Resistance is futile... you will be assimilated - an open letter to the Epinions community
May 28 '05 (Updated Jun 01 '05)
The Bottom Line insists that you will join the collective.
Dear Everybody...
It has now been a week since the DC Meet & Greet, and I'm still not sure I've fully recovered. And even as things start to get back to normal, I'm already realizing that I may never again be the same.
You see, contrary to any rumors you may have heard, I am really a very shy person. I will avoid being the center of attention at all costs. I will avoid barging in on a conversation unless I'm certain that my input is wanted. I'm generally perfectly content to be an observer, a wallflower, rather than a part of the action. But for some reason, I've found it hard to just sit on the sidelines when it comes to Epinions.
It started with an invitation from Lori and Tom to crash at their place. I'm sure not the type to ask people I barely know if I can stay at their house... but when Lori offered – and I realized it was my best bet for getting to the Meet and still having enough money in my pocket to have a little fun too – I decided 'what the heck' and promised to try not to impose too much.
So on Thursday morning I got up 'early' (it was early for me anyway), got driven to the airport by my own tomato, and 1 plane, 1 bus, and 1 train later I was meeting up with Lori in Union Station. Fortunately, despite about a 20 minute delay by the plane, and a similar delay on the railroad (for some reason, a train running over a homeless person slows things down a bit) I got to DC proper just in time for Doc and I to catch Star Wars Episode III at the Union Station Theatre. I've never been to the movies with a suitcase before... but we had to sit in the front row (the theatre was very full – it was opening day after all) so I used my bag as a footrest. Then following a Metro ride, a short walk, and an Alligator Jambalaya dinner, we arrived at Chez Barnes.
I'll gloss over the backed up tub – a couple of inches of water in the bottom of a tub is pretty minor... we had a bigger bathroom disaster to come. There were also various arrivals and first time meetings on Friday (Mike and Tom and Brian were sharing the floor with me... and Caroline and Gene were in the hotel across the street); but what I really got out of Friday is that the friendliness – the sudden but genuine intimacy among this diverse group of people from all locations, all ages, all belief systems, and all lifestyles – went somehow beyond a common interest and obsession with a particular website, or the outgoing, open nature of one slightly crazy woman (I mean you, Doc).... Real connections were happening. Real bonds were being forged.
So we all stayed up way too late with Garrett holding court until about 2-in-the-morning. And about 8:30 the next morning I tiptoed into Tom & Lori's room and gave Tom a little nudge (yes, he wanted to wake up early). After he found his bearings and got over the surprise of a strange person being in his bedroom I said, "Do you want the good news, or the bad news." That woke him up real fast. The good news was a pleasure to deliver... I had already made coffee. The bad news, however, was very bad. It would be the only coffee made in that apartment that morning since it was made with the last bit of water hiding in the pipes. A water main break several blocks away meant that nobody had water for miles around. Fortunately, Tom is a hotel manager and was able to finagle a shower for we who stank. Unfortunately, that meant we had to walk for a while and then sit waiting while we each took our turn in the hotel room's little bathroom... but it really wasn't too much of an inconvenience (except that I discovered that my little blow drier was dead and I couldn't use the built-in one at the hotel while the guys were showering – drip dry works when you have no other choice...). Once we all smelled prettier (yeah, so I wasn't nuzzling Tom, Tom, Mike or Brian to really smell them – I'm just guessing) we piled into a cab and arrived at Gordon Biersch just in time for the official portion of the weekend's activities.
As mentioned in other write-ups, we were in an upper 'loft' area at the restaurant. The space was not as large as the room we had in Chicago; there were not enough chairs to go around and there was not as much variety of food, but it was OK in spite of the shortcomings and hard-to-catch waiter. We were all just a little more cozy than expected, and the lack of seating meant most of us had to mingle more which meant we met more people than we would have otherwise. Christal was manning the nametag table, but on a couple of occasions she got up for a minute and I was pressed into service writing out the names of a couple of guests and a couple of members who didn't have pre-printed tags (notably Krissieliz and DavidK93). Garrett claims this was because his handwriting is not aesthetically pleasing. I think he just didn't want to put down his beer.
I didn't get to meet quite everyone – a few that I missed (hopefully to be remedied at some future time) include: DAnneC; ladycynic; cletta1201; jdhauer; stormwolf17; and s_trimble. I know there are probably more, but since I didn't get to talk to them, I'm not sure who they are.
Some that I got to spend brief amounts of time with (but not nearly enough... M&G events really should be longer) were: Steelfan (who was very supportive about my recent forays into H&G); jarvococker (who went out with us later, but I didn't get to talk to him much); ned1 (who had to be responsible and go home to her kiddos); kristinafh babe (who I thought was going out with us afterwards, but somehow managed to disappear); fuche_bu (beer god and mad drunk– outwitted by the negotiation tactics of Krissieliz); colonialpara (thanks for serving – be well, come home safe); Krissingene (with husband and adorable toddler in tow); pvreditor (what a nice guy! with his guitar – plus his wife with her camera); Joubert (a nice books person – I dig the beard) and Kalynda (aka Mrs. Joubert – though she might have been charmed away by pvreditor's fab guitar playing); and MaryTara (with the utterly precious baby Belle).
There was no cake to be seen, but there were several birthdays being celebrated (all about a week early) including Mike (aka speeddeemon531) and staff members Garrett, Gary... I mean Jeff... I mean Greg (do you have a user page? I don't know...), and Randy. Happy birthday to all – you can't help getting older, but never, ever grow up.... After a brief update on the Year of the Catalog (yup, they're still working on it) and a toast honoring service members (ColonialPara is shipping back out to Iraq) it was about time to gather up our stuff and head back to Doc's place (where water had been restored – yay!!) before going out to dinner.
The group that did connect up for an afterglow following the official event were: the crowd from Tom & Doc's place (as mentioned above); DavidK93 (who then stayed that night and headed back to Baltimore the next morning); Jarvococker (who, as I mentioned, I didn’t get to talk to much); Nancy (the afore mentioned ned1 who disappeared much too early – darn those kids...); and the utterly amazing Jenny and Bill (both of whom I liked an awful lot – I hope we stay in touch!). Dinner was delicious. Karaoke was fun (but really turned insane after about 11:30). A group of us conspired to sing The Beatles' Birthday Song to Mike and Garrett... and actually got Garrett off his duff to dance a little even though he refused to sing with anybody.
So this brings me back full-circle to where I started. I had fun when I went to the Chicago Meet & Greet... I really did. But I went into it as more of an observer. Andrew is the member of our little clan who is comfortable with people. He's the one with the quick wit and the ability to talk to anyone about anything. He is usually both my buffer zone and my personal host – introducing me to people he knows I would like, rescuing me from those who have me cornered. But despite reported sightings of Andrew in a Tarzan thong swinging from the chandelier, he wasn't there to be my personal hero this time. I was a little apprehensive about being able to hold my own among a group of smart, interesting, funny and opinionated people... but as it turns out, I had no need to worry. From the moment I landed at Union Station I was made to feel absolutely welcome. I never felt like an outsider or a 3rd wheel the whole weekend; and by the time I left Washington on Monday afternoon, I honestly felt different about myself. Hey - I even spent my whole flight home chatting with my seatmate (Gordon W. of Colorado - if you read this I hope you know I enjoyed our talk) instead of hiding in the crappy paperback that I had tucked in my backpack. I feel like I have more confidence than I did before. I feel like I can walk into a room full of strangers, and walk out with friends. And, more than just another user on a public website, I feel like part of a family.
That says something good about this site and these people.
Thank you, really.
Amy
Pearannoyed of epinions
Member of the collective
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Epinions.com ID:
pearannoyed
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Member: Amy Padgett
Location: CA Dreamin' ~ TX reality
Reviews written: 197
Trusted by: 245 members
About Me:
Mean people suck.
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