Meet Lisa Byrne.
Super woman, social media titan, wine gal & DC transplant. Lisa engages her community like few others by hosting social media happy hours, keeping her successful blog running and starting new ventures, such as DC Wine Week, all while hitting bootcamp work outs, marathon training, and rocking her full-time job at Pappas Group. Luckily, as a resident DC go-getter, Lisa was able to squeeze in a few quick questions with us.
* Photo by Jeff Tong. Jill Foster, Jen Consalvo (behind), Lisa Byrne, Nicolette Pizzitola at Tech Cocktail event
1. What brought you to DC and, more importantly, what has kept you here?
After a 5-year stint in Miami I wanted to spend a little time closer to family and DC was the most central city for that. What began as a plan to pass through before heading to the West Coast quickly became five years and counting! I built a network so fast it kept getting harder to leave. It’s odd this city, it just creeps up on you and one day you realize you’re in love.
2. What has been the most rewarding part of starting and running DCeventjunkie?
I adore putting my hands to something and making it happen. I worked with a developer (and likely drove him mad) to build the website I envisioned, and poured over the Google Analytics night after night — assessing what worked and what needed improvement. Watching the site grow quickly was extremely rewarding, from traffic and contributing writers to links from more established publications referring to our posts. Best yet? Getting quoted by Washington Post Express and finding out via fans tweeting pics of the quote from their metro ride!
3. Could you give us the scoop on how DC Wine Week got started?
DCWW began with a tweet from @DCeventjunkie that said “Never mind beer week, someone make me a wine week” and gathered a dozen or so replies of encouragement. A quick Google search confirmed that someone had yet to make this happen. A week later I sat down for brunch at Belga Café with Vanessa French of Pivot Point Communications and with her enthusiasm and eagerness to get it rolling DC Wine Week was born. From that brunch to our launch date — an ambitious six weeks away — we planned nine official events which gathered over 1,000 attendees, had hundreds more participate on a citywide level, and were mentioned in over 50 online and print publications including our sponsor DC Magazine, NBC Washington, Thrillist, City Paper, Washingtonian, Washington Times, and more. Stayed tuned to our website as we revive the blog this August with news and update of what’s in store for 2012!
4. Do you have any advice for DC newcomers?
DC is flooded with networking events and networking events disguised as events (point being everyone is out to network in some fashion or another!) People expect to chat to new faces so it’s easy to be the newbie and make friends and acquaintances. If you are uncomfortable introducing yourself, locate the event host and ask for their assistance. As for finding events, search for local blogs you enjoy, scour sites like Eventful, Eventbrite or Meetup, and see what work-related conferences or seminars are coming up.
5. It’s Thursday at 5pm – what are your top 3 happy hour picks for the evening?
Chocolate Mojito at Co Co. Sala
Barbary Lion at Bourbon Steak
A wine flight at Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar