Mrs. Saxguy and I had a great time.
Jun 23 '08
The Bottom Line I'm glad we went. We'll be attending more.
My wife and I attended the Chicago meet n greet this past weekend and we both had a great time.
The Epinions people were open, friendly and approachable and it seemed like they and the users were all very comfortable with each other.
First there was a presentation and question and andser session about where the site was headed. I thought that they were open about how they want to drive traffic and they have technical things to work on.
Improvements have been made. For example MPR/MPA is now reported in Sports and Outdoor and a couple of my reviews that weren’t showing in the mpr lists have been restores, thus shooting me up the MPA chart to #183. I enjoyed confirming it on my Blackberry. I don’t know if fixing the /slash problem will move me back down, but we’ll see.
I asked about whether 10 for 10 would continue and the quality vs quantity issue. Almar implied that the 10 for 10 would be with us for a while. George (user-Joubert) added that short reviews can have high quality with out excess length and that a lot of the pro reviews were short.
Speaking of Joubert, I was pleased that 4 category leads were there, George, Shelly (Lambchops), Rex (Scmrak) and Abraham (Openroad). I think the category leads are great and I was able to tell them how much I appreciated them.
Among other users, there was a decent number, but I was hoping for more. MeaganDowney looked great, as did Chelledun. Pestyside was there, too, and I enjoyed telling her I liked her username. I missed Vemartin and Barefooter, who had attended the Dinner with Pehr a year ago.
So, off we went to drinks and hors doevres next door. The food was nice, if a bit caloric. I’m sensitive to that these days. The pictures will show that I am a LARGE man. Well, when I had my hernia removed, I was 25 pounds larger. The surgeon said that if I didn’t lose a bunch of weight, odds were that I was going to burst a seam and have to see him again. He’s a great guy, and I love seeing him when he brings his son to saxophone lessons. In an operating room, well, I’d like to avoid that.
But I digress.
The refreshments during the Q&A session were all desserty with no fruit, so I got some for Mrs. Saxguy and drank water and coffee. At cocktail time, the snacks were mostly caloric, so I had one each of the more enticing caloric ones and a few of the asparagus and beef. I had a couple of glasses of wine. Mrs. Saxguy enjoyed the snacks so much so that she had no interest in the buffet dinner later.
We also got to see a family friend who is a housekeeping manager at the Hilton, making a special day even more special.
I enjoyed talking with Frostygirl and her new husband and the very pregnant lschofield. Sleeper54 and Scmrak each have great wit and I enjoyed talking with Rex (Scmrak) about how Champaign-Urbana is a great place to go to school but not so hot to live.
The Epinions people were likable. They are all great folks. Almar knows his stuff, too. He said he played a little jazz piano, so I asked him a question and he came through beautifully. Having Garrett there was a highlight, especially since Epinions, while it remains an adventure for him, is no longer a job.
I also have to thank Almar on the arrangements. I’m local, so having parking paid for at the Hilton is a big deal. My wife is in a wheelchair, which you can see in the photos. I figured I was going to have to cruise the handicapped spots on the street and then park and then get back in the car to go to McCormick Place. But no. Epinions came through with validated parking at the Hilton, got a shuttle bus for everybody but me and Mrs. Saxguy and arranged for us to be taken back and forth to McCormick Place (for Ebay live) through a fully accessible van, driven by a really nice guy named Lonnie.
The Hilton is one of the nicest hotels in town, and the selection by Epinions to hold the meetngreet there is a testament to their desire to take care of their writers.
Ebay live was interesting. The food was a buffet, and my wife didn’t think it was all that great. I found the baked chicken and steamed vegetables were perfectly ok for me to continue my commitment to health excellence. She went for the desserts and enjoyed them. We hung in for a while and then got tired, so we left before Chris Isaak. It was late for her and I was recording in concert the following day so I figured I needed the sleep.
Still I managed to make a few friends and find a source for a 3XL tie-dye shirt.
This was a series of great events and I’m glad I attended. Mrs. Saxguy was glad too.
Now, you want a few scooplets?
The Sunday concert went well enough so that I think I’ll have a new CD to release around Christmas.
I’m also getting ready to come out with a “Commitment to Health Excellence” write-off, which I will announce within a week.
More? Laurashrti’s soon to be stepson was a real cutie. I thought Frostygirl’s new husband was charming as well.
I didn’t stick around for the post party. Ask Garrett and MeaganDowney about the guacamole.
Thanks for reading. God bless!
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