Blogher's first big social event was Friday night dinner was at the Andiamo Cafe for approximately 140 people.
Maria Tseng gave me a lift along with Miriam Verburg who is like me,an introvert. We stayed on the back patio with another blogher from LA and nursed a few drinks to help us mingle. Miriam also needed a smoke, she just wanted to hold the cigarette as she has quit. Really she has!
And then the bus arrived filled with bloghers who paid their $20 at the door and either headed straight for the bar or the Ladie's Room.
Meanwhile the kitchen was cooking on all four burners .... getting the buffet of Mexican fare ready for us.
There was lots of positive energy in the room. You could hear "I read your blog, I'm so glad to meet you." Here two nonprofit bloggers, Marnie Webb and Nancy White, talk to each other for the first time in real-time .
The conversation level picked up and the room got very crowded as the second, third, and fourth bus load arrived. Having my second glass of wine, I was ready to start my person on the street interviews which are reported in the next couple of posts.
There was a lot of networking going on - exchange of business cards, digital clicks, and I suspect some recordings ..... Lots of electronic gadgets and even some low tech ones like file cards and pens that Marnie Webb calls -- can't remember.
There was a free pass for sxswinteractive taped under one of the 140 seats. Meghan was the lucky winner.
Heather Gold, a performance artist/stand up comedienne Jewish lesbian, who has worked in Silcon Valley and Hollywood, entertained us. She made some hilarious comparisons between LA and Silcon Valley.
"In Hollywood, you can get a great cornbeef sandwich in a deli. In Silicon Valley, you can't. You would think that I'm the only Jew in San Francisco who isn't a budhist."
"I'm sorry Jalpeno Cheddar bagels are fucking wrong. You can't matzo ball soup here or if you could they would add cilantro."
"When I was in Hollywood, a woman came up to me in a bathroom and put her hands on my breasts and asked if they were real. I was disappointed because I thought she was hitting on me, but she wanted to know who did them. In Hollywood, there are fake breats. In Silicon Valley, there are only fake business plans."
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