A night out with fellow PF bloggers
It’s 11pm and I just arrived home from a night on the town with 8 other PF bloggers and one cool spouse. We visited McGinty’s Public House in Silver Spring, MD and had a good 3 hours of chat about blogging, school, work, and, uh, weird fetishes 😉
As a side note, the pub is just a couple blocks from our favorite Ethiopian restaurant Langano. It’s amazing what you see walking from the metro vs driving! I tried to get J. Money to stop in and try the kitfo (raw beef dish) before heading to the bar, but he wouldn’t bite. Me, well, I’m a fan.
So the attendees were (in no particular order):
- Mike from CleverDude.com (uh, that’s me)
- J. Money (aka M/M Fanboy) from Budgets Are Sexy (a true match for my hyperactive chatter on IM in the mornings)
- Mapgirl from Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge
- Mrs. Micah from MrsMicah.com, as well as Blog Crafted
- DH from Debt Hater (not nearly as imposing without her ‘fro)
- Ginger from Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, and her husband ‘G’
- Megan from Counting My Pennies (a new-to-me blogger)
- Craig from Budget Pulse blog (he writes for the blog of a small PF company)
- Amelia from Amelia’s Healthy Life (another new-to-me blog)
I met all but # 6-9 in person at other blogger happy hours, so it was great to both catch up with old pals and learn more about “new recruits” to the PF blogging world. I learned that I share a lot in common with some bloggers, such as my college alma mater, my future employer or my past contracts.
Luckily, I think most of the bloggers took heed of the experienced folks’ warnings and brought enough cash in small denominations to cover the bill. There’s nothing worse than a gaggle of Personal Finance bloggers trying to split a bill!
Speaking of the bill, J. Money treated me to two drinks. One was a pink, fruity drink that I can’t recall how I talked him into getting me, and the other was a beer (Sam Adams White Ale) for which, unless I post this article with all the attendees site links tonight, I have to repay him.
Since most of us got there before 7pm, we treated ourselves to the half-price happy hour pub menu (do you expect anything less of a bunch of frugal writers?). I engorged on the heaping helping of fish and chips, which was excellent, and then finished it up with a Long Island Iced Tea.
While the $15 entree came in at $7.50, the stupid drink tacked on another $7.55. That’s right, my lousy alcohol was a nickel more than my giant dinner!!! So with tip, I threw down $18 even (8 ones), which Mapgirl proudly snatched up and declared “strip club night with me and the BF!” (or did she? You make the call).
This is probably my fourth or fifth PF blogger happy hour. I know my first one was about a month after I started blogging, and I felt so out of place and insecure. I met “giants” of the world I was just entering and had no idea what words like CPM and text link ads meant. But I’m really glad I went because it added directly to my network and built long-term relationships that have lasted to this day.
So if you have blogging happy hours in your area, even ones not in your niche, then I highly suggest attending. You’ll learn monetization, statistics and blogging tips general to any type of blog, and maybe even meet a few new friends.
I find it amusing that you suggest going to a blogging happy hour without adding “if you have a blog”. There are still a few people left on the Internet who actually don’t have a blog yet! That said… I just might get around to starting one sometime and then my point will be moot because everyone will, in fact, have a blog.
There’s nothing worse than a gaggle of Personal Finance bloggers trying to split a bill!
– actually laughed out loud when I read this
I wish there was this sort of thing in my area. How did you first find out about it? In other words, how would you suggest I try to find this in my area?
@Baker, it’s just one or two bloggers with a list of emails of people in the area sending out an invite like you would with friends. It’s easy to find other bloggers in DC, but I know other areas they’re a bit more scattered or hard to find.
@Melanie, leave me alone. I was half drunk and half asleep when I wrote the article last night!
@J Money, you’ll have to ask Mrs. Micah and Megan for clarification.
I missed it this time but you can bet I will be at the next one! I cannot wait!
That was probably one of the better meet-ups. So many people to talk with, but not too many. I liked being able to spread out…either the recession is clearing out pubs or it was a good idea not to meet downtown this time.
Mr. not-so-clever-dude, perhaps you should enlighten the rest of us as to what “m/m” and “fanboy” mean? My brain hurts too much from all those miller lights 😉
Sounds like fun! 11pm though? That’s when the night should be getting started, how old are you guys?
@Studenomics: It was a happy hour meetup, which means after work. Plus we all had to work the next day. We got there at 6pm, but I will say the 3.5 hours flew by! As for ages, I’d say 23 up through 30ish.
You guys and gals are so lucky to live close enough to each other to meet. I live waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out in the boondocks and according to the PF Blogger map there are no other bloggers near me. 🙁
Why were you all ‘trying’ to split the bill…I thought the general idea was to have the bills separate so there would be no haggling.
@lulugal, while it’s optimal to just have your own check, it’s not really nice for the server to have to run 8 different bills. We’re frugal but not totally inconsiderate. Plus you always have a public outing to worry about if you try to screw someone over.
However, I did just realize right before going to bed last night that I put down a 20% tip before calculating tax, so it came out under 20%. Sorry waitress, I just like to round off!
Did we just get called out for being old?
I think we did get called out for being old. But I can’t stay out past 10 and be able to work 8 hours the next morning. *sigh* And I’m 23.
It was great meeting up with you and everyone else, especially to see our Lions win the NIT. Can’t believe I just got called out for being old as well, I’m with you Mrs. Micah. Although if we really went out last night, my day today would have been shot.
Lol sorry guys no hard feelings I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I’m the youngest guy at work & school so I’m used to breaking everyone’s balls for being older. It’s okay you guys can make fun of me for not being able to grow facial hair. I would love to go for drinks with other pf bloggers. Have anyone of you guys been to any of those blogging conferences?