Last night I attended my first Chicago industry event, the Chicago No Show. A bunch of DTASers took the train uptown to the location, a gritty music venue called The Riviera Theater. Felt like a field trip, and I was stoked to get to know my new co-workers.
As we entered, we learned that they weren’t serving any food. At all. At 7pm. Then the doorman got all pissy with me when I tried to retrieve my just-handed-over ticket so I could grab some grub across the street (Him: “Uhhh, I mean, I don’t even know which ticket is yours.” Me: “Dude, it’s the one on top that I just handed you.”).
A few of us left to eat and chat (probably the highlight of the night). When we got back, I started noticing all the differences between the Chicago scene and the Boston scene. Simply put, as I saw it last night: Boston = Daphne. Chicago = Velma. Which I actually dig. A lot. I’m not a Daphne at all.
But there are some pros to Daphne-ness. Like hors d'oeuvres.
Back in the land of Velma, the bar closed for an hour during the awards ceremony. And then there was a… comedian? I think? (though he could have been someone really important) shouting about something on the stage. But the sound was all off and no one paid attention to him, so I couldn’t hear anything. The few words I caught:
As we entered, we learned that they weren’t serving any food. At all. At 7pm. Then the doorman got all pissy with me when I tried to retrieve my just-handed-over ticket so I could grab some grub across the street (Him: “Uhhh, I mean, I don’t even know which ticket is yours.” Me: “Dude, it’s the one on top that I just handed you.”).
A few of us left to eat and chat (probably the highlight of the night). When we got back, I started noticing all the differences between the Chicago scene and the Boston scene. Simply put, as I saw it last night: Boston = Daphne. Chicago = Velma. Which I actually dig. A lot. I’m not a Daphne at all.
But there are some pros to Daphne-ness. Like hors d'oeuvres.
Back in the land of Velma, the bar closed for an hour during the awards ceremony. And then there was a… comedian? I think? (though he could have been someone really important) shouting about something on the stage. But the sound was all off and no one paid attention to him, so I couldn’t hear anything. The few words I caught:
“Easily offended…. IS NOT…. you.”
“Winning in Chicago…. HARD”
“Shot… bar… award…”
They only gave out 6 awards. So 6 people got to drink during the show. And everyone else stood in front of the bar, waiting/fuming.
Then the bar reopened for 5 minutes. Then it shut down again. Then it reopened again, as a cash bar.
By the time the band came on (which was a pretty cool add to the night), I was tired and ready to leave. So I did. And a weird man in a Technicolor sports jacket followed me out, asking me over and over if I worked at an “Advertising Agency.”
Velma. She’s a cool, down chick. She keeps it real. But sometimes she needs to get her ‘ish together.
Outfit Events also decided that we needed to up the ante at Chicago events by going the extra mile for our crowds.
Posted by: Chicago events | October 22, 2009 at 12:44 PM