Monday, September 8, 2008

Taste of USA Recap

Announcements at the end...  

A brief and special hello to Funsies and Kristen... two of the newest readers joining us on Highlowaha.  We are glad you are part of our community.

Pennsylvania was great fun.  I think it was unanimous, we wish the whole lot of you could have been with us in Philly for our First Annual Taste of USA.  I have the difficult challenge of recapping some of our adventure, though I have asked for some help by the participants.  Hopefully each of the participants will check in at least once today, sharing a few of their own words about some portion of the weekend.  Between all of us, maybe will feel like you got a taste of the weekend.

Saturday morning started with me and Cheryl searching for a Starbucks.  We left the hotel with just enough time to get a coffee, before picking up cupcakes from the Flying Monkey and heading over to Temple University to set up the room.  Getting lost was not in the plan.  Starbucks never happened and we spent much of the day in pursuit of the elusive cup of coffee.

Amy, one of our Taste of USA participants agreed to pick us up at our hotel, bring us to get cupcakes, and then go with us to Temple to help set up.  Again, plan diverted after realizing my GPS still thought we were in Dallas and insisted in providing us directions all the way from 121 and Hall Johnson.  Thanks goodness Cheryl has some as semblance of inner compass.  Later than planned, I flew into the Flying Monkey and flew out with fun light bulb cupcakes in hand.

Onto Temple University.  Streets in the north east are not the neat little grids you find in cities founded after Manifest Destiny.  Don't exactly know why, but they're not.  Suffice it to say, we got turned around...again. 

At this point it's raining.  Not the torrential down pour we would experience at other points during the day, but still raining enough to make it inconvenient for unloading arm loads of treats and props.  Oh, and Temple was having their first home football game.  Which is to say... the campus was crowded and parking was at a premium.  We happenstanced on a a parking spot and a contractor gave us the secret low down on sneaking in the building via the kitchen.  Sounded good to us.  Desperate times, desperate measures

We convince ourselves... if we got lost and couldn't find parking so too would the participants get lost and be late.  Nope.  We were the only ones.

So, the fun began with participants helping us set up.  Finally we're ready and the fun begins.  We did a name game to introduce ourselves, played a few rounds of Family Feud to test our participants knowledge of HLA trivia, and loosened up our creativity with a small group activity.  A note about creativity activity...  My idea was to have the participants take two random items (brought by them) and use them to develop a blog topic I could write about this week.  Once the topic was developed, they had to whack it with a card from von Oech's Whack Pack.  Tune in Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to see what they came up with.

I'll be working hard this week, as he topics are all over the place.  Pulling them together will be a good test of my creativity.

Now lunch time.  I had fixed in my mind we needed to eat authentic Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches.  My intent was to travel by subway to Pat's - the most infamous Philly Cheesesteak location in Philadelphia.  The rain put a literal damper on that and we ended up going, by caravan, to Geno's (another well known place in Philly).  This was a definite culture shock for all of us.  Geno's is part bar, part Philly Cheesesteak hole in the wall.  In the back... a dark bar pulsating with the bass of what I am sure is some very hip and very current rap music (about which I know nothing).  Beer lined the counters and refrigerator shelves, with a small non-descript soda machine tucked in the corner.  No room for tables and chairs... just a narrow walkway with a bank teller machine to accommodate the cash only policy.

Sandwiches were great (and BIG). Lunch was topped off with a Highlowaha cupcake picnic, a Ray Wattson scavenger hunt (with a fun t-shirt as the prize, and a fire drill).  Yes, you got it... a fire drill in the pouring rain.  Thankfully there was no real fire and we were able to drag our feet enough that we didn't end up having to stand outside.  Activity resumed.  In the afternoon we had show and tell, where each participant shared their "go-to" craft supply.  I took lots of notes and have a long list of ideas for future giveaways.

At 2:18 the very prompt Sue K. called and won our Random Act of Kindness package.  Everyone kicked in their home grown treat and Amy (our package-making goddess) orchestrated our packing it up.  The phone continued to ring long after 2:18 allowing us to also say hello to Heather and Stacie... all the while the phone beeping through with other callers. 

With creativity in full swing, we spent the next hour sharing ideas about how we can improve the highlowaha experience for our readers.  I have three large pieces of paper filled with ideas - all of which I will share with you over time.  For now let me tease you with phrases such as: regional coordinators; reader profiles; show and tell; and virtual dates. 
 
We topped off the experience with another cupcake picnic (thanks to Tera's fabulous chocolate filled cupcakes), a postcard exchange, a closing activity, and picture taking.

Even after the program technically ended, the fun persisted.  A group of us met up for dinner and laughed all night long recanting fun behind-the-scene stories from our decathlon - not to mention the no-nonsense waitress who took our orders.

The experience was great.  On a serious note, I am inspired that a group of people - bound only by their passion for creativity and community - could come together for a weekend and have as much fun as we did.  It affirms, in my mind, that we are onto something unique here and that your contributions matter.

Pictures from the weekend are forthcoming... just as soon as Tera and Treye (our photographers) work with Julie, our slide show coordinator, to pull something together. 

Announcements:
  • Cake pan winner:  After much deliberation, the winner of our over-sized cupcake pan is Stacie W. from Louisville, Kentucky.  She proposed the next "must-have" big item that Amy and I should have is an over sized rubber chicken.  We agreed.  Congratulations, Stacie.
  • TONIGHT! Countdown to the Super Bowl:  Tonight starts our Football Snack Throw Down at Struble Suds.  Brian and Richard are facing down with BACON as their secret ingredient.  Wanna make a prediction about who will win?
  • Patchwork:  You may or may not know that Highlowaha has opportunities for you to win patches to be attached to something denim (jeans preferably; a jacket; a denim apron, or even a hat).  I have thirteen patches to be given away - one on each night of a Green Bay Packer Game.  The patch will go to whoever comes closest to guessing the final score of the game.  Inquiring minds want to know... how many of you have your patchwork apparel designated and already have a patch attached?  It's never too late to start.
Signing off until tomorrow...

30 comments:

maureen said...

Welcome back. I am glad the weather was not as bad as predicted. I think Brian will win. No hard feelings Richard! I just think he will no real reason just a hunch.

I have to get my denim jacket and start sewing away. I have been soooo "school" busy that I keep putting it off.

Let me think about the score and get back to you!

Julie said...

GB 27-21

Philly was a blast!!

I'll take today to compile my thoughts and post again when I get home from work!

Anonymous said...

Holy cow, I'm SO unbelievably excited about that cake pan!! Thanks so much, CKB!

Glad you all had such a great time. Wish I could have been there, but it was fun having my cupcake picnic knowing that you were all together at the same time. Made me feel somewhat included in the fun of the day. And forgive me for rubbing it in, but Saturday was a perfect, beautiful day in Louisville... wish it had been the same in Philly.

Cheryl Houston said...

Good morning all! What a fun weekend! I wish you could have been there to experience the laughter and hijinks. In honor of our Saturday night Old City Pizza waitress, NEXT!

Funsies and Kristen were a great addition to our group! I don't think Katie could have invited to nicer or more creative friends to join us. I have to get the Craft wheel cutter! I have it written down but what was it called again? NEXT!

Lunch- that was a true experience and delicious! And running in the rain to get back to the meeting room reminded me of being a kid. NEXT!

The afternoon was great. I think Claudia has some great ideas to build on and mold to make highlowaha even better. How can it be? :)And I feel like I've made some very good friends. NEXT!

Back to the hotel and the wonderful lady behind the desk tells us actually how close Starbucks is- Gasp! We were so close. NEXT!

Laughing together at Old City Pizza and coming up with EVEN MORE GREAT ideas was a definite high! It's that kind of laughing that kicks in the endorphins. NEXT!

I took had my picture taken with the firemen. Two very nice and one an egotistical maniac... NEXT!

Amy laughing at that huge rubber chicken... more endorphins. Her laughter is contagious. Wanna dance, Mr. Chicken! NEXT!

After a wet day in Philly, we woke to a luminous, cool day and knew exactly where to get our coffees! NEXT!

Overall, there were lots of highs, a few lows and lots of ahas! I hope you will all join us for next years event!! Too fun. NEXT!

Brian K. Root said...

score... ohhh, let's go with 17-3, packers win.

Katie said...

Score- 17-6, Greenbay Win.

I'll be back later today with my thoughts on Philly- I'm off to work on a project due today!

Anonymous said...

Philly was a BLAST! It was great to see some old friends and meet new, very creative, people!

Claudid did a great job with the recap. The day was filled with a lot of creative thinking and pushing things to the edge! The future of HLA is going to be bright.

Just so you all know, we ate lunch on Saturday at Max Steaks, not Geno's. We couldn't find Geno's. I hear Geno's has great steaks...I don't want to give them bad press.

On our (Julie, Treye and I) way out of town, we went to the Museum of Art and pretended to be Rocky. We also stopped a an indoor market to get another cheese steak. It was delish! The name was Rick's...I think.

High from the weekend: Being able to be in a room of such creative people.

Low: The rain was no fun.

Aha: One creative idea generates an endless number of others.

Anonymous said...

Minn 24, GB 17

Cheryl Houston said...

My pick is GB 24, MN 21.

Anonymous said...

GB 17 MN 10

Kat said...

It sounds like such a fun time! It will be fun to see what new things will be developing on the blog. I received my Hello Cupcake shirt on Saturday and can not wait to wear it!

Katie said...

My favorite part of Philly was seeing the true mission of HLA come to life. Saturday represented that community and creativity meeting in one place. I saw this in action through our sharing of our creative tools (Cheryl, it's called a rotary cutter- they have them at Michael's), our cupcake picnic, the packaging of our random items into a RAK package, or using our minds to find and eat some delicious cheese steaks!

It was also fun at the beginning of the day when we had to use one word to describe ourselves. It was interesting to see which words people used and how that could feed into their creativity! Maybe that's because I have a thing for understanding personality, but I thought it was interesting how they all tied together into that "profile" of someone creative!

Anonymous said...

WOO WEE WOO GO PACKERS. GB 24 Viquees 17.

Anonymous said...

MINN 24 GB 14

Anonymous said...

I wanted to start by thanking everyone who made it to Phili for welcoming Nicole and myself with open arms... and so many cupcakes!

Saturday was amazing. I had no idea what to expect when walking in, but ended up walking out with new friends, new ideas, and a complete sugar high!

to say that the event was inspiring is an understatement... Katie, Nicole and I spent most of the drive back to Virginia on Sunday talking out new ideas and exercising our brains like i have not done in a long time!

high for the weekend was meeting everyone and sharing the experience with them, low was driving back to NJ through hurricane hannah, and aha was learning the essence of highlowaha!

Claudia, you can add another faithful reader to the list!

Claudia @ Highlowaha said...

Hi Kristen... a.k.a. Funsies. We loved having you. Thanks for leading such a great game of Simon Says and sharing all that energy!

The community will benefit from your participation! That is for sure!

Anonymous said...

Minnesota 21 vs. Greenbay 10

Cheryl Houston said...

Oops, Claudia! Funsies = Nicole. :) So glad to see you logged in today Kristen. At this very moment I am sitting enjoying my lightbulb cookies from my goodie bag. Yummy!

Katie said...

Yay, Kristen! So good to see you on here and to have shared the weekend with you!!! Welcome to HLA!

Anonymous said...

Philly was indeed a good time. I walked away from the weekend feeling like I'm a part of something special -- so thanks to everyone who contributes to HLA (even the lurkers!).

I also have to add that I'm VERY HAPPY that Tera, Julie and I decided to get another cheesesteak before heading home. My first experience left a little to be desired :-)

Anonymous said...

So having lived in Philly now for just over 15 years and eaten my share of cheese steaks I am sorry to read that ya'll had a less than desirable first Philadelphia cheese steak. I was glad to hear though that Treye, Trish and Julie gave it a 2nd whirl and had a better overall experience the second time around. Both Pat's and Geno's are literally 75 yards from one another. I have tried both cheese steaks and my favorite of the two is definitely Pat's...hands down!

Cheryl Houston said...

I don't think it was the cheese steak itself but more the service. I know some people got condiments they didn't want and the order taker was NOT nice to Treye AT ALL but my mushroom steak was good.

maureen said...

my prediction for the game is Vikings 21-14!

Anonymous said...

Vikings 17
Packers 13

I'm also betting the following for this evening and tomorrow AM.

Beer, Beer, Beer, Beer, Beer, Bacon snacks, Richard wins, Beer, Beer, Beer, Beer.....Immodium, Alleve, Water, Water, Water, Water, Toast.

Anonymous said...

HAHA richard, just for that, my bet is on you to win the bacon challenge!

Anonymous said...

VIKINGS - 17
PACKERS - 23

azlori said...

So are we voting/guessing on the score of the game or the outcome of the snack with bacon competition? I'm going to go with Richard for the snack throw down and Vikings over Green Bay...I think karma will get them tonight for not working a deal with Bret!

Anonymous said...

WOOO! Score is GB 17 MN 12 and the game is almost over! I think I am currently closest. Keep the score the same boys!!!

Anonymous said...

Richard, I've got my money on the beer beating you...therefore needing the advil!

Anonymous said...

I received my t-shirt from the olympics. great shirt Thank you.