business owners, to bloggers the speakers shared their knowledge in a real + relatable way. They didn't sugar coat the hard parts of their work, or spare us the nitty gritty details of what it takes to create success, and I really appreciate that. While I enjoyed everyone, Mandy Rye of Waiting On Martha was definitely my favorite presenter overall. Her session of social media strategy was beyond helpful and inspiring. I kind of wish we were best friends now- homegirl was hilarious, blunt, passionate, and brilliant at what she does. Oh, and her outfit was so on point. #girlcrush

I think I appreciated Mandy's honest session so much because it took away the smoke and mirrors, "oh I just woke up with 100,000 followers" vibe that social media can often create. In the end we're all just imperfect humans trying to live and work and "do life" the best we can. It's so inspiring when we can come together, admitting our innate humanness, and share knowledge to help one another grow. It was truly a beautiful thing to experience and I feel totally re-charged. I'm looking forward to taking what I learned and tackling my work with a renewed excitement and thirst to work harder, better, and smarter. Happy weekend! xo

-Lanie W.