Elite Event: 1st Annual Yelpie Awards at Jacksonville Landing

Our 1^st Annual Jacksonville Unilocalie Awards… and I forgot to review the event! Shame, shame, shame on me! I blame the fact I had surgery just days after this event and then was put on some pretty strong pain killers for a couple of weeks that messed with my mind/​memory! Hehehe
I was so impressed with this event! We had the top floor balcony of The Landing roped off for us and it we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening. I’d like to thank the weather for cooperating with us! It was a beautiful sight to look out at the river glistening under the lights of Downtown Jax as well as to have such a great view of the huge Christmas Tree in the middle of The Landing. Breathtaking!
Allie had everything decorated beautifully with tons of great Unilocal swag laid out for us. She really went above and beyond setting up the Unilocalie Awards for us! Cheers to you, Miss. Allie Cat!
The food was really good. We started with some really great appetizers, my favourite being the wings from Hooters! Later on in the evening, we had a very nice buffet style meal. I remember the food being extremely good, but what all was there, I can no longer tell you! LOL I had one too many drinks and I was a little more than tipsy by the time the buffet was put out for us. LOL I do remember the drinks though… well, kinda… it was some kind of punch that tasted like a sangria… who knows what it was, it was yummy and I just kept drinking away! :D
Award time came and Allie handed out Unilocal certificates to all of us who completely the 100 reviews in 2013 challenge. I was lucky enough to be presented with one of those certificates. Allie also had several trophies she gave out and I was lucky enough to receive the trophy for Complimenter of the Year. My mouth hit the floor when she announced how many compliments I had sent out. She said it was over 3,000. Now, I know I send a lot of compliments, but I’ve surely never kept count and I had no idea the number was anywhere near that high. Wow! I now have my trophy proudly displayed on my bookcase in my bedroom! :D
As always, it was so great to be able to mingle with my fellow Yeeps. We all really had a ball (and a biscuit, sugar)! Allie, I know you’ll get that joke! LOL
It’s now the middle of February and we Jax Yeeps are totally rocking 2014 thus far. I know it’s going to continue to be an amazing year and I can’t wait for our 2^nd Annual Unilocalie Awards (I hope we’re lucky enough to have them again)!

Like all of the other elite events I’ve been to thus far, this was quite fun! As the event was located upstairs and away from all of the hustle and bustle of the Landing it was the perfect location.
Although, I didn’t eat much that night, the food looked spectacular (I’m sure it tasted even better than it looked). A big congrats goes out to the many winners of the awards from that evening (especially Amy S.).
I look forward to the 2^nd Annual Unilocalie Awards this year!

I got so wrapped up in term papers that I had no motivation for any other writing for a bit. So here is my month late review of our 1^st Annual Unilocalie Awards!
I haven’t been to a tree-​lighting ceremony since I was a kid. Walking into the courtyard of The Landing and seeing that gorgeous tree, all brightly lit, was truly breathtaking. Even the picture that I posted here won’t do that tree justice. Although, you wouldn’t have thought it was any where near Christmas with how high the temperature was on that night. Bella noche.
I do my best to introduce as many of my friends to Unilocal as possible. Before noon on that Friday, I thought I had at least 9 to 10 people coming with me. However, by 4 pm, it was down to 1. I get it as it was the holiday season and things come up, but I was truly disappointed. Of the one person who did come, though, he had a blast and our table was about as lively as can be.
I have yet to eat at all the establishments at The Landing, but I’m working my way through. It was awesome to have selections from each restaurant as I hoped to get a feel for what is offered. With a buffet style setup, I wasn’t expecting the food to hit it out of the park, but I was disappointed with the temperature by the time our group got through the line. It was still tasty, just a bit on the not so warm side. I think my favorite thing was Fionn Maccool’s mango salsa, and those brownie bites were just delectable.
In any case, I, and my guest, enjoyed ourselves at the event. I had a table with Miss Red Dress herself, Jo El, and our guests that was truly a riot. We were playing the «Are Allie and Mr. Unilocal engaged?» game just before Allie announced it, with the group of us arguing with each other -«Yes, she is!» or «No, she isn’t!»
I know I’m not the only one who is truly glad to have an awesome and caring CM like Allie in our town. I can’t wait to see what 2014 brings for our great group of Elites and for Unilocal as whole! Thanks so much for all you do, Allie!

What a fun way to end the year! I was so excited to see what Allie had in store for the first annual Unilocalie awards and, as always, she did not disappoint!
The weather was perfect, elites were dressed in their best and the children’s choir set the holiday tone as we sat down to enjoy our meal. From photo booths to mingling to free landing goodies, I almost forgot I was there for the food!
The buffet was like a trip around the world and provided tastes from Italy, Japan, Ireland and, of course, America! I was very excited to see Shepherds Pie from Fionn Macools on the menu. I fell in love with that place on St. Pattys day and havent had the chance to go back since! The meatballs from Chicagos also hit the spot.
Great job Allie!!! Congrats on your engagement and looking forward to what 2014 brings!

Another win for the Jacksonville Unilocal community. Loved the food, loved getting a little fancy, loved monopolizing a section of The Landing, loved the awards, and of course loved winning a raffle for maybe the 2^nd time in my entire life.
Allie’s speech was awesome. When Katie left as community manager, I thought no one would be able to fill her shoes, but Allie (and her trusty sidekick Mr. Unilocal) have taken what Katie started and expanded in such a wonderful way. Kudos and congrats to you two crazy kids on the engagement!
Was anyone else surprised Amy won talker of the year? Nope, me either. I love opening my Unilocal app and getting a compliment from her!
Looking forward to next year. Glad to meet a couple more fellow Unilocalers. On to 2014!

Well done, Allie!
We were so excited to hear this event was going to be at the Landing. There is so much potential for the Landing, if more people only took advantage of what they have to offer. The entertainment from the kids was so stinkin cute, loved it! The huge Christmas tree made for the perfect background to any picture! (thanks Nate for taking on that task and doing a fantastic job… you rock!) The staff at the Landing couldn’t have been friendlier. Kudos to them for hookin us Unilocalies up!
Allie did a fantastic job making everything look purty! From the black tabletops to the Red Unilocal decorations… everything was perfect! We felt like we were at a fancy outing… with everyone dressed to the nines. We reconnected with some friends that we met at the last Unilocal event, and met some new ones! I LOVE this part of being connected to this group! Unilocal Rocks! and so do all of my fellow Unilocalers!
We’ve eaten at the Landing on many occasions, so we pretty much knew what to expect from each restaurant. The food was very tasty, and boy did we eat our share. My favorite of the night was the Shepherds Pie from MacCools… I would have never ordered that dish, but we are planning a night out just so that we can! and the endless supply of beverages was spot on! Whatever that fruity drink was… errrr… yeah, I liked it!
Congrats to everyone that won some great rewards! They were very much deserved! Writing reviews can be tough some times. Keep up the good work!

I was fortunate enough to attend the 1^st Annual Unilocalie Awards event at Jacksonville Landing hosted by Allie. I was not able to attend may previous events due to scheduling and traveling conflicts, so was very glad to be able to attend this one. We were the first ones arrived and got a table close to the railing so we could enjoy the big tree and performances while chit chatting with friends and enjoying the food and beverages.
It was nice to invite friends to this event, and I think it helps to show them a little more on what Unilocal is about. It is also great to meet the CM and hear a little about herself. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event (well, actually could be even a little cooler for me). On the upstairs balcony and with the nicely lit tree as back drop, my friends and I were stuffed by the food prepared by various restaurants at the Landing. For an event ‘buffet’ style food, I am not expecting any five star «wow» food, but I think the restaurants did a great job. There were a variety of dishes from Hooters, Koja’s, and Vito’s. My personal favorites were Benny’s Seafood Jambalaya and Fionn MaCool’s Shepherd’s Pie.
Lastly, we also had fun taking pictures from the photo booth and uploading them to our Facebook pages. Overall, we had a great time and went home stuffed.

I don’t have enough good things to say about Allie and the direction Unilocal Jax is heading. Kudos for another great event.
The cab we took to this event was running behind so I was a little late to the party, and it was pretty much in full swing by the time we got there. Checked in at the front and grabbed a few brewskis from the bar. Free open bar? Don’t tempt me with a good time.
There were drawings for gift cards. Somehow my fervor for grabbing wings and a beer outweighed my good sense to grab a raffle ticket, so I did not win anything. After a few minutes Allie presented the first ever Jax Unilocalie awards. Congratulations to the recipients, because the awards were all well earned.
After that we had dinner catered by the good folks at the Landing. Without going on a rant about the type of restaurants here (another place another time), I enjoyed dinner and appreciated the work that the restaurants put in to showing us a good time.
There was some caroling going on below us, and an awesome Christmas tree. A few drinks later, and we were unleashed into the wild. Well played.

I am with Jerry on this one– the way Unilocal Jax is going is phenomenal and it is such a great honor for us to have Allie at the helm!
I was unfashionably late in my work outfit, but was still warmly welcomed by my fellow yeeps. Community is the word here, which is wonderful. This rang very true to me as in the last two weeks Allie suffered a loss in her family, got engaged, and still managed to pull this off without a (visible) hitch.
I was very excited that my friend Naomi B won rookie of the year– she’s so deserving! I also was very excited that I won a gift certificate– couldn’t even contain myself (in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I was the really loud one in a t-​shirt and jeans. WOOOOO!). Perfect ending to a perfect event.
The shepherd’s pie was my favorite dish, and the sushi boats were very impressively done as well. I also really enjoyed the poinsettia drink thingy.
The tree was as tall as our level, and beautifully decorated. Unilocal Jax was featured on the big screen, and we were serenaded by a very talented youth band.
Hate on the Landing all you want, but it doesn’t change the awesomeness of this event.
5 *s

Allie… My props go out to you… We had a fantastic time. The venue was awesome… Pleanty of room, great view of the Christmas tree and St Johns river and cool music from the local school groups.
The food was good! I actually liked the variety. The wings from Hooters are always good of course. We frequent the sushi place so that was no surprise. Loved the artichoke dip form Amercian Café, although honestly not a fan of that restaraunt. But the real kicker was the sheppards pie form McCools. I loved it. Its something I would never have thought to order. So since the Event, my lovely lady and I plan on giving McCools another try and ordering a full serving!
Also totally enjoyed the photo booth and swag. The company was great, loved talking to some new friends and making new friends.
Keep up the good work Allie and congrats on your engagemement!

This was my first official Elite event. That being said, I’m happy I came and didn’t go to see Cheap Tricks instead at the Florida Theater as we got two free tickets to see them play that same night at 7:30pm. Enough about that, since this was my first elite event I have no others to compare this one to, so all I can say was I’m glad I came, there was a variety of food options, catered by the restaurants at the landing, from sushi boats, pasta, salad, wings, Shepard’s pie, they also had seafood jambalaya, yummy garlic rolls, chips and salsa, spinach dip, and so much more. Plus they had a bar which offered, beer, wine, bottled water, soda, and a tasty champagne poinsettia. They had an awesome photo booth set up, with plenty of props to choose from, and of course Nate was there to take photos of the event as well! Their were awards given as well as a raffle for gift certificates to dine or drink at 10 of the restaurants at the landing, surprisingly I won one! Their was Unilocal swag for everyone to take home, and Allie’s surprise was that she got engaged. Yay and Congrats!(Yelp Wedding… lol!). I also got to meet and chat with some of the other elites extra points for that! The weather was typical for Fl, so no coats or sweaters were needed, and no rain! The only bummer was I was expecting more of a turn out as I had heard that the event was booked and that 100 Unilocalers had RSVP’d, other than that it was awesome! I’m definitely looking forward to attending more elite events, and Allie did an amazing job!

Great to meet some very cool new people (Diana, I’m looking at you and Dan) and very happy to hear that our wonderful CM Allie is getting hitched– Much Happiness to you both. That being said the event as a whole seemed to be lacking the energy one would associate with the Unilocalies!
Reasons for this may have had something to do with the generic nature of the Landing or the vast size and space of the upstairs area where we all gathered. The food was also very disappointing. Flavor was bland across the board and the serving style resulted in much of it being cold by the time one made their way to the front.
Looking forward to 2014 and the upcoming events. See you all in the future!
PS: Thanks to Nate and his camera work again and thanks to the Landing for the gift certificate my wife won!

What a great elite event Allie has put together! A formal Unilocalie awards event to end 2013. The weather was perfect!
We had a buffet style dinner prepared by several restaurants at the Landing. I enjoyed the sushi from Koja Sushi. The only thing missing was the shrimp sauce. Did I not see it? I liked the mini sausage and meatballs from Vito’s and the Seafood Jambalaya from Benny’s. The Shepherd’s pie and Brownie bites from Fionn MaCool’s were good too. I love Hooters wings!
I can’t wait what Allie has in store for 2014!

Check this out: Allie planned an event and it did NOT rain. Congrats to Allie (and Mr. Unilocal) for another fantastic event.
Private balcony at The Landing? Check.
Flowing drinks? Check.
Tons of food? Check.
Everyone was all dolled up in their fancy party dresses and bow ties. And as expected, it was confirmed: we have some serious Unilocalers in this town with so many completing the 100 reviews in 2013.
Thank you to all the staff for such a fabulous night. Here’s to a fabulous 2014 and some more amazing events.

Well Allie did it again and the landing really took care of all of us Elite Unilocalers too. The food was great from the Hooter’s wings to the sushi to the jambalaya to the pasta dish and the bartender sure kept the drinks a flowing. We sure had a great time and then you have the first ever Unilocalie awards. I was lucky enough to walk away with the Reviewer of the Year. Then you had Amy that gave out the most compliments. You even had the Talker of the year award and to top it all of the Unilocaler lifetime achievement award went to Diana who really does deserve it with 769 reviews and 3 years Elite. We had such a good time connecting with new Unilocalers and seeing the Towns Best Elite Unilocaler Class. But the Best winner of the night had to be Adam n Allie who announced their engagement. Oh the tears of happy happy happy.