New York Meet & Greet; I'm Happy I Joined the Fun!!Mar 29 '06 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Ya, gotta make a Meet and Greet. It's worth any effort to get there.
WARNING!! This essay or report or rehash of a pleasant day or whatever you would like to call it moves from person to person and place to place and time to time for no apparent reason. My mind tried to recall everyone I met and relay under what circumstances and giving detail of each person and conversation, but let me tell you, after a couple-a-few drinks and trying to keep up with Epinion names that look and sound like Mongolian street signs, I wasn't quite sure of everyone who I met during those very, very short three hours. There are those that I am certain I spent time with and others that became part of a blur. "So many Epinionators, so little time" I attended my second NYC M&G last weekend Saturday March 25th 2006 and it certainly outdid the first one as far as numbers. The enthusiasm of people meeting people was high on both. Most of the NY crowd from the first M&G made it again. One exception I remember was xiphoid but I heard she called ahead and found out there was no bread on the menu so decided to stay home.(You had to be at the last one to understand.) I also missed not seeing another NYer who has since moved up north to New Hampshire, AliventiAsylum. I thought we were going to be missing trust12345 but he did make an entrance with his unicycle with about a half hour to go asking, "When are they going to raffle of the prize?" Sorry dude, maybe ya gotta get two wheels and get to the ESPN Zone earlier. John's a great guy and I enjoy talking with him. My wife was getting some movie recommendations from him. But let's go back to the beginning. I knew exactly where to go in the ESPN Zone on 42nd and Broadway because it was the same venue that was used last time. We were also in the same room which was filled pretty much to capacity with babies getting pushed to the glass with their noses squeezed overlooking the giant screens below. There was just enough room for one of the gals from the Zone to make her way to the bar and come back a number of times with Myers & coke for ol' popsrocks. This year I did have the pleasure of having Mrs. rocks join me. She wasn't really sure what she was in for but found that most (not all)of the Epinions peeps are kinda normal. We walked in and were greeted by Garrett, Christal and Tomica. I believe there was Greg also? I think I snuck into a picture of some of the staff later on and he was there too. After looking at the two gals my wife immediately understood why I wanted to meet up with these people. We said a quick hello at that point and moved on giving them the opportunity to greet others coming in. I never did get much more time with Garrett. I wanted to show him my autographed playbills from wrestling's Bruno Samartino, Haystacks Calhoun, Killer Kawalski, Buddy Rogers and a few others. Truth is my mother threw them out along with my baseball cards but I did want to share some wrestling stories with him. After getting our badges I immediately saw Andyman who I met at the last NYC M&G and we had another hello. I'll mention now before I get lost among all the others that the staff not only greeted they did come over at one point or another to ask if there were any concerns about the business and do some shop talk. The truth is there were so many people to try and catch in a three hour period that I told Andy I'd catch him on line if anything came up. He is a cool dude who is personable and knows his stuff. He's got an infectious smile that draws people to him. I was also greeted a bit later "by name" by Lorrie Norrington, President and CEO of Shopping.com. Well I was wearing a name tag. She has a lovely friendly face that radiates even more than in her picture posted on the Member Center page. It was good to listen to her thoughts about keeping Epinions.com moving on as it has been. After listening to a few words from her later on when she addressed the whole group I feel she's going to keep Epinions/Dealtime running well...as long she has that awesome team to stick with the all-important combined-commitment of keeping in close touch with Epinionator's needs and moving ahead in business world. Some of the first people I met up with were from the farthest reaches. bob_tomato and pearannoyed all the way up from Texas were a real pleasure to say hi to and, unfortunately , spend too brief a time with. Those guys were pretty busy later and I never did get back to them. Oh, bob t I think I said something about "Apple" I meant to say Abbey Road Studios. I had my allotted 2 minutes and 37 seconds with Mike Holmes who was also up from Texas with his wife and he's one of those guys whose face just shoots out at ya. "Hey, It's me, Mike Holmes!" I could see spending much time with him just talking the night away, an interesting gentleman. I also was able to say hello, when he wasn't taking pictures, to colonialpara. I also thanked him as a soldier and defender of our country, who has been to Iraq and may soon return. It's good men like him and his dad who he recently lost that keep our country free so we can post whatever we would like to say in open forums like Epinions and have the freedom to travel to events like the M&G from anywhere in the states. Paul, you, your dad and the others are all my heroes. Another man was there who was a surprise to me. Ullyses4 as his profile page states is an "Attorney;retired Navy Captain;avid traveler;bon vivant". My wife and I met with Alan and his wife for a while. It was a real pleasure to meet both of them. They have traveled to Europe extensively and we were able to talk about our experiences in Italy one of the few places I had the pleasure to travel oversees to. They came down from Massachusetts and I was happy to see his review of a NYC hotel. I hope to meet and speak with them once again. Three hours is just too little time. Now Paul was definitely the guy with the biggest cameras around although Andyman seemed well equipt too. I was however looking for the guy who promised to be carrying the "biggest a$sed camera around". I finally did get a big hello from Aashok who found me first. I met him at the first M&G and I was turned on by his photographic prowess. His photos of NY landmarks are incredible! It was good to see his friendly face and share his upbeat attitude again. Just to take a break from people I'll mention that though a bit tight, yet still comfortable with cozy conversation areas complete with soft sink-in couches and comfortable armchairs, everyone was able to get all the food and drink they wanted. The food was much better than I expected. My wife commented on the chicken saying it was one of the best she has ever had in a place like this. I was partial to the garlic mashed potatoes and the NY Cheesecake. Mmm, could that be the reason why I have a few extra inches around the belly? good stuff they had. The bar was pretty well stocked and my wife was quite happy they had Myers rum for her. The beer choices were fine for most, well, unless you're a beer geek and there were a few among us of whom one took matters into his own hands. I wasn't privy to the stout that was going back and forth to the beer geeks who were there, but that brew was part of the stash that Fuche_bu, George, smuggled in from the Heartland Brewery just around the corner. Please don't tell the authorities at the Zone! I was able to spend a good amount of time with George at the last M&G. This year we had just a few minutes but we did talk a bit about our brethren in the Restaurant category and of his immediate scheduled travels to Europe. I understand George spent some time after the M&G with three other guys at Heartland Brewery afterward including some high caliber writers on the site. One of those four musketeers who went to the brewery, that rumor reports by nights-end had them all standing together on tables with mugs in hand shouting, "All for one and one for all!", was Bryan_Carey, a guy I have long wanted to meet. We've bantered a bit over some of his book reviews and even though we have very different political views I knew he was a stand-up guy, at that he is. Ha, I wonder if had joined them at the brewery later if I would have been the fifth musketeer or the pin cushion for four swords? I enjoyed the time I had with Bryan an intelligent and engaging fellow. Another smile came on my face when I met up with tombarnes, another of the guys who went to the Heartland who I have met before in DC when my wife and I had invitations to the Bush White House (hear that Bryan)the Christmas before last. He's a great guy who I would have liked to have spent a few more hours with. He is interesting and and easy to talk which is in complete contrast to the "charming and sarcastic davidmanning" as fittingly described by speeddemon531 who is mr. speed or maybe on speed as he raced around the room talking to people and making his mark on many. Incidentally speeddemon531, who I did get to share some good words with, looks exactly like his profile picture. ;) Now getting back to David. This guy is full of himself...no I didn't mean that. He is full of "NY attitude". Good stuff. I shared a few beers with him and Mrkstvns a few months ago when Mark was in town. Unfortunately, even though his name tag was on the table, Mark was not able to make this M&G. David however was there and we had a few laughs with each other at a few different times in the three hours at the Zone. David, a tall good looking guy, knows the town well, especially the watering holes and can lead you to good hotels and restaurants too. I know he has helped out the Bostonian, or there abouts, jo.com on more than one occasion. Jo who looks extremely fit in her form fitting black jacket made it to the M&G with her equally fit looking and quite personable husband. We got to talk a while and we hit it off so well we went river rafting together afterward. OK, maybe it was just a cool video game upstairs in the ESPN zone after the affair was over. Jo was a bit smaller than I expected, Ha, I'm sure I was bigger around the belly than she expected. Even so she looks quite fit (she really must use all those exercise machines she reviews) and is larger than life on the Epinions site. I was quite pleased to finally meet her. She's a good person and the four of us, my wife included, enjoyed talk of Maine and the farther reaches of the Canadian coast. Throughout the time allotted to the Epinions people and staff, many quick "hi"s and big "HELLO"s!! were shared. I remember some quick words with kristinafh who I met last time and looks exactly like her picture as does beckytcy who also matches her photo perfectly and was constantly on the move whenever I saw her. Ever notice both of those gals have a bit of an impish look and smile to them. Watch out!! It was good to say hello to Joubert another person who uses his actual photo on the site and is easily recognized. He's a little more low keyed than the two gals I just mentioned. Another gal who does have that fun energy edge to her is dizzybint who told me she was happy to make it down from Canada. It seems like such a long time ago she was asking about a place to stay. It's really hard to remember everyone and though I tried I know I missed some. I blame the efficient staff of the Zone that brought the drinks around so quickly and on the names some of us have on the boards. None of it is because of my continued loss of memory after hitting 55. That's the speed limit, not my age. Before I forget I must say a BIG hello to my almost neighbor who lives just one town over from mine. It's the first time I got to meet deenaf, a young lady who has a wonderful smile and pleasant, though maybe a bit shy, disposition. We spoke a while and she and my wife hit it off talking about 'who knows what?'. Hey Deena, we'll catch you at Rachel's on the canal. Another Long Islander I met for the first time is Candice923. Though we didn't get to speak all that long I know she is working VERY hard at getting out an alternative teen magazine, Teen Trend (free advertising here). I wish her very well in this endeavor. Someday we will be reviewing her magazine. A few minutes of were spent with Boudica. Again with just three hours and so many people, I only witch we had enough time to talk more. I fell in love when Krissieliz came over to say hello to me. Oh my, she is some purty gal. I'm sorry I didn't have more time to say hello back. What exactly is wrong with me? Oh yes, that's right, my wife. No, said wrong. My wife is probably the only thing that is right with me. Anyways with all this babbling you can see what beauty has done to the beast? At sometime during the afternoon I was standing at a point where two babies, one from each side of Manhattan Island were nearby. Dionne25 had her baby there from Brooklyn and from the shores of New Jersey was baby numberII with her mom jeavinl. Now I was really happy to meet her because her hubby is a Jet fan and that is excellent in my book. There may have been even more babies around. I kept tripping over strollers and spilling drinks on babies. I don't know if it was always the same one. By nights end the baby was reaching out for my glass. Over in the same area later in the day was pvreditor strumming his guitar. He's a fine fellow that's easy to talk to. Easy going and a smiling face. At one point we all tried to get into one picture and he was on the front floor area strumming away and before you know it half of us were trying to smile for pictures and the other half was smiling as they sang along with his guitar playing. There were a few people from music that kinda hung out together like voxpoptart, brendan2, pyfr, Netnut746, Tigger500... ...I believe I spoke with one or two of you but...duh, I don't remember who from whom. My wish list is that I could have spent more time saying hello and talking with marytara one of our leads who seems to be a special person and also Cascogirl who is relatively new to the site but has a great sense of humour in her reviews, energy on the site and dogs named Ben and Jerry. Javelina is another person I want to spend some time with. I met last time too and like this visit we talked perhaps one minute. I should not forget amykhar who happens to have a wonderful open letter to new Epinionators on her profile page. I remember reading it shortly after joining Epinions and it was perfect for me as a sort of Newbie at that time. One person I didn't meet and who many wished wasn't there was tbthorn. You see Tom won the 4 gig iPod Nano. I did see a big smile on his face as he held onto the prize with both hands. We all received long sleeve pull over black shirts with a Epinions logo of Epinions Loves NY. Very cool and I was happy that Garrett remembered that at least one of the guys needed a XX. Afterward people went in different direction, some together and some on their own. I'm happy I had that three hours to spend at the Meet and Greet with some good people who write on Epinions.com Who has pictures? Top Ten Reasons I'm Happy I Joined Epinions, Post #800 M&G is one of them  |
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