FoodBuzz 2012, Am I Gonna Go?
This year seems very weird. I did sign up but it turns out I have an important baby shower in the middle of Saturday so I thought I would go to the cocktail party at least. Total bummer since the food pavilion was my favourite part last year but I can make it to the Friday event.
However, this year Friday is different.
“Dine Around Town” on Friday, October 19
The Festival kicks off with a fabulous cocktail party and reception at a classic SF venue. We’ll have plenty of food and drink on hand, but once the party’s over, we’ll arm you with everything you need to continue your evening in one of the best dining cities in the world. Dinner’s on us in a restaurant of your choice! We’re partnering with OpenTable to give you special access to reservations in some of our favorite restaurants, as well as an awesome giveaway. Stay tuned for more details coming next week!
Now, this is cool, have cocktails and meet people. Last year they didn’t even have a dinner, just cocktails. But assuming you don’t already have a ton of friends there and go to meet people you are in an awkward position for dinner. I honestly didn’t meet that many people last year at the cocktail party that I would have naturally gone out to a dinner with on our own after chatting for 5 minutes. So you are put into a weird position to meet someone you click with and then ask them to dinner. Sitting at a communal table randomly for dinner is easier than trying to figure out with a stranger where to eat and preferences and table wait and such. There are a lot of cliques at these sort of conferences so it rough on the ego to approach people and invite yourself along. I generally don’t have a lot of problem with this but some of the attitudes are out of control, at least from what I saw last year. A shy person is going to lose their shit in having to be extroverted enough to find a dinner partner. Plus, even with Open Table finding a place that has enough seats if you have a big party on a Friday in SF is going to be a pain in the ass.
I feel it is kind of lazy to get people who are from out of town to have to peck and hunt for a restaurant on day 1 of a conference. Maybe I’m just showing my own insecurities at this change. Last year there were some very tight cliques that were really rude and off-putting. I met a lot of good people due to me being so outgoing but I still find it stressful in a group situation at times.
Originally published at Killer Bunnies, Inc. Please leave any comments there.