If you are involved in the online search industry community, you may have heard about or seen tweets mentioning #EpicDinner at some point.  Then again, you probably haven’t unless you follow me or one of the few hundred people who have, at least once, attended one of my #EpicDinner happenings.

If you have, or not, and want to know a bit more about what the deal is with these little get-togethers that have now evolved to an epic scale, hopefully this page will provide a bit of insight.

I wasn’t going to create this page, however people keep asking, so now I’ll have a place to point them to…

#EPICDINNER GENERAL INFO

What Is It?

#EpicDinner is my way of bringing together industry friends, and anyone who wants to join us, for an evening of great food, great conversation and lots of laughs.  They happen during search industry conferences whenever I am attending a conference or if I feel like putting one on even if I’m not actually attending that particular conference itself.

How It Works – What It Costs

I pick a restaurant, and tweet the heck out of it til a bunch of people sign up to attend.  There’s no cost outside the price of your own meal, however at one point I started accepting sponsorships – business owners contribute toward the cost of the meal (thus defraying the cost of every individual’s meal), in exchange for a simple mention during the dinner – mostly low key stuff, no hard selling.

Oh – and when I’m moved to do so, there are now sometimes prizes or swag given out.  Just to add a little fun.  Nothing extravagant…

Fun Yet Serious

It’s vital to me that every #EpicDinner be a fun experience for all who attend.  Yet this year it’s grown so much that due to the # of anticipated attendees, I’m now being required to sign contracts with the restaurants I choose for each one.  that’s right – when you expect between 30 and 120 people for dinner, (we had 112 at #EpicDinnerVegas!) you need to make a financial commitment to the restaurant.  In case a lot of people don’t show up.

That’s how much the #EpicDinner experience has grown.  We’re a hi-falutin event now.  #WIN

 

In The Beginning

In the beginning, there was a simple Twitter exchange between Mat Siltala and I – with the initial plan to meet for dinner during SMX West 2010.  Almost right away, Dana Lookadoo wanted in.  And before you could say WTF (in sixty two languages – because let’s be honest – WTF is like a nano-second’s worth of speech right?) the list of people attending had grown to a dozen people.  And on the actual night of that first ever #EpicDinner, we ended up being nineteen strong.

So that’s how it became the first ever genuine #EpicDinner and it was during the coordination of that first one where the #EpicDinner hashtag was born.

The Evolution

Since that first little gathering ( where everyone had a great time and great food thank you very much), I’ve since coordinated several others. Where it was just an off-the-cuff thing the first time, they’re now something I take quite seriously.  Being able to bring people together who might not have otherwise met even during an industry conference, is pretty rewarding to me emotionally. And being able to spend quality time with trusted industry friends is priceless.

Want To Attend?

If you think you might want to attend an #EpicDinner, simply contact me on Twitter - if there’s room left for you, I’ll add you to the list.  It’s that simple.

Sponsorships

If you think you might want to sponsor an upcoming #EpicDinner, contact me and we’ll go from there. The concept is we need to remember this is about having fun, unwinding and not being bombarded by sales pitches.  Low key sponsorships only.  Yet a great way to show the search community that you care about the community!

Licensing

If you would like to use the #EpicDinner or #EpicDinnerVegas Hashtag for an event of your own, I am now making it available for use on a limited basis.  The first licensee was Paul Savage – who has licensed the use of the #EpicDinner hashtag for a dinner he’s putting together in Germany this year.   So if you want to call your event an #EpicDinner, contact me for licensing details, terms and conditions.

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UPCOMING #EPICDINNERS

 

 

 Blueglass LA 2012

Yes- we’re already locked to have #EpicDinnerLA on the Sunday night preceding #BGLA, Blueglass’ premiere west coast conference in April 2012!  It’s going to be another awesome conference and what better way to kick things off, than to have a pre-conference #EpicDinner?

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PAST #EPICDINNERS

SMX West 2010

Our first ever #EpicDinner!  19 people, great food, and history in the making…

SMX Advanced 2010

We had an “unofficial” and “impromptu” #EpicDinner during SMX Advanced 2010, that really wasn’t labeled an #EpicDinner but became one organically.  The restaurant was a bit far for my liking, but it was well worth the trek..

Blueglass LA 2010

#EpicDinner during BGLA was off the charts in its awesomeness.  The restaurant I chose for this one was a stone’s throw from the sands of Venice Beach.  We had 18 or 19 people for this one as well.   And it was on my birthday so I got a bonus treat from that.  Imagine the wait-staff of a restaurant, singing Happy birthday to you.  In Italian.

SES SF 2010

My paltry attempts to put on an #EpicDinner for SES San Francisco in 2010 fell flat on its face.  Out of sympathy for my pathetic life, George Revutsky, Keri Morgret and Toni Carr joined me for dinner that night.

Blueglass FL 2010

OMG.  #EpicDinner during BGFL was, to that point, the best #EpicDinner yet – and for this one, we had somewhere around 30 people divided up between two banquet length tables, and it was just, well, epic!

SMX West 2011

#EpicDinner during SMX West 2011 was a turning point in the evolution of the #EpicDinner experience.  We had over $3,000 in sponsorship money cover a lion’s share of the dinner bill.  We had prizes for the first time.  And we had 40 people show up – the most ever to attend an #EpicDinner.

And Morton’s in San Jose’, the location for this particular event, was amazing. They even set us up in their private dining room, with our own wait-staff, and get this – our own restrooms!  #LOLAmazing

SMX Advanced 2011

Wow. Best. #EpicDinner. Ever.  Yeah okay they’re all great. But seriously – at SMX Advanced in June, we had the biggest turn-out yet – 44 people.  So we essentially took over the entire main dining room.

And dinner? Yeah – it was spectacular! The venue was the Waterfront Seafood Grill, just a stone’s throw from the conference, overlooking Puget Sound.  We were treated like royalty by the entire staff, and the food was absolutely fabulous.

Thanks go out to Shannon Poole for helping me coordinate the evening’s activities, which included giving out several great and custom #EpicDinner t-Shirts that came courtesy of Thomas Ballantyne.  I’m telling you – the guy is just one really generous and caring human being.  And I hear he’s really into scorpions.  Considering he works at a Pest Control Company in Phoenix, that kinda works out I suppose!

And how could I not be truly humbled by the fact that at the end of dinner, when things were wrapping up, Christine Gibbs, Click2Rank’s CEO, paid for the entire thing?  Christine is one truly blessed and giving soul.

Pubcon Vegas 2011

#EpicDinnerVegas was by far, the biggest, most amazing #EpicDinner of all so far!  We had 112 attendees, and a plethora of industry companies sponsoring the nights festivities.  There was a lot of great swag given out as well – including books from Alan Knecht and Arnie Kuenn, and even a commemorative #EpicDinner mug – a first of its kind!  Thanks go out to all our sponsors, especially 22 Media, and MyNext Customer!

SMX Social Media Scottsdale 2011

I wasn’t able to attend SMX Social Media in December, so Arnie K. and Vertical Measures picked up the #EpicDinner concept and ran with it, making it the first officially sanctioned #EpicDinner run under licensing rights!

 

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#EpicDinner, #EpicDinnerVegas, EpicDinner and the EpicDinner, #EpicDinnerLA, #EpicDinnerParadise and #EpicDinnerVegas hashtags copyright 2010, 2011 Alan Bleiweiss

#EpicDinner BGFL & First Ever #EpicDinner Photos courtesy Dana Lookadoo