Reflections | Engage! 13 Part 1

It's been a week since I walked off the plane in Arizona, so excited to embark on my first Engage! experience. I didn't know what to expect or where to go for that matter, I just went. The Montelucia Resort & Spa was beyond amazing, and the opening sessions kicked off the three day intensive- with a bang- featuring the likes of Randy Fenoli and Todd Fiscus, to name a few.

For many of my Idaho friends, you may or may not know of Engage!- a luxury wedding business summit that corrals some of the world's most renowned designers, planners, stationers, musicians, and business mentors- all with an acute focus on the luxury wedding industry. The Montelucia in Scottsdale hosted the 12th Engage!, and it was pretty amazing to see old friends and new friends come together.

So, as many bloggers do after attending Engage!, I felt the need to reflect on some of my thoughts, experiences, and memories. Especially since I was the one and only Idaho attendee, therefore putting the state on their big map of attendees throughout the world! I will preface all of this first by thanking Liene Stevens for all the work she does on her blog and in her business, Thinksplendid.com. I say this because I remember reading years ago a post she blogged about how to really get what you need out of Engage!. She said the most valuable parts of the conference would be the in betweens- the breaks, the after parties, the few minutes standing outside of the ballroom door. I arrived at Engage! with this in my back pocket and set out to make the most of the unscheduled moments- and I thank you for helping to make my first Engage! experience an amazing one. And love that she did a bonus post on preparing for Engage! here too.

And without further ado, some of my notes and thoughts, and a video of day 1 of the conference- just so you can see how me describing it just doesn't do it justice.

1. "Great minds don't think alike, but they do think better together"- Rebecca Grinnals. I have this quote in my book of notes because it's so true in all facets of life, and especially at Engage!. I loved how many of us, including most of the speakers, didn't necessarily agree how the other did things. But with an open mind, we often came up with a better idea of how to do things, in your own way.

2. Todd Fiscus is really an amazing guy. He is humble, funny, and really had a great message regarding why you do what you do.

3. In the beginning, announcing I was from Idaho had people often looking at me as if I were a rare zoo attraction. Towards the end I began to like it, and it became quite the icebreaker.

4. We did the Horah.

Stay tuned tomorrow with Part 2 of my first Engage! experience!

engage!13 | The Montelucia from I Do Films on Vimeo.

Montelucia Engage!13 Xo,