"eBay loves Epinions" Emerald City Epinions Seattle Meet and GreetSep 19 '05 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Sport and Outdoor
The Bottom Line Great fun for all at the epinions Seattle Meet and Greet! Oh, and "eBay loves Epinions"
Ever since the first Epinions Meet and Greet, held in Orlando, Florida, I hoped that the event would find its way to the Pacific Northwest. When the Epinions Seattle Meet and Greet was announced, in the member center, I marked the date on my calendar and RSVP'd. Family commitments, or rather the kids events, are always plentiful, such held true for September 10th, but I was determined to attend the Seattle Meet and Greet! After dropping our kids off at their destinations, my spouse and I headed to Seattle. Although we knew it was highly likely we would be late, traffic conditions were favorable, and we pulled into the Pacific Place Garage close to 1:00PM. We navigated our way up levels of escalators in the stylish and upscale Pacific Place. The Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant is located on level four. Let me say that the ride up seemed as though it took forever! Upon entry to the establishment I spied a set of epi dolls standing on the host counter. The host escorted us toward the rear of the restaurant, where a Epinions banner confirmed we were nearing the appropriate area. We were immediately greeted by epinions staff member Garrett, who welcomed us and guided us toward the name tags. Of course I read them all, and I was hopeful for the unclaimed tags to meet up with the possible guests. A friendly waitress took our beverage order, promptly returned, and kept the beverages coming. After introducing herself, Christal encouraged us to help ourselves to food options. Speaking of food, there were four kinds of pizza, a splendid assortment of fresh vegetables and dips, and three warm hors d'oeuvres. Prior to grabbing some eats and sitting, we also met epinions employees: Paul, Andy, and Greg. After getting a plate of food, we sat and enjoyed conversation with various guests. Truth be told I was much more interested in chatting than eating, but (considering that I hadn't ate breakfast nor lunch) I appreciated the wholesome veggies and unique pizza options. The epinions staff were great hosts, circulating the room and conversing with various guests. In addition to friendly conversation with epinions staff, during the time we were sitting/eating, we also met epinions members chrisjarmick and brotherman. Robert maintains a passion for music that is contagious, reminding me that I need to (at some point) review more of our music collection. Chris, ever so talented with the written word, is a local poet whom I look forward to seeing at a future poetry reading. Christal and Andy shared interesting tales about WOT, block lists, abuse issues, and various other epinions related stuff. There was also some interesting epinions based chat shared with Gregg. Playing his role of community liaison, Garrett asked a few epinions related questions. By the way, if Epinions held a more global type of Meet and Greet, where would you suggest/attend? After making my way to the restroom, which by the way was out in the mall (silly that is), I returned to see my spouse merrily chatting with Andy. I shall take this moment to mention that my spouse, not exactly fond of social events, was mighty chatty. My compliments to the friendly epinions staff and members! I decided this was a good opportunity to roam the room, so I plopped down at a table occupied by knotheadusc, cuculuain, and anderclayton. Much to our advantage, the ever so kind Jenny and Bill just happened to be visiting Washington State, therefore they were able to attend this meet. Ander certainly knows movies and hopefully will continue to share many epinions with us. My spouse was impressed with how friendly the epinions staff was. He especially enjoyed talking with Garrett, Andy and Greg. The evening before the meet and greet, a few of the epinions staff had attended a Mariners game at Safeco Field, so this gave my spouse good subject matter to talk, talk, talk. In addition to chats with the other employees, I really enjoyed chatting with (shopping.com/epinions.com employee) Paul about his new found parenting role, child care issues, kids and family products, parenting philosophies and about epinions.com. He is very personable and certainly is passionate about fatherhood! I also appreciated meeting some of the epinions employees significant others. Additionally, I appreciated meeting jkafer, lordbalfor, _edge, hist and another member (name escapes me). Jeff truly does have a radio appropriate voice, and I certainly wish him well! Oh, and he lives close enough to us that we just might have to talk him into grilling for us... yes?! I remembered Ken via his insightful travel reviews. Much to his frustration, Dave (a terrific book reviewer and ultra kind eps member) was late, due to Greyhound (but at least we got to meet him). I look forward to a future informal meet with him when we visit his hometown. Later it was time for announcements, which Garrett led. He mentioned that "eBay loves Epinions" and that epinions will continue to be, well, epinions. Thankfully, it appears as though eBay realizes the worth of the epinions format. Christal handed out gifts: large mugs, imprinted with Epinions Meet & Greet Seattle September 2005, the epinions logo, and the Space Needle. We were encouraged to take the epi dolls, hats, and extra mugs, as the staff certainly didn't want to transport them back to Brisbane. It didn't take long for the employees of Gordon Biersch to filter in, asking for a set of epinions dolls. Hopefully epinions will gain a few more interested members! I am thankful that Epinions visited the Seattle region and hosted this Meet and Greet. The event was fairly mellow (when compared to what others have shared about certain other meets) and the turnout was, well, less than I thought it would be. But... the room was full of friendly enthusiasm and people with a common passion: Epinions, of course. In all, this event made the site seem more personable, the politics of the site appear less intense/worrisome, and my passion for submitting reviews in multiple categories is reignited (now to just find the time). Pretty great stuff for a three hour segment of a very busy weekend! I highly recommend meet and greets and suggest that you do what you can to make it to a meet and greet near you! =================================== Pacific Place http://www.pacificplaceseattle.com/ =================================== Epinions Pictures: http://img.epinions.com/images/epi_images/meet_and_greet/seattle_2005/index.html Additional Pictures: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=zi5ayg1.14tudhk5&Uy=-x97u9d&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1 =================================== Thank you for reading and, if the opportunity presents itself, be sure to attend a meet and greet! Lisa  |
| Read all comments (18)|Write your own comment |
