Epinions Meet -– Greet in NYC: Every Town Should Have One!
Sep 16 '03
The Bottom Line Help save The Bottom Line: http://www.bottomlinecabaret.com/
I’m not new to meeting online friends based on our relationships over the Internet. I’ve done it quite a bit with people from my Disney group - rec.arts.disney.parks - and have some terrific friends just based on the relationships that developed from that group alone. Next month, I am meeting a fellow mom from my June2000 babies group for the first time, and I look forward to it after almost four years of sharing our ups and downs, joys and heartbreaks.
The Epinions Meet -n- Greet at the ESPN Zone in New York City was different than these, however. Instead of people who enjoy a casual relationship talking online getting together, this was something organized (and paid for) by Epinions itself. Many of us had never “talked” before and only knew each other through our reviews.
I was already feeling somewhat bedraggled, thanks to having to run to catch my train, then getting thrown off logistically when I walked on the street from Penn Station since I came up at a different place than I normally do (and I’ve lived in New York all my life - imagine how easily it is for a tourist to get confused) and doing a “power walk” up to the ESPN Zone. I hadn’t worn my shoes since our trip to Florida, and started paying for it (I should have worn sneakers).
When I finally found the skybox, Alexis was just coming out the glass doors which were adorned with the “Epinions people”. “Epinions?” she looked at me and asked, “Right in here!”
From then on, I felt as comfortable with the people there as if I’d known them my whole life.
The first people I met were my fellow Long Islanders, Javelina and Popsrocks. Phil has been someone special to me, and he was one of the people I was very anxious to meet. He is just as personable in person as he seems online. I found a surprise neighbor in mjfrombuffalo. Just based on her screenname, I always figured Mary Jane was from Buffalo (which she was originally), but actually she’s only a few towns over from me. When I commented that an ex-boyfriend was from her town, she said “I’m sorry,” meaning she was sorry I’d dated someone from there.
We also chatted quite a while with davidk93. He was very funny to talk to and the owner of the thong that seems to be turning up in so many pictures. For that review, see: http://www.epinions.com/content_2491392132 It became one of the hot points of the day, with “the thong” getting passed around until it finally ended up in Nirav’s possession. Hmmm..
Speaking of Nirav, it’s hard to balance the man I met with the impression I’d been given over the three years at the site. He’s quite personable and laid-back, and didn’t shy away from any conversations with anyone. A few of us even talked about the infamous “Epinions Bites Dogs” write-off with him. He stated that the decision not to allow editing wasn’t made with his knowledge, but he learned about it real fast, and now any decisions like that most definitely come to him before they are implemented.
I also brought up the charities subject to him as many others did, and as I said in a few comments to others, he said it’s something they want to do, but there’s also a matter of prioritizing what’s important to the site. There are a finite number of people available to work a finite number of hours, and they have to put things like bugs and the like at the top of the list, but it’s something he does want to do. There’s also the problem of working with these charities as some want a guaranteed minimum amount to be contributed before they will even talk to you.
We also talked about the mysterious Income Share distribution formula. He said it’s essentially a complicated set of algorithms which track what visitors do before and after they hit our reviews. This information is then applied to the income share amount, and then it’s distributed. It would seem, then, that it really doesn’t matter how many hits our reviews get, but what readers are doing with that information.
Garrett, Alexis, and Sarah also talked with us quite a bit. When we were talking about the idea of message boards on the site (in response to my suggestion about giving more direction to new writers on the site to put them in touch with CLs and/or Advisors) I also mentioned my reservations that the Epinions staff would end up spending too much time handling complaints of “he’s/she’s being mean to me” and end up spending time that should be used elsewhere policing the message boards. They agreed this was a concern.
Other writers I met were magenta321, who’s from nearby Connecticut and gotten together with Mary Jane already. I had a terrific time with the two of them as the afternoon was winding down and would love to meet up with them again. drdevience drove all the way from Virginia - I would have like to have spent more time hanging around with Lori as well, but maybe we can the next time she’s in New York or if I get to Williamsburg next spring.
kristinafh was nice enough to seek me out to ask me how things had been going with my husband; something I’d posted about in one of the message board communities. It’s really nice to know that people care about each other on the site! Fuche_bu came all the way from his home in Pennsylvania to explain to us the wonders of beer. I have blackmail pictures of George, and I attempted to extort his income share from him. That failed when I didn’t have change of a quarter. Hope you’re all right in the flooding I saw on TV yesterday George!
Trust12345 demonstrated his unicycle that appears in pictures. John also showed us pictures from his unicycle trip across Norway! What a tremendous feat!
The one person I didn’t get to talk to, but wanted to was xiphoid. I read Robin’s reviews regularly and always thought the picture on her profile page was of some movie star I didn’t know, because no one is that beautiful. Guys, eat your hearts out because she is that beautiful.
The staff at the ESPN Zone was wonderful. I asked for unsweetened iced tea since I’m doing low-carb, and they brought it up to the skybox especially for me. There were also grilled vegetables which I could eat, and I took off the bun from the White-Castle like burgers. For a good assessment of the food, you’re better off checking out Phil’s or Lori’s reviews at: http://www.epinions.com/content_112757870212 and http://www.epinions.com/content_112732245636
I had a terrific day and it was well worth it. If the Epinions staff brings one of these near you, I’d advise going. If they have another one in reasonable driving distance on the East Coast, I would gladly go again. I also met some terrific people who I’d like to hook up with again for a meal or just a walk around the area and some conversation.
© 2003 Patti Aliventi
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
AliventiAsylum
|
 in Movies, Hotels & Travel |
 in Movies |
 - Top 50 |
|
Member: Patti Aliventi
Location: Mount Washington Valley, New Hampshire
Reviews written: 2125
Trusted by: 692 members
About Me:
Now writing reviews to pay for the "out of network" costs of our health insurance...
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.