Ahhh, Finally- The LA, Oops, The So. Calif. Meet And Greet
Mar 20 '04 (Updated Mar 22 '04)
The Bottom Line Dude/Dudette, make sure you attend the Meet And Greet in your city! Don't miss out!
Eh hem, please note, this was originally the Los Angeles Meet And Greet, at Dave And Busters in the City Of Orange, a mere hop, skip, and a jump, from all of us in Los Angeles-NOT (60 miles each way). The name was changed to protect the innocent (epinions staff members). Of course, the Meet And Greet was freeway close to Disneyland, so they could go there with their families. At least they could have picked us up in a limo with Fabio as the driver! Sniff. All kidding aside, they did a fantastic job with the Meet And Greet, and I am very happy I was able to arrange to carpool with Kenny, criteeker, proud Daddy of three white German Shepherds, his very nice and attractive friend, Valerie, and driving assistant, the gorgeous and sexy Veronica (one of those fancy GPS thingies), and Wayne, waynio. I never met any of them before that day, and worried we would have nothing to say for 120 miles round trip. Amazingly, the conversation was non-stop, and there was hardly a subject untouched by our motley and opinionated crew.
Okay, so we arrived at Dave And Busters, and were greeted warmly by the hostly dude in the front. We did some weaving around this huge restaurant/playground and found our way over to the epinions group. They gave us name tags, so we could ferret each other out. I was hoping there would be at least 10-15 people there, and we outdid that! I shall list the attendees at the bottom of the review, so you can see who was there! I tried to put in clickable links, but had problems with additional html being added and then rejected. Whatever. . .
We were encouraged to grab a server (loosely speaking of course), and have a drink. We had non-stop drinks, whether wine, beer, hard liquor or soft drinks- the appetizers were aplenty also, with strips of yummily spicy steak on a skewer (I am usually not into spicy, but these were scrumptious), plenty of fresh vegetables, chicken strips, various cheeses and crackers, and my favorite, chilled shrimp. Gimme shrimp, and I am a happy camper.
Among the epinions staff we met, the very friendly and warm Garrett, his beautiful wife, and adorable kidlets, the very cute Alexis, who is as bouncy and fun as I expected, not to mention sharp as a tack, the sexy and outgoing Christal, to whom I had emailed in the past, as well as the smart and open Sarah, and handsome yet subtly quiet, Paul (from DealTime). Our eyes were pealed for Nirav, but alas, he never appeared (us-hurt feelings-never I say). Badkittym even had some chaps available for him to don. Seriously, it really was a letdown that we did not get to meet him, though the staff definitely made us feel very welcome and appreciated.
We discussed the possibility of bringing back the epinions business cards that early members received. I think it is a great idea, and would help us not only draw attention to our own reviews, draw more consumers to the site, encourage advertisers, and of course, other potential writers. They could always put in the undecipherable legalese at the bottom, indicating we are not actual epinions or shopping.com employees, to cover any necessary, adorable butts.
Of the epinions members I had an opportunity to talk with, first of all there was badkittym. The men were purring contentedly when she arrived; one in particular (but my lips are sealed). She is tall, built like a brick-well, very well built, and very pretty. She is totally herself, and a lot of fun, and basically, a very neat lady. 29th_Candidate of course was there, and I was excited to meet him. He was amazingly down-to-earth and attractive, and happily my eyes didn't glaze over, as occasionally occurs when I attempt to read his review comments (sorry, big guy). Petra is cute, bubbly, smart, and has a subtle German accent. We met on a few occasions, and it was great to see her again Snakeayes is tall and handsome, and a very nice man (does excellent imitations too). We met once before at Petra's house, for a reading of her screenplay. I met penguinlady, who is just as attractive as her photo. Adriennefoster arrived with books to give out to members to read/review for the site, so of course I grabbed one that looked appealing. Opalman was there also, and his wife llfigment arrived at the end of the afternoon. Viper1963 was as nice as I expected him to be. I also briefly spoke with daviddennis, Arthur Rubin, Lynus and his wife Laura (would have liked to have met her also), and dhandforth. We all kept looking for kristinafh, but she didn't make it.
There was a large table with several other members, but though I am outgoing, perhaps even a touch outspoken (shhh), I am shy about approaching several people sitting down at a table talking with each other. Perhaps next time!
I think everyone had a fantastic time. The restaurant had plenty of action games, space galore for adults and children alike to play, meet, eat and drink, and have fun! Everyone enjoyed themselves so much that we were there beyond the 4:00pm stop time. I hoped to meet gaelkm as I heard she was coming, but she arrived after we left.
I strongly suggest you recommend your city for the next meet and greet, and do not miss out. Make sure you attend. We also got a very cool gift from epinions!
Nirav, you were missed, so guess we'll be doing this again soon in Los Angeles?!
Attendees:
pduval69, snakeayez, 29th_Candidate, lynus, Penguinlady, Dhandforth, Gaelkm, Philipchu-not sure if he was there, daviddennis, viper1963, Arthur.Rubin, Petra, adriennefoster, divad23, opalman, LLFigment-opalman's spouse, waynio, badkittym, criteeker, jandoc, dragongo
(If I missed anyone, please email me, and I will rectify the oversight immediately!)
Thanks for reading!
Suzi
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Epinions.com ID:
Suzer
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 - Top 100 |
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Member: Suzi
Location: Southern Calif.
Reviews written: 588
Trusted by: 840 members
About Me:
Compromise-Art of slicing the cake so each person thinks they have the biggest piece.
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