On January 20, 2016 What’s on the Menu? hit its 5^th Anniversary!  As WOTM’s creator, it is an honor to have been a part of Stamford’s ‘culture’ scene for the last five years. (it’s also quite a miracle)

Contrary to popular belief, What’s on the Menu? or WOTM (pronounced Wha-tum btw) is not a ‘foodie’ site. It actually started out as a small site I created for my friends to see what was going on around Stamford. After doing a stint working in a downtown bar in promotions, I kept in touch with a lot of the bands/djs/etc in the area. So when it was time to head out somewhere, I’d be asked, “hey, what’s on the menu for tonight?” I decided to just start writing it down and make it easier for everyone to see!

The concept grew and over the last 5 years, WOTM has changed and evolved with each year. As Stamford has grown, so have we. I say ‘we’ because I could not have kept this site going without (what is now known as) #WOTMNation !!

Putting the Quick-Hit Happenings lists can get tricky some days. It takes a lot of searching to go venue by venue to find what’s going on that night. And something that you may not know is that for the most part, the DJs and bands do much of their own promoting. So much of the time, I’m relying on our #WOTMNation of talent to let me know where they’re going to be that night!  And have to say…love every one of them! There is a whole lot of mutual support that goes on with us and can’t thank them enough for that.

Another thing you may not know about the What’s on the Menu? collective…site, FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc…is that in the 5 years of doing this, I’ve never once made a dime off of it. While not by choice, it IS the reason that I have taken happenings from a once long daily list of almost 20+ venues, (especially on weekends in the Summer), down to 5 or 6. Happenings lists used to take me up to 3 hours or more and without getting advertisers, til I had to finally say enough. And thus, Quick-Hit Happenings was born.

I will say this…if I didn’t love doing WOTM, I wouldn’t still be here! I love what the collective has become and love all of the followers that have been with us through it all. I have so many ideas for the future of What’s on the Menu? and hope that all of you will continue to be a part of what we do.

As of this writing, we now have 755 followers on Facebook and 1909 followers on Twitter! I am grateful to each and every person who has hit the ‘like’ or ‘follow’ button. I never take our followers for granted and would give you all a big group hug if it were possible to do so!

I’ve been honored with the opportunities that What’s on the Menu? has brought to me over the years. The people I’ve met, the events I’ve participated in and the recognition when someone hears WOTM’s name being mentioned. I never thought when all this started, it would become what it has become and it truly has been quite a journey so far.

This site and our posts are not just about what bar to head out to anymore. It’s about Stamford. It’s about where you and I live. It’s about supporting and KEEPING IT LOCAL! And THAT is what it’s about.

Whether you have been with us since day one or if you’ve just joined in, I can’t thank you all enough for being a part of What’s on the Menu?. I say it often and mean it with all my heart—I wouldn’t be here without YOU.

 

Keep it Local Stamford,

Christie C.

Founder/Owner/WOTMguru

#wotm #keepitlocal #wotmnation #5yearsandcounting #herestothefuture #stamfordct