“TequilaCon? What’s a TequilaCon?”

If I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked that, I probably wouldn’t be able to cover the cost of a shot of Pepe Lopez Gold. But still, I’ve been asked it enough times that it warrants some explanation.

2005 – Chicago
Many years ago, when I was pretty new to blogging and was naive to the inner workings of the blog-world, I invited two of my favorite bloggers to come visit me in Chicago. I didn’t want to scare them, so I convinced each of them that the other was definitely coming. I also plied them with promises of tequila bars, the likes of which they had never seen. I neglected to tell them that I didn’t drink tequila.

“Oh yeah, Brandon has some work thing in Chicago, so you should come out, too. It’ll totally be fun.”

“Yeah – didn’t I tell you? Jill has some friends here in Chicago, so she’s coming here anyway. So you should come out, too. It’ll totally be fun.”

When they both said yes, I had a minor panic attack. It’s like when you bid on something on eBay, but don’t really expect to win, and then you see that there’s only 30 minutes left in the auction and you’re still the highest bidder and you kind of start to freak out at the reality of it all. But in the end, you’re so incredibly thrilled when the box of miscellaneous French postcards from the 1920’s arrives at your door, that you immediately forget that momentary stress.

During what would eventually be known as the inaugural TequilaCon, when Jill, Brandon and I weren’t dodging the torrential rainstorms that hit Chicago, we were talking about blogging in all its glory. Blogs we liked, blogging stats, blogging themes, blogging platforms, reasons for blogging… it was an absolute blog-geek paradise. And by the end, we had amassed a short-list of bloggers we wanted to meet. Thus was born the idea for the annual TequilaCon event.

2006 – New York
New York marked the first year I didn’t trick people into attending. We met up in the lower level of a great bar in Manhattan, where in between the conversations and dart-playing and blog-talking, we introduced the first TequilaCon tradition: temporary tattoos. I bought them at a stripper store in the Village, and their instant popularity secured their role as a staple in TequilaCon festivities.

Photos are here.

2007 – Portland, OR
This was the year we learned the value of friends who are graphic designers. Portland brought the formal creation of the TequilaCon Planning Committee, most notably, Dave from Blogography. Those of us who thought the tattoos and tequila lollipops of 2006 were something special didn’t know what we were missing until Dave introduced the first official TequilaCon lanyards and buttons. And then Brandon raised the bar with swag bags including highly coveted sudoku puzzles and breathalizer strips.

The Pacific Northwest had set a new standard.

Oh, and it also marked the birth of the Official TequilaCon Poster, thanks to the ridiculous talents of Dave!

Photos are here.

2008 – Philadelphia
We moved on to the City of Brotherly Love for TequilaCon 2008, and what an event it was. By far, the biggest crowd to date, we took over a bowling alley in Philadelphia. I lost count of how many people showed up, but there was Ms PacMan and TequilaProm mix CDs and foosball and fake mustaches and, of course, tattoos.

The new additions to the TequilaCon Planning Committee included tattoo-artist extraordinaire, Vahid of Iron Fist and Mr. Tequila Himself, Dustin of Cotters in My Tummy. Seriously. Dustin dressed up like a tequila bottle. Epic.

Photos are here.

2009 – Santa Fe
Our fifth anniversary, this year’s event took us into entirely new territory – the Southwest. Home of turquoise and tequila, we thought that Santa Fe would provide a change of pace from our typically urban atmosphere.

Sipping margaritas while watching the sunset and chatting up bloggers… can you think of a more ideal evening? Me neither. Once again, there were lanyards and buttons and tattoos and swag and old friends and new friends and great stories.

Photos are here.

2010 – Vancouver, British Columbia

Our sixth annual TequilaCon will be the first ever international affair as we take the party to our neighbors to the north.

Steamworks Brewing Company
375 Water Street
Vancouver, BC
Ph : 604.689.2739

Saturday April 24, 2010
6:00pm – ?