g: the early years...: Inaugural gSummit 2012

Related to my previous post below, we had 13 (not 12 as previously thought) special guests at gHQ last Friday for our monthly morning gTea.

They came from 8 states and as far as Florida, New Jersey and Michigan under their own steam. The idea of gMums coming in from out of state was dreamt up by them and they each made it happen. And it was amazing to watch it all unfold.

We surprised each of them as they arrived on Thursday at the airport. Many stayed out there to meet other Mums as they arrived. For those being hosted by local gMums, the local gMum also came out to meet them. None of them had met in person before last week despite long relationships via Facebook.

It was like Facebook 2.0 - people want connection. Actual, meeting face to face connection, not a post here and a poke there!

(Amelia (LHS) from Michigan and Mary who hosted Amelia)

That night, 5 of our gMums (Stephanie, Leanne, Christina, Charlotte & Andrea, below) joined Kim and I and the boys with colleague Heather at the "100 Best" Awards at the Convention Centre to honour Oregon's top 100 places to work. Meanwhile Jaimey, a local gMum hosted a potluck dinner for everybody else.

On Friday from 10 'til noon our 13 out-of-towners were joined by 30 or so gMums at gHQ for morning tea, a clothes swap and a play date for all the kids. It was a ton of fun.

To top it all off, our local NBC affiliate KGW called earlier in the week to do a story on Kim. I mentioned to them the morning tea and they decided that that was even more interesting so they too came over and did a story on the event.

After the gTea, we took our out-of-towners to lunch at Serratto's (where we go whenever there are big events to celebrate) and then on to a tour of the city. We rolled past our previous offices and showed them the best of Portland with excellent commentary provided by colleagues Mike and Tyler (!)

After that, it was back to gHQ where all the Mums got set for a sleep over.

I swung by on Saturday morning to make sure everyone had survived and by all reports it was a big success. Groups were heading out to the first day of the markets, hitting the stores and a local brewpub.

Plans are afoot for a repeat in 2013 - only bigger and better of course. A big thank you to Michelle and Heather for all the organisation and to everyone at "g" for the hussle in getting the space ready.

Below are more pics from the event.