It's Good to be Yelp Elite

I have been Yelping since 2007 when a coworker of mine told me about her Yelp Elite party adventures when I was the Director of Marketing & Promotions at Trader Vic's San Francisco. Since then, I have been a Yelp Elite ever since.

I haven't attended many Elite events until recently. Obviously, I have a food and beverage background and appreciate excellent customer service, presentation and a delicious glass of Pinot Noir or champagne. However, I was using Yelp as a way to stay true to 'Real People, Real Reviews.' I like sharing information. It was also a way to network or promote events I was working with. I really miss working in advertising and marketing. So I kept at it. This year, I have opened my eyes to so many new things and welcomed new experiences. Yelp has definitely aided in that by being a place to document some of them.  Being an Elite also has it percs!

FREE

You gotta love the Yelp Elite events. My first one was at Patxi's in Livermore last year. Free beverages, cocktails, beer, food, entertainment and goodies. Watch belly dancers at Zaiqa, wine tasting at Donkey and the Goat, attend a soft grand opening of Patxi's in Livermore, watch the Fallaci play from the front row on opening night at The Berkeley Rep, themed parties like the Bootlegger Ball in Martinez and many more. 

THE PEOPLE

Our Community Manager, Nique, is a awesome. Super friendly and everyone just loves her. She does an amazing job at putting these events together. There are some great people on Yelp and I am enjoying getting to know some of them. Some people use Yelp to find friends or some become serial Yelp daters. Some are straight up hitting on you when they have a wife and kid. They're out there, I assure you. Be wary. Really? Spitting game on Yelp? Uhm, no, thank you. Truly be careful as to who you add as a friend. If you use their check-in feature, it will tell your Yelp friends where you are. Sometimes too much information can be a bad thing.

Don't tell anyone but... I don't accept any friend requests from users that seem to be sleezeballs, don't have a personal picture of themselves, don't have many reviews or only have one-line reviews, or from those who aren't active on the site. And definitely if you cannot spell! Good grief! 

But yes, the people! I look forward to meeting new wonderful, creative and smart people here on Yelp.

Megan Z. & I at the Yelp's Open Air Affair at The Park Hotel - Lafayette, CA
Sept. 1, 2013

Jo S. & I at the Open Air Affair in Lafayette, CA. A hilarious story brought us together.

First time meeting Myke Y. after months of connecting on Yelp. This sweet guy offered me two extra tix to the Giants/Dodgers game on Sept. 25, 2013 for my birthday. So I brought my Susie O. (right). Thanks, Myke!

Giants WIN! And I look like Nemo.

I love Yelping. It's been really fun and my reviews are my own personal opinions and based on my own experiences. Right now, I'm almost done with the 100 Yelp Reviews Challenge to earn East Bay Yelpers the "Yelpingest Community." I'm an East Bay girl. I can do this.

How do you become a Yelp Elite? That's a common question. Well, you really just need to be involved and contribute to the site which means you should first create a Yelp profile. Then you should be writing reviews, using the app, checking in (which can give you discounts upon doing so), adding photos, providing feedback and just interact. If readers like your reviews or you interact well with other users, you could be nominated. So get to Yelping!

Come join us on Yelp! And aim to be an Elite!

Are you on Yelp?
Do you use the site? The app?
Are an Elite?