Introducing our Portland Community Manager: Maria Perry-Crawshaw

Editor’s Note: Last week, we introduced you to Whitney, our community manager in Austin, Texas. Today, meet the newest addition to our Google family: Maria! And she wants to meet you. Join her any time from 2p to 4pm tomorrow at Portland’s Albina Press — coffee’s on her!

Hello, Portland!

I’m Google’s new Portland Community Manager, and I’m excited to team up with every one of you as we figure out where to go and what to do around town. We all know that Portland is the best place to be a foodie, snow sports enthusiast, intellectual, dog owner, hiker, hipster, DJ, cool parent, bicyclist — the list goes on. And that’s why Hotpot is so cool: It helps us share on Google our recommendations (and we have many!) for the very best places to go and why.

We’ve got a ton of fun things planned for this spring, including restaurant tours, outdoorsy fun, urban and close-in treks, boutique crawls, tickets to shake your booty, scavenger hunts and other fun things to “Keep Portland Weird.” Stay tuned to @GooglePDX on Twitter for news and upcoming events — or just to say hello to me! — and find out more about Google’s goings-on around town via the Hotpot Blog and Facebook.

You may be wondering how I’m so in the Portland know. Well, my past several years have been spent in advertising and event planning, including work with PDX Pipeline, Neighborhood Notes, Willamette Week, PrideNW.com and many other local media groups. It’s my amazing friends and working relationships in this city that motivate me to tell the whole world why Portland is the very best place to live and visit.

Okay, now let’s talk about my idea of fun. Most days off, weather contingent, I beeline to Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort for snowboarding or to the Oregon Coast for surfing. My life in Portland began years ago, when I moved here from South Lake Tahoe to pursue my BA from Portland State University. Years later, I’m a local homeowner and married to a Portland native.

Here in Portland, we are spoiled with some of the freshest organic foods, breweries and pinot noir. Hence, I take all the sushi and fish tacos I can get. My tummy’s true loves in Portland include Masu, Zilla, KOi Fusion, Pok Pok, Ate-Oh-Ate and Screendoor. Hit me up in the comments below with some of your favorite recommendations.

But how can Portland be so much fun with all of this rain? The answer is that we have the most rocking live music, art and crafty scene on the west coast. Whether I’m in the mood for punk rock, hip-hop, karaoke or electro, there is always an amazing show in town. Some of the best shows I’ve seen have been at the Crystal Ballroom, Roseland Theater, Refuge, Doug Fir and Dante’s.

Portland has a great art scene too, ranging from gallery art in Old Town, the Pearl District and NE Alberta, to the tattoo artists, including the crews Art Work Rebels and Adorn. We want to know in the comments: What spots do you check out during Portland art walks, and while you’re at it, who created your ink?

Enough about me, I want to hear from all of you. Join me tomorrow at Albina Press — coffee’s on me. I’ll be there from 2pm to 4pm, so hope to see you there!

Posted by Maria Perry-Crawshaw, Portland Community Manager