I Have My Own Life to Live

In time for Social Media Camp October 3rd, the Victoriatweetup meetup group  launched as a means to promote tweetups that need more concrete numbers for venues. 

The "after party"  at Bard and Banker allowed people from further afield the chance to connect with Victoria social media aficionados in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Volunteer Victoria was kind enough to invite me to guest blog on their website about "Using Social Media To Promote Events".

Teresa Sims started the #U30 lunch tweetups for young entrepreneurial and business minded women in October. Follow Teresa and tweet her for more details.

A second #yyjbleeders tweetup had 8 people sign up to give blood! Thanks for giving the "gift of life".

October is a month of birthdays for local Twitter users, and we celebrated at the Canoe Club on October 23rd. Shortly after some of the attendees (@Shelter68 @Phleygas @VIHippieChick @socialmediasean) started #randomtweetup - fun tweetups at a moment's notice.

José Albis, the Albis Group, presented on "Self Publishing and Launching Your Personal Brand" to Social Media Club in October.
 

October was again a month of connecting to long distance tweeps face to face. I love theatre and events as my twitter feed and blog posts will attest. Mid 2009, I stumbled upon #2amt, a group of theatre practioners on Twitter who literally "met" at 2am and started to consider the future of theatre.

These discussions led to the #2amt hashtag, Twitter handle @2amt and blog, as well as professional collaborations. When Simon Ogden, author of The Next Stage Magazine, moved to Victoria (check out his outstanding bartending at Veneto) we simply had to have coffee. In October I met Kate Foy @dramagirl from Australia and Lois Watson @smlois from Vancouver (soon to be in Edmonton) too!

Although Gisela @lifeasafestival is not part of the #2amt tribe - we managed to find one another through our love of festivals and celebrations. Gisela is travelling the world and volunteering/interning at festivals. It was a pleasure to meet her in Victoria.

Patrick Tussie is not a long distance tweep, but rather a movie fan in Victoria. We had very different views of some 2010's "hit" movies. Twitter allowed us to connect. Finally, we met for coffee. Congratulations to Patrick on his recent engagement.  I love how Twitter allows us to see the world through other people's eyes - IF we are open to that experience.

We travelled to Nanaimo for the 3rd Nanaimo Tweetup hosted by the Vitamin House. Although tweetup culture in Nanaimo is still in its infancy, tweetups are very well attended and organized.

After the #poutineoff came the #pumpkinoff October 29th between the Fairmont Empress and Hotel Grand Pacific. Chefs Ito and Choy produced some phenomenal carvings and desserts for judging by @ScrimporSplurge @AwesomeYoga @magsedoyle @lacouvee @cpudan @sashaangus. Once again, Chef Ito and the Empress team won out - very narrowly besting Chef Choy (by one point).

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It was my great pleasure to judge the first (and one would hope) annual #pumpkinoff on the lawns of the Fairmont Empress Hotel last Friday October 29th, 2010.

Martin Leclerc, General Manager and Angela Rafuse-Tahir, Director of Sales, issued the challenge to their Inner Harbour neighbour, the Hotel Grand Pacific.

Just what is a #pumpkinoff?  Nothing more than a genteel culinary smack-down and display of carving wizardy between two venerable institutions.  The executive chefs, Takashi Ito (Empress) and Rick Choy (Grand Pacific) were charged with carving giant pumpkins and creating phenomenal dessserts for the privilege of taking home the Golden Gourd.

Chef Ito sourced his 700lb beauty from the Roost on the Saanich Peninsula as did Chef Choy his much smaller 200lb pumpkin.

The weather cooperated wonderfully and a small crowd of social media judges, media, locals and tourists gathered on the lawns as teams from the two hotels displayed their creations while the chefs began carving.  It soon became very apparent that pumpkin carving, even when assisted with power tools, as was Chef Ito, is not quite as easy as ice carving.  The chefs worked feverishly in a relatively short time span to finish.

Dessert creations included an adult version multi-layered pumpkin based chocolate bar from the team at the Hotel Grand Pacific and a marsapone pumpkin bread pudding paired with pumpkin bourbon mousse from the Fairmont Empress. What ingenuity and creative flair! It made judging a very difficult task, indeed.

In the end Chef Ito bested Chef Choy by one single point to be declared the winner of the Golden Gourd.

My fellow judges included: Jay Sutton-Brown, Awesome Yoga; Dan Parks, Creative Planners Unlimited @cpudan; Sasha Angus, the Greater Victoria Economic Development Agency; Margaret Doyle, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Royal Roads University; Anita Willis, editor, Scrimp or Splurge. After the rigours of judging, we retired to the Bengal Lounge for cocktails and chat.

Thank you to the Fairmont Empress for inviting us to participate, and for creating fun events to celebrate tourism, hospitality, culinary arts, and food in our capital city. After the #poutineoff last May and the #pumpkinoff - what #off will be next?  Any guesses or suggestions?