Adobe Summit in San Francisco

Adobe (yes the company) invited myself and 15 other creators to come to San Francisco on an all-paid trip to their office! (scroll to the end to see the gallery of pictures from the trip).

This was my first time in San Francisco ever, and it was a really fun time! They have self driving cars there, and no cornfields! I was definitely not in Kansas Iowa anymore. The team at Adobe kept us very busy with confidential activities each day, but it was still a fun time as we were able to sneak in a couple hours for exploring the city.

My first day I headed straight for the Golden Gate Bridge and to Chinatown to get some dumplings. To my surprise, not only was San Francisco extremely windy and cold, but the Golden Gate Bridge was completely shrouded in a thick layer of clouds and mist. I had no time to process my disappointment though, because I had to get to our summit meet and greet!

The creators I connected with on this trip were really lovely. They all had unique perspectives and approaches to their businesses that were riveting to learn more about. We spent two long, intense days together at the Adobe office, but then were treated to a steak dinner and a baseball game at Oracle Park as a reward for our hard work!

Adobe gave us comfortable accommodations at the W Hotel downtown, and plenty of Uber credits to get to and from the hotel to the office. I have NEVER been flown anywhere before, especially not as an Instagram creator, so I was very grateful to have been included in this whole experience.

My biggest takeaways were to always be open to new experiences and opportunities, keep showing up in online and physical spaces and my community, and to keep making new connections and new friends!

On the last day, after a good night sleep (and a trip to the MoMA and Chinatown for Golden Gate Fortune Cookies), I booked it to the airport and headed to Denver and then on to Iowa. I’ll miss this windy city, and next time I will definitely bring warmer clothing!