Show me the community..!!
Jun 24 '08
The Bottom Line Go to one.
...
Ya know, I am dying to work a ' the night Chicago died ' reference into my thoughts here ...but maybe that allusion is best left for those who participated in the late-night, post-M'n'G, post-'eBay Live' debauchery.
I had not been to 'the big city' in a long time. I am not sure if my wife Marlene had ever been there before. We had certainly never been there as a couple. But we were both game for a short weekend away from the drudgery of a wet basement and fly-over life and welcomed the chance to experience the neon lights of Broadway ...wait a minute, wrong 'big city'.
Luckily, my bestest on-line friends --30-- and Patsy agreed to put up with us ...I mean put us up in their spare bedroom Friday night and then travel with us into the city via auto and the Metra rail on Saturday. That they were willing to take the time for us and this event in the midst of their own on-going life-changes is strong testimony to the value they place on their Epinions experience.
Once disembarked in the city we enjoyed a short stroll through Millennium Park (with brief stops and pictures at Cloud Gate and the Crown Fountain) and then it was on to Hilton Chicago to check out the Meet-n-Greet venue.
After a short walk snaking through the halls of the 8th floor of the Hilton Chicago (where was the promised signage..??) we found the meeting rooms. We were early enough to be the first Eps members (I believe) there and also had to wait for the name-tags/badges to be laid out for distribution. But drinks, snacks, and Eps tee-shirts were already set up so all was good.
More and more members drifted in as the Eps staff present introduced themselves while 'working the room' (in a positive sense ...:minism:...) I also took the opportunity to introduce myself and wifey to several users while waiting for the information/discussion session to start.
Formal introductions of the staff led as the meeting opened, followed by member introductions around the room. It was surprising to see so many experienced (read: 'old-timers') users present as well as several 'middling' and 'nearly-new' members. And even a potential recruit or two.
Everyone seemed real and personable and none seemed capable of murder by axe* or barking at the moon**.
A list of attendees, if only because I am keen to do so...
Members only
openroad
scmrak
pestyside
lambchops aka Shelly
sleeper54 aka ...tom...
frostygirl
laurashrti aka Laura
roheblius aka Garrett
Joubert aka George
lli_wright
lschofield aka Laura
dandj aka Danielle
chelledun
mr_chelledun
meagandowney aka Meagan
Saxguy aka John
shippo225 aka Ronald
. . .and..??
Staff
yoelc aka Yoel
almarsezstuff aka Almar
aweiner aka Alisa
. . .and..??
( I respect the information on user-pages. If a real-world name is not specifically listed there I do not use it publicly, here or elsewhere... )
A brief presentation on the status of the site, the various problems faced, their causes, and their hoped-for solutions followed. The basic information I brought from it is the plan to supplant the Epinions catalog with the Shopping dot com database/catalog, with a target completion date of Q1, 2009. Until then, the /review, search engine, etc. problems will all remain with the site through that transition period. ( If that all-too-brief summary is misleading, I trust one of my readers will correct me. If so, I will update and comment to alert prior readers to an update.)
An hour or two of drinks, appetizers, and mingling followed. Good food, good company, strong liquor, good conversation, good vibes, good times. Too short . . .but such is life.
A short shuttle jaunt cross-city dumped us all into McCormick Place West to enjoy the 'Closing Gala' of the eBay-Live event. Well, not to be a wet noodle but... too noisy, too big, too mundane, lukewarm food, too sooo not Epinions effective. Just seemed like a waste of time with users scattered hither and yon across the venue. Not the end of the world though.
When enough was enough, back to the lonely, dark, big-city train platform for the wait to return to the motel in the 'burbs. A bit of uncertainty that we were headed in the right direction on the right line, but all worked out well.
The Bottom Line
Meet-n-Greets are not about accommodations, or food or entertainment. Not about travel, or sightseeing, or being bored. Meet-n-Greets are not about sharing information with users.
Meet-n-Greets are about people. Being introduced to a user-name and meeting a new friend. Seeing a user-pic brought to life and meeting an old friend. Shaking hands and feeling the strength of human contact. Hugging at that moment when you or someone else are parting ways and realizing this moment of bonding is oh so short. Renewing friendships and crafting new ones. Laughing and smiling and enjoying the moment. Pausing at the side of the room and just taking a moment to scan the room and realize all these people care about the same things you do ...at least here and now, at least on a silly website buried deep in the silicone and pixels and servers of the Internet.
Epinions has been a small but important part of my life for way too long. I wish my fellow board members at the softball Executive Board had one-tenth of the passion of a typical Eps member.
Meet-n-Greets are too short, too sweet, too satisfying, and too painful when they are done. But just like that high school sweetheart now long gone ...worth every moment and fondly remembered, with a slow smile, for a long time.
additional resources:
Pre Meet-n-Greet thoughts:
http://sleepingintheheartland.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-2008-meet-n-greet-pre-musings.html
Post Meet-n-Greet thoughts:
http://sleepingintheheartland.blogspot.com/2008/06/chicago-2008-post-meet-n-greet-thoughts.html
sleeper's photos/pics:
http://sleeper54.smugmug.com/gallery/5235405_YfSYt
roheblius' photos/pics:
http://gallery.mac.com/roheblius316#100122&view=mosaic&sel=0
* http://ask.metafilter.com/17277/Internet-Axe-Murderers-Are-They-Real
** http://www.epatric.com/funstuff/dog/
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Epinions.com ID:
sleeper54
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 in Movies, Books |
 in Books |
 - Top 1000 |
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Member: ...tom...
Location: "Is this Heaven?"......"No. It's Iowa."
Reviews written: 496
Trusted by: 551 members
About Me:
Back-in-the-heartland...brief respite before real-world work begins. Hopefully less intensive than I imagine it will be..!!
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