Epicurrence: It’s good for the soul.
I heard about Epicurrence briefly this summer when Dann was putting together the event in Hawaii. A hometown friend, Dustin Senos, happened to be speaking at the event and so, I kept my eye on it to see what it was all about. While I never had the chance to catchup with him about his time in Oahu, it looked like a hell of a good time from the sidelines.
When Epicurrence 3 was announced I submitted my name to attend
and sadly heard nothing back. To be honest, I kind of forgot about it.
But the FOMO set in when I started seeing the online chatter, as the
event drew closer.
For many the idea of spending 4 nights in the mountains with a bunch of strangers sounds totally terrifying. As someone who grew up the mountains of British Columbia, I remain more comfortable bundled in outerwear than in jeans and a tee in the office. Epicurence 3 sounded like my happy place and boy, was I was right.
For my final attempt to get an invite to Epicurence 3 I sent the following tweet — you never know. Dann responded promptly encouraging me to attend Montues (with some of my Dropbox co-workers), however I let him know I was looking for an adventure of my own. After some magic on his end, he made room for me and I gratefully accepted the chance of a lifetime. The next thing I knew I was on a flight to Park City, UT!
I could probably talk about what I great time I had in Park City forever,
but to capture it in 3 words:
Community, Conversations & Continuation
Community:
Before I arrived in Utah I already had a whole new group of friends. All of the Epicurence peeps are invited to Slack groups which allows us to get to know each other before we even set foot at the event. I even had a welcoming crew at the airport (thanks for waiting for me 😘).
This community only grew tighter as the event went on, and by the end of the week I felt like I ACTUALLY knew everyone who attended. Who can say that about any conference they’ve ever attended? I also made some solid girl-friends there, which, considering that the industry, I am totally jazzed about that. We even made a gals Slack group that we continue to chat in everyday (sorry boys).
It was a breath of fresh air after moving to San Francisco. I’ve attended quite a few meetups, talks and design events in the city, but haven’t left a single one with a new friend (nevermind an acquaintance). The crew of people at Epiccurence were all so inviting, no matter were they came from or what their background was.
Conversations:
I’ve never had so many honest and open conversations with complete strangers in my life. Everyone was down to earth. There was no bullshit or egos. It was completely energizing and inspiring, considering how talented the attendees and speakers are.
While the organized talks where humbling, educational, and encouraging; I can honestly say the best conversations I had with people were around the kitchen table, on the chair lift or over a glass of wine. Epicurrence is built on trust. Everyone really opened themselves up to each other about fears, anxieties, mistakes and lessons. There were heart to hearts about design, moving, being in tough work situations and being a girl in the tech industry. I’m so thankful for everyone who took the time to share some of their story with me, a complete stranger.
Continuation
The experience did not end there. After Epicurrence you are part of a family. There will be people you talk to almost daily, some you follow online and some that you just run into from time to time. You’ll have friends around the world that have your back. It’s only been a couple weeks since I left the EPIC house in Park City, but there is a never ending flow of new stuff happening with the crew that attended. A few of us are even planning a motorcycle trip to India together, because: friendship.
Maybe we all just want friends super badly, but a bunch of past attendees have actually been pitching in to send people to future events. I’m so thankful to be apart of this group of individuals.
Also this happened:
Just enough wax.
The boys behind Spec FM also recorded a couple of episodes of Design Details while at Epicurrence. They invited folks to come answer one of three questions; the result is a 28-guest mega-episode! Take a listen.
Montues
This is your chance to have an incredible experience like mine! Montues is a larger conference based on the same principles at Epicurrence and will be taking place from March 6–9th in Tahoe! There is still room for more people to attend so hit up Montues.com and request an invite.
Hope to see ya there!
Read & watch more about Epicurrence 3:
A State of Constant Amazement, by Vicki Tan
It’s a Helluva Community, by Meg Robichaud
I used to be a Quitter, by Roxane Clediere
