Blogger Neighborhood Show-and-Tells

In the wake of the launch party - which I will be recapping fully later this week after collecting more of your wonderful stories and photos - many people have asked when the next event is. Well, I can't promise another event of quite this size in the near future; I think one or two of these a year is my limit! (Perhaps a large charity event is on the distant horizon? I don't have anything planned yet, but a lot of people suggested something charity-related, and I think that's a fantastic idea.) In the meantime, I'd like to start up a new series of mini meet-ups: Blogger Neighborhood Show-and-Tells.

• Are you proud of your neighborhood?  
• Do you have a set of favorite local spots that you just love to share with your out-of-town guests?
• Do you want to share those spots with a group of your new best blogger friends?

I'm envisioning Blogger Neighborhood Show-and-Tells as mini photo-and-food walking tours led by any of you through your wonderful neighborhood, stopping at several of your favorite local food spots. For example, I'm planning on bringing a group to The Chocolate Tarte, my favorite cupcake spot in the world (which happens to be walking distance from my apartment...dangerous, I know!) and then down the street to eat at Highland Kitchen, another of my neighborhood favorites. More details on this potential meet-up once my schedule calms down a bit!

At the most basic, these will be informal pay-your-own-way gatherings, but if you have an 'in' at one or more of the spots, we can look into tour enhancements: would the owner of your favorite local business like to teach us about something? Sample a new menu item?

While it makes sense to keep this mostly food-related, it's fine to incorporate one or two non-food stops on the tour: your favorite gift shop, a museum, etc.

Want to lead a Blogger Neighborhood Show-and-Tell? Email me - please put BFB Show-and-Tell in the subject line - and give me the following information:

• What is your neighborhood?
• What spots do you have in mind? (3-4 spots total is probably a good number, and most should be food-related, but it's ok if a stop or two are not really food-related.) 
• Do you have connections at any of the stops on your list? (Not necessary, but if you do, we can look into potential ways to enhance the tour with the cooperation of whomever you know.)
• Do you want to incorporate a theme? (Examples: (1) Lead a walk through the most photogenic sections of Beacon Hill, stopping for plenty of photo opps, with food/drink stops at your favorite cafe, chocolate shop, and bar; (2) Lead a cannoli walk through the North End, stopping for tastings at 3-4 of your favorite spots; (3) Pub crawl through your favorite neighborhood drinking spots.)
• How many people would you like to bring with you? (Keep in mind the size of the businesses that you'd like to visit.)
• How would you like sign-ups to work? First come, first served? A contest?
• Some good dates/times

I'll help you with promotion of the event, signing people up, and other assorted logistics.

If several people email me from the same neighborhood, it might make sense to combine forces, especially if the ideas have a lot of overlaps, but there's also no harm in having multiple meet-ups per neighborhood!

If you're not interested in leading a Show-and-Tell yourself but you have an idea for a tour that you wish someone else would lead, leave a comment below, and maybe somebody from that neighborhood will do it :)