A Food Blogger Meet-up at The Common

Wow. When Maki and I chose March 4th as the date for the food blogger meet-up, we thought it was relatively free of conflicting events. The High School Culinary Challenge, a celebration of Avenue's Best Restaurants and a Taste of Iceland preview all happened between Monday and Tuesday. Busy couple days. Nonetheless, we had a great turn out at The Common, with 20 bloggers in attendance and a total group of about 30. You can find the final list of attendees, and links to their blogs, here.

The Common was at the top of my list when I emailed Maki back at the beginning of February. We had no real idea of numbers, but considering our guesstimate - 20 to 30 - their south room seemed perfect. It was sort of funny arranging what was basically a restaurant reservation for a group of 30 or so individuals - Can you keep that many individual bills separate? Do we need to do a set menu? Will we need to sell tickets beforehand?

Kyla at The Common was breeze to work with. She said they could easily allow everyone to order separately off the regular food and beverage menu, and they kept track of tabs using peoples' names. They also allowed us to use the room for free, which eliminated any sort of ticketing process ahead of time, and offered up two $50 gift cards - one for best food photo and one for best drink photo - tweeted during the event. Incredibly generous. The servers at the restaurant were lovely, and the kitchen impressively turned out all our food orders quickly.

We couldn't have asked for more from the room itself. Their staff added tables throughout the space so we could move around as needed (also why keeping tabs under names was genius), and had coat racks set up upon arrival. The only extras we brought along were some name tags, pens and the RSVP list.

It's sort of amazing when that many food bloggers get together. Things you sometimes feel awkward about - 'Don't touch that plate I need to take a picture.' - are automatic (see below). Not only that, but this is a random group of people (...super cool people) that happen to LOVE to eat. Fantastic.

A giant thanks to Maki for co-organizing this event with me! And of course to The Common for hosting. Already looking forward to the next one.

I didn't take any photos at the event (check out Maki's post!), but happened to be glued to Twitter. We chose the hashtag #yegfoodblogs and got lots of traffic. So instead of photos, I thought I'd post tweets from the evening.

#yegfoodblogs #party Me & @MarianneStover r at @TheCommonYEG 4 foodie night! Looking forward to everyone! #yegfood pic.twitter.com/ZTAL83wX3F

— Maki Blazevski (@MakiBca) March 5, 2014

Whiskey Sour @TheCommonYEG #yegfoodblogs #yegfood pic.twitter.com/iBJQNOf6hW
— Marianne Stover (@MarianneStover) March 5, 2014

#yegfoodblogs meet up at @TheCommonYEG. Loving hanging out with old and new friends. #yegfood pic.twitter.com/EEIUeO5fGU
— Michelle PetersJones (@michpetersjones) March 5, 2014

@theCommonYEG food bloggers galore! drink of choice: Canada's #caesar! #yegfoodblogs pic.twitter.com/dvOaeCGCkO
— cindy nguyen (@cindurh) March 5, 2014

Bacon fettuccini egg house pasta at @TheCommonYEG!! Yum!! And beautiful plate. #yegfoodblogs #yegfood pic.twitter.com/UV9TTtpIl2
— Linda Hoang (@lindork) March 5, 2014

Pork belly lettuce wraps @TheCommonYEG. @lindork gives 2 thumbs up #yegfoodblogs #yeg @PassionForPork pic.twitter.com/QQS87TRin0
— Sharman Hnatiuk (@ThePorkGirl) March 5, 2014

@beyondumami was keen to try her nsmesake @TheCommonYEG's Umami Burger :-) #yegfoodblogs #yegfood pic.twitter.com/noxXz8bdV0
— Michelle PetersJones (@michpetersjones) March 5, 2014

what foodies do best, next to eating! #yegfoodblogs @thecommonYEG pic.twitter.com/xZFCJ0Xmee
— cindy nguyen (@cindurh) March 5, 2014

You know you're at a food blogger meet up when this happens :-) Ahem... @MakiBca! #yegfoodblogs #yegfood pic.twitter.com/OJHJKUQT9c
— Michelle PetersJones (@michpetersjones) March 5, 2014

Drink number 3 (whiskey sour, yum) at @TheCommonYEG at the #yegfoodblogs meet up. Woo! Tuesday! #party pic.twitter.com/4GbR3XJZzr
— The Edible Woman (@EdibleWomanBlog) March 5, 2014

Reputation ruined! Caught @baconhound eating a LETTUCE WRAP! @TheCommonYEG #yegfoodblogs pic.twitter.com/i4iqfdQPbu
— Robyn (@LadyAgathist) March 5, 2014

So this is how @michpetersjones takes food pics @TheCommonYEG. #Weirdo #YEGfoodblogs #NoneOfUsFoodBloggersDoThat http://t.co/gUUueqEP8E
— Andrea (@littlmissandrea) March 5, 2014

@britl: winning Caesar drink photo #yegfood #yegfoodblogs pic.twitter.com/uBux6GZ7bI
— The Common (@TheCommonYEG) March 6, 2014

@littlmissandrea winning Warm Beet Salad photo #yegfood #yegfoodblogs http://t.co/y2D5BcOytv
— The Common (@TheCommonYEG) March 6, 2014

Had a great time at #yegfoodblogs tweetup! Thanks @MakiBca @MarianneStover for organizing - Looking forward to the next one (dance party!).
— Diane (@Argenplath) March 5, 2014 

Thanks to the staff @TheCommonYEG for hosting all us #yegfoodblogs! And thanks to everyone who attended this evening! #goodtimes #yegfood
— Marianne Stover (@MarianneStover) March 5, 2014

Once again, you can find the list of attendees here, and my blog roll (where I'm trying to list as many food and beverage bloggers from Edmonton as possible) here.