Last week, Kendra and I decided, kind of last minute, to host a blog meet up at Philz Coffee in Berkeley. We announced it on Friday and really didn’t expect very many people to show up. I figured we’d maybe see the four people who commented on the post to say they were coming. So you can imagine my surprise when over a dozen people showed up and we basically took over the space (sorry to any students who failed their finals this morning because of our incessant talking).
The group, talking at the Berkeley points and miles meet up
Most of the time when I’m writing this blog, I write what I would want to read because a lot of times it feels like there’s no one on the other end. So it’s nice to meet people who actually read this blog – I feel like I can now write for my audience because I have a better idea of who they actually are. It was also just great to be around like-minded people who have the same obsession as you do – the enthusiasm from a reader who’d never left North America but is taking an epic around-the-world trip this fall, consisting of 9 premium cabin segments, was contagious! I think everyone lit up when they heard his story.
While the gathering was supposed to end at 8 PM, some of us stayed until 8:30 PM, when the baristas kicked us out because they were closing. The conversations didn’t stop though, because six of us stood outside of Philz in the cold for 45 minutes and continued chatting. I had the best time and even learned a few new creative point earning tricks, while other things people are doing to earn miles made me laugh.
The group came from all over – some walked a few blocks from their homes while others came from as far away as Roseville. It’s unreal when your local mall rep tells you about a fellow points/miles collector and then you end up meeting them a day later, chatting about that same mall rep. Before it was even over, people were asking me when we’d do this again. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to organizing another meetup soon.
Fun times at the Points and miles meetup in Berkeley
The group just kept growing and we did our best to gather chairs for everyone, but inevitably we had to break apart. As a result, there were a few people who came all this way and with whom I didn’t get a chance to speak until the end, when they were leaving. I feel really bad about this because I really did mean to speak to each person who came, yet the seating situation made that difficult. Next time we’ll do this at a cafe or restaurant where we can reserve tables and speak above a whisper.
If you were at the meetup, thanks again for coming and I’m glad we got to meet in person!
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