Epinions greetings from sea to shining sea...
Sep 14 '05
The Bottom Line From Washington, DC to Washington state, free food and beer is always a good thing.
My husband Bill (cuculuain) and I live near Washington, DC and had been needing a vacation for some time. Back in May, a few weeks before my 33rd birthday, Bill decided that we'd finally get our vacation. I had asked him to keep it a secret, so he just told me to block off September 9-13 on my calendar. For over six weeks, Bill kept our destination a secret, until I finally asked him if we were heading to Seattle, Washington. He nodded, relieved that the cat was finally out of the bag and he was free to discuss trip details with me.
Sometime over the summer, Epinions announced that there would be an official Meet and Greet in Seattle, Washington on September 10, 2005. Having attended the Washington, DC Meet and Greet on May 21st, 2005, Bill and I had pleasant memories of partying Epinions style. That's why I was so thrilled to see that we were going to be in Seattle for the following Meet and Greet! Since we were staying in a fantastic bed and breakfast up in Anacortes, Washington, Bill had visions of us taking a ferry out to Victoria, BC that Saturday, but I convinced him that the Meet and Greet at Gordon Biersch, complete with free beer and food, was a better bet. Luckily for both of us, Bill acquiesced, and we headed down to Seattle for a few hours of fun with West Coast based Epinionators.
It rained a little bit that Saturday morning and I wasn't quite prepared for Seattle's chilly weather, so I snuggled under a wrap that I had picked up on a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. We had only a little trouble finding Gordon Biersch, which was located on the fourth floor of Pacific Place, a fancy looking mall that seemed to be surrounded by Starbucks outlets. We wandered around the mall for a little while; then at about 1:00 pm, Bill and I headed up to the restaurant, where we were directed to a back room. Bill and I easily spotted the Epinions banner and Garrett Gonzales immediately greeted us, remembering that we were at the DC Meet and Greet. We easily found our nametags on the table and hung them around our necks. I felt a little alarmed when I noticed that I was hatless! I knew I'd been slacking a little bit on books and wondered if I was getting the news from the Epinions staff instead of my email inbox! Luckily, I later found out that this was just an oversight.
The waitress who was assigned to take care of us did a very professional job. She helped one of her colleagues lay out a most impressive buffet of four kinds of pizza, fresh from the oven, a huge vegetable platter, chicken wings (which looked kind of Asian), egg rolls, and some kind of Mexican influenced bean and cheese concoction-- kind of like tacos. Two of the hors d'oeuvres came with tasty dips. Our waitress quickly fetched beers for Bill and me. I liked the beer at the DC Gordon Biersch and likewise, I wasn't disappointed with the brew at the Seattle Gordon Biersch. It was fresh and flavorful and best of all, I never had to wait for it! The food was good, too, and it was plentiful.
Other Epinionators soon began to arrive. I soon found myself meeting LisaJ and her spouse, who had driven down to Seattle. Next, I met and talked with Epinions' Andy, whose exact job title I can't recall at this late hour! We chatted about what Bill and I liked about Epinions.com and what we would like to see changed. I mentioned the language filter, which I find most annoying, but then I started telling him about watching Kanye West's surprising departure from his scripted speech on the telethon that aired on NBC to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. I understand that part of West's speech was deleted from the West Coast's rebroadcast of the event.
Next, Bill and I were joined by movie reviewer anderclayton and fellow writer, ChrisJarmick, who kindly invited Bill and me to his poetry reading that was to take place after the Meet and Greet. We would have liked to have attended, but Bill and I were both still very jet lagged and I was starting to have trouble keeping my eyes open... and no, it wasn't because of the beer!
While Bill, Garrett, ChrisJarmick, and anderclayton talked about various aspects of movie reviews and income share, I found myself needing to use the restroom. I was somewhat dismayed to find out that the restaurant sent its customers to the bathrooms that were located inside the mall. I wondered how many people simply never returned to pay their checks after a trip to the bathroom.
Epinions' member, brotherman, whose writing I have often admired, was also in attendance. Unfortunately, he left before I had a chance to meet and chat with him. brotherman, if you read this, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say hello!
After a couple of hours of random chatting with Epinions staff and members, Garrett called for our attention. He told us, and I quote, "Ebay loves Epinions!" and introduced the staff members who were in attendance. If I recall correctly, the lovely Christal was there. I remembered her from the DC Meet and Greet but didn't get a chance to talk with her. Bill and I were most pleased to receive our very snazzy and large Seattle Epinions Meet and Greet coffee mugs, complete with Epinions logo and Space Needle graphic. I snagged another set of Epi dolls, but passed on taking another baseball cap since Bill and I both already have one.
At about 3:45 pm, I found myself yawning uncontrollably, so Bill and I decided to excuse ourselves. As we were saying our goodbyes, I got to meet and say goodbye to the legendary hist, who has been on my WOT for some time. I wished we could have stayed longer, since we didn't get a chance to talk to everyone and in retrospect, it might have even been smart to stick around. We got caught in our second horrible traffic jam in two days as we headed north on I-5!
Nevertheless, Seattle was wonderful and we're so glad we had the chance to share a few hours of our vacation with other folks from Epinions.com! It was worth missing the ferry for the Meet and Greet! The next Meet and Greet is slated to be held in Dallas, the weekend before our third wedding anniversary. I would love to be able to attend so that I can finally meet the illustrious bobtomato and reconnect with his lovely wife, pearannoyed. I have slim hopes for such a meeting, but of course, a girl can always dream... and perhaps do some serious nagging.
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