Last night was my first trip to Las Vegas Beer & Blog at the illustrious Freakin' Frog. Since I consider myself somewhat of a newcomer to the social media community, I felt like a high school freshman hanging out among the cool senior crew. Not only were we all bloggers, but many of us were already connected in one way or another, whether it was through Twitter or by association with another attendee. It turned out to be an overall fun networking event with a great crowd at a fairly good venue. The purpose of LVBnB is simple: local bloggers help eachother with their blogs with the added benefit of consuming brewskies in the process. There are several other chapters of BnB around the country, all who meet weekly with the same mission.
Attendance to Las Vegas BnB has grown every week since the chapter's initial meeting on January 15th. Ultimately, LVBnB aims to have guest speakers come in when possible to share their blogging wisdom with the group. I can only imagine that attendance may grow significantly as word of the BnB spreads, and also as prolific figures show up as guest speakers.
Here are some key points from my first BnB experience:
- I had never been to the Freakin Frog prior to last night. It's a cute little bar, but its ability to satisfy my beer thirst was a little iffy at the beginning. It touts hundreds of beers, but rotates the taps so I had to opt for what was available. They didn't have my favorite brews on tap, so I had to settle for Stella. I just needed to get halfway through that first pint in order for me to get over what I was drinking and finally embrace the simple fact that I was sipping on beer. Beer=satisfaction.
- Las Vegas Twestival will take place on February 12 at The Beatles Revolution Lounge at the Mirage. Tickets are now on sale, and all proceeds go to charity:water.
- JustJulie shared her Xshot Pro, which we took some awesome pics with. I've hinted to my pals there that I want one for my birthday. John even said that he immediately thought of me when he saw the Xshot for the first time. That's because aside from himself, I'm the biggest ham he knows.
- I missed seeing BnB Creepy Guy while I was there. Fortunately, the videos captured by Rally666, the Twitter play-by-plays, and photos on Flickr all made me glad that I didn't have a moment with Creepy Guy.
- Hurricane Mikey is an entertaining blogger, and is even more of a crack-up in person. He impressed me with his willingness to share his experience entering the blogworld about 6 years ago and how he has successfully built a broad readership in that time. Meeting him and listening to his stories, you get a sense of why people follow him. I didn't have much to offer him in exchange for his humor and wisdom, but I think I may have impressed him with my chugging skills.
I am looking forward to another Beer & Blog! I would encourage local bloggers, visiting bloggers, aspiring bloggers, and even non-bloggers simply interested in social media to check it out sometime. Don't forget, there's also beer to look forward to.