The Return of The Chicagoist Reader Meet-Up

By Chuck Sudo in Miscellaneous on Nov 23, 2009 9:20PM

Back in the early days of this-little-website-that-could we used to make it a practice of actually trying to meet our readers at a pre-arranged location to have some drinks, have a good time away from the flat-screen glow, get to know each other and (most important) thank you for choosing to spend a portion of your day reading Chicagoist. As you can see from this Flickr set, these "Reader Happy Hours" were very fun.

With the holidays upon us we thought that there's no time like the present to bring back this long-standing tradition. We'll hope you'll join us from 7-10 p.m. on December 10 for the next chapter. Ric Hess, Phil Kuhl and the fine folks at Sheffield's (3258 N. Sheffield, 773-281-4989) have graciously allowed us the use of their Beer School bar for the occasion. We're working on drink specials as of post time, but don't be surprised if Kuhl breaks out his "bobbing for cheap bottles of beer" tank for the occasion.

We're also using the meet-and-greet as an opportunity to give back during the holidays. With last week's USDA report on Household Food Security still making headlines, we're using this meet-and-greet as an opportunity to hold a canned food drive benefiting the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which is seeing a greater demand for its services in this recession. So if you come, please bring a can or two of food along with you to donate. The Beer School bar is pretty spacious, so we're making it a point of pride to try to fill it with current and former staff, fans of the site, friends of the site and people who could be up for the challenge of dunking their heads into a tub full of ice water and coming up with a bottle of Huber Bock in their mouths.

Chicagoist Reader Meet-Up/Canned Food Drive, Thursday, December 10, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m., Sheffield's, 3258 N. Sheffield