We had another #SoCalSteemit Meetup!
We've been trying to plan at least one Steemit meetup for the SoCal Steemit group every month. For this month @csusbgeochem1 had invited us all to meetup at Big Mama's and Papa's Pizzeria in Eagle Rock, CA. The "Home to the worlds largest pizza"!!
The day came and it was a perfect warm sunny day. I drew up a small sign to identify the group, then I got on my computer and got the address and directions. I had to write it all down as I had just lost my phone a few days earlier and wouldn't be able to look anything up once I left my house. I also messaged @csusbgeochem1 on Discord and told him I'd meet him there. I didn't get a response but it was time to go so I just hit the road and figured I'd see him there.
But then just as I was getting ready to leave I checked my camera... and it wouldn't work! I knew the baterries were getting low and figured they had just died. So I hit the road with the plan of making a quick stop at the Wal-Mart by my house to pick up a small pack of AAA batteries.
Leaving my neighborhood
...Well of course it wasn't quick...
I went around the entire store before realizing all the batteries were at one of the registers. So I hop in line... at this point I already knew I was gonna be a bit late so I was really trying to hurry. I get the batteries, get out to my truck, pop the new batteries in the camera, and... NOTHING!! Ahhhhh! So at this point I assume the camera is totally broke and race back into Wal-Mart to buy a cheap camera. Of course they keep them all locked up so I had to find an employee to help me. Then again through the line and back out to the truck, I pop the batteries in the new camera, go to pop in the SD card and... the new camera only takes the big SD cards and all I had was the little ones!! Double Ahhhhh! I didn't even know they still used the big ones, all the cameras I've had recently have used the small cards. So I had to drive back to my house to get a big SD card. All this really sucked, but I had to have a working camera. Now at this point I knew I was going to be really late. And without my phone I couldn't tell anyone what was going on. I jumped on the 210 freeway and raced out to Eagle Rock as quick as I could. The traffic was not helping!
In traffic on the 210 freeway
Red lights in Eagle Rock, CA
I finally got to the Pizzeria, found a parking spot, put some quarters in the parking meter, and headed inside. Sitting inside I found @zingali, @jnetsworld, @wfmkay, and @kunschj who were there enjoying the delicious pizza! This was my first time meeting all these members in real life. So I introduced myself, apologized for being so late, taped my sign on the table, and then immediately jumped into conversation with my new friends!
From left to right - @zingali, @jnetsworld, @wfmkay, and @kunschj
My SoCal Steemit sign
We talked about Steemit, the SoCal Steemit group, Crypto currencies, and lots of other topics! We talked and talked, and at one point I realized I had been there for over a half hour and hadn't even placed an order yet! That's what happens when you're having fun. I took a look at the menu and ordered a garden salad and a medium veggie pizza. I saw the box they use for their giant pizza... it was HUGE!! I can't believe they make pizzas that big. I got my food and it was absolutely delicious. It's not the cheapest, but definitely excellent quality food. We continued to chat as I ate my food. Everyone was really enjoying the conversations.
The menu
The huge box for their "Giant Sicilian" pizza
Me and my veggie pizza
Mmmmm...
@kunschj's badass anime Steemit shirt!
We hung out chatting for a few hours, but after refilling the parking meters a few times it was eventually time to go. Back home through the freeway traffic on the 210. I had lots of fun meeting everyone, thank you all so much for coming!! I look forward to more meetups in the future, getting to meet more members, and continuing to grow this awesome community!
Thank you all for coming!
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#SoCalSteemit is building and supporting the Steemit community of Southern California. If you are from SoCal and are into creating quality content here on Steemit, we'd love for you to follow us @SoCalSteemit and join our group on Discord
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Wow, this looks like so much fun! @joechiappetta and I have been out of town lately, so we are sorry to have missed it. Especially since Eagle Rock is so close to us in Pasadena :/
Had a great time! Looking forward to next time. Thanks to @kaylinart for designing the "badass anime Steemit shirt." If you'd like one of your own, they're on amazon.com
It was so nice meeting real living breathing steemians! If I could, I would upvote every conversation we had. I'm looking forward to meeting up in the future.
Thanks for putting the meet up group together. We had a lot of fun and the pizza was great👍 See you next month.
It was great meeting you and @kunschj. I'm stoked to have you guys in the group!
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I love this post @derekrichardson! How awesome it must be to actually meet people face to face after talking with them for so long. It must be a little weird and mind-blowing in some ways too, because if you're anything like me, you develop your own mental images of what people are like and let's face it, most of the time, it doesn't really match up haha
Good for you to organize it though; of course the batteries and camera didn't cooperate with your schedule :)
Oh... I actually thought that you guys would have bought the giant pizza together.
But really sorry that you have to make so many diverted trails as your camera was broken. There was one time I remembered to bring my camera but forgotten about the memory card, and that costs me a bomb too...
lesson learned: always check triple times before heading out to any events.
And that's the beauty about meetups. Like minded writers and content creators can chat for hours and never felt any time wasted.
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We didn't have enough people there to eat a giant pizza, that thing was huge! They actually have a contest where if 7 people can eat it in less than 2 hours they'll win $1,000. Maybe at a future meetup where we've got enough people we could attempt the contest. It would be really tough though, we'd need some big eaters. The giant pizza is a 4.5 foot square!
It's really great to have meet-up with another fellow Steemians, you guys seems to have lots of fun. I never seen a pizza so huge before... :D
#steemitbloggers
As a lover of ALL things PIZZA- THANK you for this post!
What a great way to have a meet-up... great people with some hot PIZZA!
These meetups are vital for making contacts and getting that human touch in there. I cant wait for my next one, hope its not in London.
That's a nice looking pizza!
After the batteries and the camera not working... I was like rooting for you every step of the story... I was a little worried you were not going to make it especially since you had to go all the way home... What a crazy adventure with a happy ending 😊
#steemitbloggers
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Man, what a FRUSTRATING start to your day! :( But it sounds like it turned out wonderfully. I'm glad you all got to meet. I look forward to meeting some fellow steemians someday. All of these meetups look like so much fun!
Hello @derekrichhardson. You have been upvoted by the @sndbox-alpha. We are seeking posts of the highest quality. Currently, our curation theme is Meetup and Philantrophy. If you want to get to know more, feel free to check our blog.
Sweet! Thanks @sndbox-alpha!
Wish I could have made it. Thanks for pulling through dude.
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