Mobile Chowdown a Huge Success!

Talk about the power of social media.

For those who made it, Saturday’s Mobile Chowdown (1616 W. Bertona), a parking lot off Dravus behind the Denali fitness center, was truly a sight to see. There must have been 500 people there at any given time over the course of the four hour event. Lines for food were an hour long (in some cases, more) but the crazy thing is that people were up for the wait. This is truly a group of people willing to chase down and wait for their food and Seattle mag was right there with them, as we were the media sponsor of this event. (Check out Queen Anne View’s coverage of the event here.)

This all started when we were planning our October review story on Seattle’s mobile food vendors and the office was all a buzz about their favorites. Seattlemag.com editor Karen Johnson posted an @seattlemag tweet asking, “When are we going to have a Mobile Food cookoff with Portland’s legendary food vendors?”. Many of our followers responded saying that would be something they would attend. Hsiao-Ching Chou, one of the partners of Suzuki+Chou Communimedia, whose client is Marination (one of my absolute favorite vendors–they’re parked outside our office on Fridays and I dream about that pork sandwich and those pork sliders all week), chimed in via direct message asking, “When ARE we going to do this?” Hsiao-Ching said she’d take the lead organizing and we agreed to take the lead as media sponsor. It turned out we didn’t have enough time to do do a Portland vs Seattle cookoff, but Hsiao-Ching was game to gather local vendors, and the rest was foodie history.

Ten–heck, five–years ago we never would have been able to pull this type of event together so quickly. Through the power of twitter and Facebook, it happened in a matter of weeks. Yes. We. Can!

What’s next for Mobile Chowdown? We haven’t given up on the idea of a Portland vs Seattle cookoff but in the meantime, it was clear that people wanted more Chowdowns. Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? You helped make this event a smash hit, so please let us know what you’d like to see happen!

Mobile Chowdown in the news:
“Mobile Chowdown 2009!,” Eric Rivera’s Cooking Blog
“Interbay hosts Mobile Chowdown, where meals come on wheels,” The Seattle Times
“Hundreds fill up at Mobile Chowdown,” Queen Anne View blog
“Mobile chowdown on Saturday,” My Ballard blog
“Mobile Chowdown,” Magnolia KOMO
“Mobile Chowdown in Interbay,” Magnolia Voice blog
“168 1255611960 Photo of the Week: The Henry’s WTO Flickr Pool Our image of the week is a reminder of the upcoming 10 year anniversary of the Seattle protests against the WTO Amy Minor Events

Here’s The Henry’s Flickr Photo Pool of images collected from the 1999 protests:
 

169 1255439520 Outdoors Tuedsday: Get Dirty at Magnuson Park Put your heart and hands to work for wildlife habitat enhancement at Magnuson Park… Roddy Scheer Armchair environmentalists rejoice! Here is your opportunity to get off the couch and into the outdoors, all for the benefit of Seattle wildlife and the beautification of your city. Not sure if anyone has been noticing all the good restoration work going on at Magnuson Park in northeast Seattle, but here is your chance to help. The non-profit Magnuson Environmental Stewardship Alliance is calling all warm-blooded nature and outdoors enthusiasts (kids, adults, seniors, special needs welcome) in enhancing wildlife habitat at Promontory Point, that secluded corner of Magnuson Park featuring lush native plantings, obelisk rock art and killer views of Mt. Rainier over Lake Washington, this Thursday October 15 from 10 am until 2 pm.  For more details, contact Bonnie Miller (206.524.8713 or bmiller@serv.net), or just show up. Promontory Point is at the south end of the park, below the boat launch/trailer parking lot; look for the yellow “VOLUNTEER” banner. Make sure to wear appropriate clothing for working in the outdoors and bring a sack lunch or snack.
170 1255444140 Pumpkins Galore at Local Farms The time is right to pick a pumpkin Roddy Scheer