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Music Rocks! (and Other Things Learned at the Chicago Meet & Greet)Nov 15 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line I have a bunch o' fun thanks to both Epinions and the people I met.
The thought of even meeting folks I’ve known only online over the course of my four-year stint at Epinions never even crossed my mind until the announcement for the Chicago Meet & Greet was made. Despite the fact that I live some four-and-a-half hours away and would have to make the trek by myself, I decided it was well worth the effort to meet these people I have so much in common with online. So I piled into my car and drove across Michigan and down through Indiana and finally to Illinois and Chicago. It’s been quite some time since I was in the city—some five years I think. I had no idea what to expect out of the city, but found myself overwhelmed by the skyscrapers and general business of the place. I’m accustomed to Metro Detroit. We don’t have buildings like those shining behemoths in Chicago. I managed to navigate myself through the city and into the downtown. Unfortunately, I also managed to get myself completely lost on their one-way streets but I finally found my way to the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza located right in the thick of things on the river. The drive and arrival were minor inconveniences in comparison to my anticipation for the Chicago Meet & Greet. I had zero idea of what to expect, but even worse my mind fixated on the idea that I had no idea what people expected out of little ol’ me. I am merely a normal although exceedingly nervous and rather tall computer nerd from the northern wilds of Michigan (metro Detroit now and Northern Michigan then). I knew Epinions was going to have a lovely spread of hors d'oeuvres but I doubted my anxious belly was up for food. I hopped in a cab (not a usual thing for me—public and pay transportation is rare in my home state) and ventured onward to Dave & Busters. Wearing my favorite brown boots, I made my way up the escalator to the Epinions room as directed by staff. I quietly poked my head around the corner and grabbed my name tag. Now adorned with my username “lambchops,” I made my way to the sharply dressed Epinions staff despite the fact that there was no Garrett anywhere in the vicinity. I quickly was introduced to Sara, Christal, Randy, and Paul. I was pleased that these new faces and voices weren’t at all scary and actually (truth be told) reminded me very much of many people I know on a social level in Michigan. Peering around, I vaguely recognized some folks and didn’t recognize others at all. The first face I really realized I knew belonged to none other than Mike aka speeddemon531. Bravely, I walked across the room to introduce myself. I meekly walked up to Mike and waited for an acknowledgement. Reaching out his hand he smiled and the ice at the Meet & Greet had been broken for me. I quickly met a slew of folks—many of which hail from the music section. There was, of course, Mike but standing aside him was fellow music writer Eric aka crypticcradle. A fellow Michigander, I had zero idea what to expect from him as he admitted to making a point of not posting his photo at Epinions. By the way, word of advice—don’t call him by his username (he didn’t even want to wear the darned tag). As I scanned the room I was also greeted by friendly faces from music like DrFaustus (aka Ben who kicked my bum in virtual reality), bob_tomato (aka Andrew) and his wife pearannoyed (aka Amy), and even a relative newbie willowchild (aka Hahna) who seemed very happy to be in this room of veterans. Eventually, I made my way over to the enigmatic plorentz (aka Paul). What a fantastic, entertaining, and generally nice guy he really is. Then again, he’s from Wisconsin and Wisconsin folks are all-in-all rather similar to Michigan folks. Eventually, Garrett (aka roheblius) made his way back to the room and I too introduced myself to him. I went from being what I like to call an “observer” to something of a “social butterfly” as I was made comfortable by this eclectic and warm group of people. The Meet & Greet in Chicago may have been ruled by the music category but I got an opportunity to speak to so many other folks. Kamel622 (Kathy) and her hubby Payso (Michael) both offered up warm handshakes and bright smiles. DrDevience was equally welcoming (something I’d been told even before showing up at the event). I had lovely conversation with dizzybint (aka Caroline) who shared a VERY interesting and humorous story and her husband “guest” aka Eugene in addition to scmrak (Rex) and tombarnes (uhhh…Tom). All in all it was a wonderful time. On the downside? I was still too excited to eat and only got a few sticks of celery down to soak up the beer. But beer helps me talk, so I drank. Oh well. In any case, I won’t speak to the craziness that occurred at Dave & Busters—Paul can help you with that, but suffice it to say it had something to do with defiling a towel. I can honestly say I had a fantastic time meeting everybody and I missed talking to a few people and didn’t mention others (not because I hate them, but because I either forgot or was too busy talking music). After the three-hour party, five of us piled in Paul’s lovely yellow Cavalier and headed in a round-about sort of way back to the hotel. There, Eric, Paul, Mike, Garrett and I spoke at length about pop culture among other less interesting topics. It seems I was the only person in the room to have seen Donnie Darko. I demanded everybody else check it out as it is one of the best movies ever. We all shared our opinions (what else would you expect from a group of such Epinionated folks) and eventually piled back into the car (a cab this time) and headed to the Blue Frog—a crazy karaoke bar in Chicago. I’d already warned the group that I was not going to sing. I do not and can not sing. Garrett even asked if I was as bad as Cameron Diaz’s character in My Best Friend’s Wedding. I told him I related very well with that scene. So there I sat, along side the four music boys who accompanied me to the bar and also Caroline and Eugene and Andrew and Amy. There were only four of us who didn’t participate in the festivities, but those who did made up for our relative shyness. Paul was fantastic (I couldn’t get enough of his Baby One More Time performance) and Mike and Eric were also well worth the price of my drinks and cheese quesadilla. Plus, there was this hilarious drunk girl who kept on tripping over herself to dance with Paul. It was all in good fun. Despite my many, many reservations regarding the Chicago Meet & Greet I had a fabulous time. There were a good 25 members there—from what I can tell the best turnout to date. Every time I read something from any one of those people who were there I will now be able to attach a face and personality. The Meet & Greet is important for those of us who are active on the site. It further encourages us to be social and helps with the whole community aspect of Epinions. I truly enjoyed getting to know everybody. I’m glad to have been there and I have to thank Epinions for visiting the Midwest. …by the way, I really am as tall as they (aka the “music guys”) say…  |
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