Event - Yelp's All Hopped Up Event

 
I was super excited to go to my first Yelp event (as well as my first appearance as an Elite) which was the "Yelp's All Hopped Up" event meant to showcase local breweries. Elites were allowed to go an hour earlier than other Yelpers, so Duc and I headed over to be there at 7pm.


Surprisingly at 7, there was already a huge line of Elites waiting to get into the Observatory OC! No matter - we moved in quickly enough because invitations had QR codes that the staff just scanned to verify our presence. I guess I missed out on the special pint glasses that were given to the first Elites who came in (boohoo) but I got other cool swag later instead.


Anyhow, the first room we came to had food provided by Rocq Catering. They had delicious quiche lorraine (which I went back for a few times), a decorative macaroon tower featuring Yelp's name, and heart-shaped macaroons for the Elites who came in first (other types came out throughout the evening). Yummy stuff!

Duc and I managed to get the free beer well enough but it wasn't any of the kinds listed in the event description before. We later heard that the breweries failed to ship their brews which is why we were disappointed by the availabilities. We're craft brew aficionados so the choices of common macrobrews weren't too pleasing. We still had two bottles each as we looked around for food. Unfortunately there was only one food truck for all the people who showed up (1000+)! The line for it was ridiculously long. We heard that the other food trucks meant to show up didn't; what a total letdown for them to bail on Hazel Q, the CM for OC!


There was a performance by OC Aerial Arts that we managed to see before we headed out. It was quite amazing what the performers were doing, especially the one who climbed and performed on the fabric. Spectacular! After we saw that, we squeezed our way past everyone in the tight venue to get some swag before leaving to eat food at home.

It was not the event that Duc and I were expecting to attend because we're definitely not club scene type of people. It was pretty much that - dark, tight, full of booze, and way too crowded. It was hard to meet and see people, particularly for first timers. It sucks terribly that most of the vendors flaked out; as an event planner, I can definitely sympathize with the craziness. However, many kudos go out to the staff for making the best of the situation and keeping pumped up. I know from past pictures I've seen of other events (Elite ones too) that this was the one bad egg. I'm looking forward to other events but man was my loss of Yelp event virginity a terrible experience!