Nintendo Luau at BlogHer ’11

Photo by Yvonne

On behalf of their client, Nintendo, the social media marketing agency Brand About Town invited their #nintendoenthused ambassadors to a special dinner on Friday night of BlogHer ’11.  The invitation did not specify the location, only that guests were to gather at the marina gate by the Marriott Marina hotel at a certain time.

Once the group had collected, we were led down the walkway past Roy’s and to a boat slip where several enormous party boats were moored.  Some slight confusion erupted because Dove’s party was happening – also on a boat – at the same time.  But that was cleared up once Nintendo’s guests each received a lei, prompting many a misspelled tweet.

Photo courtesy of Katelyn

A long, chilly boat ride followed, which deposited the guests at…a different marina.  For those of us who sat inside because of the chill or because that was the only place we could find a seat, we couldn’t actually tell where we had gone.  But!  There was promise of dinner!

The intrepid employees of Brand About Town, who have historically been so organized and efficient and talented at throwing well-produced parties and events, led the small crowd out of the destination marina, down the street, and up a hill to the Hotel Del Coronado, one of San Diego’s most iconic establishments.  We snaked around the outside of the hotel and ended up on the beach, where three fires burned inside circles of sand chairs, an open bar offered a special drink the bartender called “Better Than a Mai Tai,” and an island music-and-dance trio entertained us all.

Guests had been advised to wear warm clothing, but there were still many skirts among the outfits on display, making it especially amusing to watch people lower themselves to the sand chairs, drinks in hand.  But not this perfectly appointed couple, who look like the party was created around them:

Photo by Yvonne

Once people were comfortable there, dinner began!  A lavish buffet of multiple entrees fed the guests.  During the sit down dinner, the hula team plucked two lucky volunteers – Sugar Jones (from Sugar in the Raw) and Shawn Burns (aka @backpackingdad) and also Gwen Bell (@gwenbell) thank you Shawn for helping me remember that – from the crowd to join in on the performance.  Update:  here is a link to the video of this!

The open bar closed early, but many of the guests enjoyed popping their shoes off and warming their feet by the fire, listening to the talented acoustic duo of Jesse Lamonica and his harmonica-blowing sidekick, James.

Conversation around the fire ranged from family planning to what party is happening next.  The plethora of parties planned over the weekend was enough to confuse at least one guest into thinking she was missing Cheeseburgher, which was easy to correct considering all three of the Cheeseburgher queens were standing right behind her.

Photo courtesy of Yvonne

After the party was over, guests either returned or kept their complimentary Old Navy flip-flops and picked up the party favor:  a soft blue t-shirt with the #nintendoenthused hashtag printed on the back.  Transportation back to the Marriott was by land this time, in a collection of small buses. The evening was, as many veteran BlogHers described the conference overall, pretty chill, echoed here by Marcy Massura:

… fun, peaceful and very ‘grown up’.