Foes became friends and I was wearing black suede pants. Thanks epinions.
Apr 01 '06
The Bottom Line It was great meeting you all and those I didn't get to meet - maybe next time.
Introduction:
I couldn’t get rid of this guilty feeling I had that I wasn’t submitting my take on the NYC Meet & Greet so here it is. By now you know who was there and who wasn’t so forgive me if I forget someone. If I do leave you out or have your name wrong or anything please let me know and I'll fix it.
I must start off by saying that three people have commented on my leather jacket. I wondered if anyone looked down. To clear up any notion that this jacket was all I had on let me assure you that I had on black suede pants.
I got my husband to go actually rather willingly especially when he heard free food and drinks. In addition our daughter and soon to be son-in-law live in the City so we have a room in which to stay. As it turns out my husband had a fantastic time and wishes we were in the Las Vegas area in June.
Getting there:
I was a bit apprehensive as I am sure many were. After all I was about to meet 80 people I had never met; some of whom trust me; some of whom don’t. All of whom had various opinions of me as I did of them.
We walked the 30 blocks to the ESPN Zone so by the time we got there my hair was wind blown and I was obsessing. I always find Times Square over stimulating and panic producing. I didn’t find it so this time because my focus was on the ESPN Zone and what I would find there. I think ESPN Zone is more stimulating than all of Times Square put together. I was inundated right away by people and televisions.
We made our way to the 2nd floor and walked up up a flight of stairs to the room the Meet & Greet was held in. I gave a young woman my coat and got a wrist band as did my husband, took a deep breath and walked in.
There was a round table with name tags on it. I was to find out that sitting at that table were Christal, Tomiko and Amy (Pearannoyed). Christal and Tomiko are staff. There were others but it is a blur. After saying hello to them I went over to Garrett and wanted him to guess who I was. He knew. I never did find out if it was because I look like my picture or because someone said "jo.com is here."
The room was long and narrow with the bar and food at one end, the buffet on the side and on the other end couches. There were tables and chairs and couches in the middle of the room as well. If anyone congregated on the end without the bar I didn’t meet you unless you walked by me and stopped. I was wearing my contact lens (yes one) and can’t see as clearly as I would like so I had to get pretty close to see the names on the name tags that epinions nicely printed up. It showed our categories if we were TRs or Advisor and if applicable and our “rank.”
The staff with whom I talked:
I believe I met everyone except Trent. I spoke with Andyman for a moment; Greg at length (Don’t worry I won’t reveal the secret formula:);and Greg’s fiancée who hopefully will still marry him after finding out that this is a 24/7 job and who graciously sat with my husband while I meandered around. I spoke with Tomiko also about some of the missing review problems. She’s very nice and not scary.
At some point Lorrie Norrington, President and CEO of Shopping.com, came over to introduce herself to me. She's very nice and personable. She asked me what I thought of the merger and I told her it hadn't affected me at all. She was glad and said that her hope was that it didn't affect anyone.
Other stuff:
The iPod was raffled off, long sleeve t-shirts were given out and epi dolls were hanging all over the place. I only took one set home since I already have them in 3 rooms of my house. The food was really very good. I didn’t have the mashed potatoes or the dessert but the veggies were good! We got cards that could be used in the video arcade upstairs. I’m not sure if people knew that they were worth about $10 each.
Meeting friends
I didn’t take notes so bear with me. After my husband got us drinks and I planted him at a table I started looking around at name tags. This is not in any order. Deenaf was sitting on a comfy chair. We chatted just for a moment about what categories we like to write in. I was delighted to meet bob_tomato primarily because we never connected on the site. Meeting someone in person humanizes them. He asked me if I’d ever written in music and I told him I wrote two reviews each of which took a week. I asked him if he ever wrote in fitness and he told me that he and his wife, Amy, were going to join a gym. We challenged each other to write in each others’ categories and perhaps that might happen although I hope he forgets about it.
It was a pleasure meeting Mike Holmes who introduced us to his wife. He and my husband talked for a long, long time and hubby still mentions that perhaps we can get together when we go to Texas this summer. Mike is quite interesting and though quiet on the site has a lot to say. In real life he’s quite impressive.
Of course meeting colonialpara was wonderful since we had been chatting online about his duty overseas. We heard about his time in Afghanistan and his upcoming tour back to Iraq. We wish him luck. Paul told me online that he had bought digital cameras but I'd never seen any like this. We are all eagerly awaiting pictures.
I was so glad to meet Ned1 who showed me her tattoo which is even larger than my daughter’s but in the same spot. Nancy's beau is quite cute and I guess threesomes are his thing since he has to share Nancy with Barbie. I got a quick hug from Candice923. I can’t believe I didn't meet boudica whom I had been looking forward to meeting. I needed at least another hour.
I spent some time talking with cascogirl. Sarah is a sweetheart. She and her mom came from Canada. I really applaud those of you who came from far away and paid money to stay somewhere. We did have to pay for parking which is almost as much as a hotel room. Ok back to my list.
Davidmanning was nothing like I expected. For one thing David didn’t have a phone attached to his ear. For another he is really tall. We didn’t spend much time talking but I do want to thank David for all the great NYC restaurant advice he has given me.
When we got squashed together for pictures I practically ended up in Fuche Bu's lap. He told me about his recent trip to Boston and wanting to see the gravesite of Jack Kerouac.
I loved meeting bhwe22. Brian talked about his children, his work, which is what finds him in Online Services, and his new web based business. (Bob if you read this put it in the comment section.) I decided to add him to my WOT in spite of his being an avid Yankees fan.
I met, as in saying hi, Staceys1, Marytara, Javelina, Brendan2, speedemon531, dizzybint, tbthorn (Who won the iPod.),Kristinafh, beckytcy, Krissieliz, Pvreditor whom I introduced to my husband as "the car person."
I am glad to say that I got a great big hug from Aashok. I assured him that I wasn’t mad at him and that we were the best of friends. Others may have witnessed this moment of joy!
And last but certainly far from the least:
Popsrocks and I have a lot in common. I find myself trailing after Phil sights in Maine and restaurants along the way. His wife was really sweet. Phil and I do a lot of talking it seems online so meeting him was very special. I must say that he whipped my husband at river rafting when we bumped into him and Carolyn at the arcade.
Bryan Carey looks very much like his picture. We talked quite a lot and like Phil has been a great support to me. Much discussion was had over whether Bryan should change his picture to a more casual look. After a couple of drinks I decided that 1/2 a tie would make the most sense. He showed me a picture of his seven-month old who is adorable, of course.
One of my most memorable meetings was with Tom Barnes. Tom you are forever in my heart. Tom is nothing like I expected him to be. He is a sweet, sensitive man with whom I found an immediate bond.Thanks for the honor, Tom.
We never made it to the after party party because we had to head home Saturday night but I’ll catch you next time. jo
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Epinions.com ID:
jo.com
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 in Sports & Outdoors |
 in Sports & Outdoors |
 - Top 10 |
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Member: Jo
Location: On a bluff overlooking the ocean.
Reviews written: 1676
Trusted by: 1175 members
About Me:
Nothing personal - I just don't rate guns or accessories.
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