Here are 10 reasons why you should come to Epicurrence—The Montues this March 6–9th.

13 min readFeb 4, 2016

Epicurrence, coming from joining the words “epic” and “occurrence” was always intended to be different. Coming this March 6–9th in beautiful Lake Tahoe, CA at Northstar, The Montues is a short 3 day jam session of creative discussions, inspirations, relationships, and adventures. Attendees enjoy daily knowledgeable talks, encouraging stories, incredible food, and time on the mountain for skiing and snowboarding.

Basically, it’s a unique experience you’d find in the organic aisle of conferences. At an event like Epicurrence—The Montues, the focus is on the attendee and their relationships with the other attendees. The main goal is to get you re-inspired to create better work but comes with incredible benefits like learning new techniques and skills to manage your worklife while gaining life-long relationships. Sure, there are epic activities, but ultimately it’s the discussions and the knowledge that you take away that sets it apart.

So you’re thinking about coming and joining in on the conversation? Epic. Let me help by giving you some more information about the event. If you’re interested already, go ahead and request an invite at montues.com. Otherwise, keep reading!

Based on feedback from the previous attendees, the best part of Epicurrence is the enormous focus on time allowed for intimate discussions. Whether it’s around some fresh brewed coffee at breakfast, time on the lifts, dinner, or during the scheduled discussions — it’s the time together put forward for natural, comfortable yet uncomfortable, intimate discussions that make Epicurrence an unique experiece in it’s own way.

The setting is unique as it will be in the mountains at a 5 Star resort called Northstar. Combine that with a group of incredibly talented people and industry leaders, there will be plenty to chat about. Stack on discussions from industry leaders like Marc Hemeon, Founder of Design Inc, or Ryan Freitas, Director of Design at Uber, and you’ll be emersed in endless topics of inspiration to join in on.

“It’s that vulnerability that makes an event like this work so well. It’s a big risk opening up to a group of your peers, but it’s also the quickest path to deep, authentic friendship and professional growth.“ — Stephen Olmsted, InVision

I think Matt Spiel said it best about Epicurrence. He said:

I think it’s easy for us to stick with the safe conversations. What colors, buttons, flow, tools, billing terms, etc, we use. And while that is the common ground many of us stand on, it’s healthy to remind ourselves that there is a vast world outside of the interfaces we work on.

The big walkaway is that there’s more to an event then product talk. It’s about relationships and from that comes better product talk. So when you come to an Epicurrence event like The Montues you’ll gain inside knowledge on hardships, struggles, adventures, dreams, and successes. You’ll hear stories that have never been spoken and most importantly you’ll gain relationships for personal and work life, referrals, sources of feedback, and long lasting community of Epicurrians that stick together in different social channels like Slack and Facebook, way beyond the days spent together after the event. The event is only the beginning, the connecting point.

Epicurrence—The Montues has created an impressive lineup of discussions, panels, and activities to inspire, educate and push us all forward to be better creatives in our fields. Consisting of 3 straight days of inspiration, you’ll have most of the day to indulge in intimate discussions with the best creators in our industry giving you time to grow as a creator, learn, and become more motivated than ever.

As an example of how things will go down, here’s the living schedule:

Sunday March 6th 2016

5:00PM — Arrive at the Ritz Carlton/Check-In. Meet and mingle
6:00PM — Light Dinner
6:30PM — Welcome Discussion
7:00PM — Discussion w/ a very Special Guest TBA
8:45PM — Discussions w/ Everyone

Monday March 7th 2016

8:30AM — Breakfast
9:00AM — Discussion w/ Red Bull Special Guest
10AM-5PM — Snowboard/Ski/Collaboration Time
5:30PM — Dinner
6:00PM —Discussion w/ Mikael Cho (Co-Founder of Unsplash + Crew) and Steph Liverani (Co-Founder of Unsplash + Crew)
7:00PM — Discussion w/ Enrique Allen (Founder of Designer Fund), Katie Dill (Head of Experience Design at Airbnb), and the Airbnb Design Team
8:00PM — Marc Hemeon (Founder of Design Inc) w/ Ben Cline (Co-Founder of Rally Interactive), Dan Mall (Founder of Superfriendly), Geoff Teehan (Director of Design at Facebook)
8:45PM — Discussions w/ Everyone

Tuesday March 8th 2016

8:30AM —Breakfast
9:00AM —Discussion w/ Young Designers Jared Erondu (Designer at Copper), Alice Lee (Freelance), and Ben Mingo (Designer at UENO)
10AM-5PM — Snowboard/Ski/Collaboration Time
5:30PM — Dinner
6:00PM — Live podcast recording w/ Design Details and Helena Price
7:00PM — Discussion w/ Ryan Block (Co-Founder of Small Wins), and Veronica Belmont (Startup Advisor)
8:00PM — Discussion w/ Marc Hemeon and Ryan Freitas (Director of Product Design at Uber)
8:45PM — Discussions w/ Everyone

Wednesday March 9th 2016

9:00AM — House Checkout
12:00PM — Ritz Checkout

As you can see from the schedule above, Epicurrence prides itself in free time activities which is where true conversations will evolve. Make friends on the lifts and in-between runs, try new things together like learning how to snowboard or ski, go ice skating, hiking, or just enjoy relaxing on mountain, hot tub, or outdoor heated pools with other creative individuals.

“When a conference feels more like a reunion then it’s hard to say goodbye, but then the desire to come back together and do it all over again is that much stronger.” — Phil Coffman, Designer
A majority of the interactions I had during the time we spent together were marked by a willingness to be open and honest. From the moment I got in to the car to cruise from Reno to Tahoe, the discussion wasn’t about what cool products or apps we were working on. It was about marriage, family, having your world-view completely blown away — all the stuff you don’t share with someone you just shook hands with for the first time 30 minutes prior. — Matt Spiel, Treehouse

Don’t think you already need to know everyone to join us—The Montues is perfect for individuals and there will be lots of them. It’s the ultimate opportunity to meet new folks, live with them, eat with them, try new things together, and of course to grow together and learn new things about our industry from epic discussions. Go stag, and leave with more than you can carry. And no, you don’t have to know how to ski/snowboard.

We’re stoked to invite you and your team to come join the action with other teams from Facebook, Airbnb, InVision, Rally Interactive, UENO, and many others. Give your team the break they need, praise their hard work, let them grow closer together personally and intimately with other teammates and like minded creatives with a few days in the mountains. Epicurrence — The Montues is an invite-only event that guarantees the most epic environment for an epic team getaway to reset, and get re-inspired. Plus, there’s plenty of downtime to do your own thing like brainstorm sessions or group activites.

With the team deals in place, your team can have their own Airbnb to live in together as a team. You’ll also get your own transportation depending on the size of your crew. You can find more information on here.

Real inspiration comes from living life, the outdoors, and adventure which means getting away from the desk. The Montues has two full days of skiing, snowboarding, and hiking around the mountains. If you don’t ski, that’s ok. IT’S TAHOE! There’s tons of things to do there. Not to mention, it’s one of the worlds most photogenic slices of nature. You can rent a car to drive around the clear blue lake, go hiking in the snow, go sledding in numerous spots around the lake and mountains, enjoy the year round heated pools, go ice skating, and hit up some of the shopping spots down in the villages.

Take it from Dan Mall, Epicurrence is actually pretty relaxing as well. You can come and just hang out. Though he didn’t, he leared to surf for the very first time last October in Hawaii. Maybe you’ll learn to ski for the first time?

“Epicurrence was the most beautiful, energizing, comfortable, and relaxing uncomfortable experience I’ve had in a long time.” — Dan Mall, Superfriendly

Ah yes, the Ritz Carlton in Tahoe, the only AAA Five Diamond ski-in, ski-out mountain resort in California. A place that is chill, yet luxurious at the same time with incredible customer service that makes you feel like a king/queen.

When you are ready for a day on the mountain, simply head down to the mountain concierge where ski valets will assist you with your boots and escort you to your skis and poles waiting on the slopes. In the Village at Northstar, guests will find themselves amidst an intermountain gondola, including a 9,000 sq ft ice skating rink surrounded by cozy fire pits, and a variety of options for shopping, dining and entertainment and a luxurious slope-side spa and a year round heated pool (two of them). It’s nuts.

As an attendee, sure you might walk away with an epic Welcome Pack. The more tickets we sell, the more epic the Welcome Packs will be. Epicurrence prides itself on either usefull swag items, or nothing at all. You know, stuff you’d actually use. However that’s not the ultimate takeaway here, it’s the knowledge, memories, and organic relationships that you gain in these 3 days on the mountain that last a life time and are far more valuale.

Check out some of these examples of previous Welcome Packs including things like Topo packs, InVision Swell water bottles, Patagonia jackets, Aviator Nation tees, Fairends hats, Tens sunglasses and GoPros. Sadly, a relationship with Geoff Teehan wouldn’t fit in the pack—but we tried!

With tickets going fast, now’s the time to snag yours. If you haven’t already go to Montues.com and request an invite.

There are 3 ticket options.

$1499 — No Lodging Ticket:

Does NOT come with lodging.
Breakfast and Dinner with everyone.
2 Day lift tickets for Northstar to ski/snowboard.
Access to all the discussions and media.
Some EPIC swag.

$1799 — Airbnb Ticket:

Comes with lodging in an Airbnb near Northstar with roommates.
Breakfast and Dinner with everyone.
2 Day lift tickets for Northstar to ski/snowboard.
Access to all the disucssions and media.
Some EPIC swag.

Check out some of these epic homes available for you to stay in:

$1999 — Ritz Carlton Ticket. (SOLD OUT!)

Comes with lodging at the Ritz Carlton at Northstar. Some guests will have roommates.
Breakfast and Dinner with everyone.
2 Day lift tickets for Northstar to ski/snowboard.
Access to all the disucssions and media.
Some EPIC swag.

And we’re offering team deals, which you can find more information on here on this presentation.

Well, there you have it, 10 epic reasons to join us in Tahoe this winter. If you have any questions at all reach out to dann@epicurrence.com. Beyond stoked on the possibilites of having you there. See you in Tahoe!

Major shout out to our sponsors: Facebook, Airbnb, InVision, Patagonia, Aviator Nation, Creative Dash, UENO, Rally Interactive, Underbelly Creative, Basic Agency, Prolific Interactive, Stance, Go Solar, Zendesk, Shopify, and Topo Designs.

We’re still looking for more sponsors, please reach out to dann@epicurrence.com if you are interseted.

Read about Epicurrence No.1: