Beer and Blog Austin

Last Night’s Meetup Was A Success

Justin Wright — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:44:29 +0000

Hey everyone, I just wanted to go a quick recap of last night’s meetup. We managed to get the largest turnout so far with a total of 6 people. Not bad for only our second meetup. Now we just need to keep the growth going as we go into our next meetup on July 12th.

We had a few bloggers from the Austin area and even had a podcaster from San Francisco attend the event. It was a great crew and we talked about all sorts of things, specifically about WordPress.

We talked about blogging for just under an hour, then formed a trivia team for Geeks Who Drink. They haven’t posted the results on the blog yet but keep your eyes out for team Beerandblog.com. We ended up doing really good and finished somewhere in the middle.

I think this might become a weekly thing since someone needs to beat the team that constantly wins every week. Each team is allowed 6 members so if we end up having more than that at the next meetup, we can always form two teams.

Next Meetup

Our next meetup is scheduled for July 12th at 6 PM. We’ll be meeting at Opal Divine’s Freehouse again so I hope to see everyone there. We plan on sitting DOWNSTAIRS (outside) this time so we don’t have to move at 7 for the trivia. So keep an eye out for my white MacBook.

You can RSVP to the event by heading over to the meetup page.

News From Last Night And Looking Ahead

Justin Wright — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:14:58 +0000

Last nights meetup was a small turnout but it’s a start. I knew it was going to be tough for people to make it since it was Father’s Day and such a short notice. The good news is I think Opal Divine’s is going to be a great place to have the event. The upstairs area works well and as we get more people we should be able to accommodate.

We ended up joining the Geeks Who Drink Pub Quiz last night at 7 PM which was a lot of fun. They allow teams of 6 people so that might be something we can after each meetup if anyone is interested.

We Now Have A Meetup Group

One of the things discussed last night was starting a Meetup.com group to gain more exposure. Plus it makes it much easier to track RSVP’s and schedule future events. So head on over to the Beer and Blog Austin Meetup Group and join the group.

I have already scheduled a few events for the future so people have a longer heads up about the events. The next meeting is going to be July 5th, due to the fact I am heading to Dallas for the WordCamp event this upcoming weekend. Unfortunately this is also going to fall on a holiday weekend. So please RSVP if you plan to attend so I can know if I should keep it scheduled.

Following that week, we will also have a meeting on July 12th. You can already RSVP to that event as well.

Continue To Spread The Word

I plan to spread the word as much as possible and would really appreciate it if you can help. Let anyone you know that might be interested about the event. I think it’s going to be an awesome group as more and more people start coming.

Look forward to seeing you at the next event on July 5th!

Our First Meetup On Sunday

Justin Wright — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:54:46 +0000

I’m excited to announce that our first meetup is scheduled for this Sunday. The first meetup will most likely serve as an introductory one where we can meet each other and decide if the time and location is good. Ideally we will have a set time and location so that every week is the same. We can also talk about our blogs and see where it goes from there.

Here are the details about the event:

When

Sunday, June 21st at 6:00 PM

Where

Opal Divine’s Freehouse on 6th Street

700 West 6th Street, Austin, TX‎

How To Find Us

We will most likely be meeting in the upstairs area. I will print out a Beer and Blog sign and make sure to hang it somewhere people can see it. I’ll also have a white MacBook with a ZoopMedia logo on it so keep your eyes open.

RSVP

Please leave a comment or send me a tweet @BeerNBlogAustin if you plan on attending so I can get a good idea of how many people to expect.

See you there!

A Few Last Questions

Justin Wright — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:41:39 +0000

Hey everyone, I’m getting ready to schedule our first meetup at the end of this week. However, I still have a few questions I would like to ask everyone.

Where Should We Meet?

After listening to everyones responses and talking to a few people, I’ve decided on either Clementine Coffee Bar or Opal Divine’s on 6th Street. I have emailed both venues to get some more details about space, specials, etc and am still waiting for responses.

Below is a quick poll and I’d love it if you could choose between one or the other:

What Time Should We Meet?

For the day, I’ve decided to go ahead and give Sunday a try. A few people emailed me and said Sunday’s would be a good day because it’s the end of the weekend and we can hopefully get some cheap beer!

The only thing left to decide is what time would be the best for everyone. So here is another poll that I was hoping everyone could fill out:

Also, please help us spread the word and let anyone you know that might be interested about our event. The more people that more fun it will be.

In the next day or two, I will finalize the first meetup and put a post up about the details. So stay tuned, we’re almost there!

Beer and Blog Austin Is Starting Up!

Justin Wright — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:38:36 +0000

Welcome to the Austin chapter of Beer and Blog! I just got the site up and am excited to get this group up and running. I am still figuring out where to have our meetings as well as what night and time. If you think you might be interested in attending our meetups, please leave a comment below and let me know what night you would prefer.

I am also on the lookout for a good bar that has free wifi. At first thought, I am thinking about using Doc’s on Congress since it’s the only one I could think of off the top of my head. However, please leave any recommendations below as I would love to hear some more options.

What Is Beer and Blog?

If you are unfamiliar with Beer and Blog, it’s a weekly meetup where bloggers help one another over beers. We will meet up and share our blogs with one another, give each other tips and advice, and overall just meet people from here in Austin that share the same interests. It doesn’t matter if you use WordPress, blogger, Drupal, or some other platform. People of all ages (over 21 of course for beer), skill sets, and experience are welcome.

Stay Informed

I’ve already got a Twitter account and Facebook group created to help everyone stay up to date with our events. Feel free to follow the group on Twitter @BeerNBlogAustin or join the Beer and Blog Austin Facebook Group.

Besides sending out updates via Facebook and Twitter, I will also post them here on the blog so everyone can see them. I am hoping to have the first meetup next week if possible. So stay tuned for more updates over the next few days.

Look forward to meeting some fellow bloggers in the Austin area,

Your host, Justin

- Find me @jjwright85