Session #86 – Beer Journalism: Looking to the Future.

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This post contains a number of firsts. It is the first time I have participated in The Session, “a monthly beer blogging get together founded by Jay Brooks at Brookston Beer Bulletin and Stan Hieronymus at Appellation Beer” as my friend and Session idea adviser Heather Vandenengel noted. This project has been going on for years, with 86 derivations, but I’ve never actually participated for a variety of reasons.

This post also marks my first substantive return to the BeerScribe website in more than a year. Perhaps my absence is due to Twitter and the draw of its brevity and ease of use, the allure of paid work, or that the medium of blogging about beer just strikes me as dated. In any event, time to address Heather’s selected topic: beer journalism.

I have written about beer journalism or beer writing many, many times in the past. Most of my posts have addressed a variety of ethical issues, including the old Beer Journalism Awards, the ethics of paid travel, beer blogger conferences, and more macro reviews of beer writing and journalism generally. I’m not sure whether I’ve written more than anyone else on these subjects of little interest (it took 86 Sessions to get here, of course), but I’ve written more than 20 posts on the subject totaling more than 10,000 words. I actually suggested that The Session take on the subject of beer writing and ethics more than two years ago. So I’m pleased to participate.

So suffice it to say I don’t want to rehash what I’ve already written. So with that in mind, let’s look to Heather’s questions for new direction.

It starts with an issue, posed by Jacob McKean of the Modern Times Brewery in San Diego, as sort of a throwaway comment in an article in which he opined: “In an industry with an almost total absence of real journalism, the cheerleading is virtually indistinguishable from the “reporting.’” Followed up by some guy named Gregg on a website who with uncommon restraint added:

“I absolutely hate beer journalism. And I hate beer journalists – subhumans all of them, no matter how well-written their sanctimonious brown-nosing fluff is, beer journalism has almost always been a tepid affair; a moribund endeavor due to its singular objective to flatter and promote, without ever scratching beneath the surface.”

Let’s begin with the underlying premise here: that beer journalism actually exists. I’m not sure I agree that it does or that it is practiced by a sufficient number of individuals as to constitute a substantial and meaningful entity. Perhaps semantic in its nature, some understanding of the terms that we are trying to use in parsing this subject is required.

When discussing the subjects underlying this edition of The Session, participants often toss around terms such as journalist, critic, reporter, and blogger interchangeably. And I think this is where a lot of the trouble starts. For ease of use, I’ve consulted Wikipedia for its definitions of a few key terms. For journalists and journalism, Wikipedia suggests:

A journalist collects, writes, and distributes news and other information. A journalist’s work is referred to as journalism.

For a reporter, Wikipedia adds:

A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports on information to present in sources, conduct interviews, engage in research, and make reports. The information-gathering part of a journalist’s job is sometimes called reporting, in contrast to the production part of the job such as writing articles. Reporters may split their time between working in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interview people. Reporters may be assigned a specific beat or area of coverage.

Depending on the context, the term journalist may include various types of editors, editorial writers, columnists, and visual journalists, such as photojournalists (journalists who use the medium of photography).

Let’s process these terms separately from that of a blogger or hobbyist or amateur writer. I understand that in this new Internet age that many may chafe at suggesting that bloggers or hobbyist writers can’t be journalists and that is a debate worth having…in another Session.

I am a journalist and reporter by education and training. In college, I studied in a journalism school and graduated with a degree in journalism and mass communication, with a major in magazine writing. During school, we were required to take courses related to professional ethics and legal obligations and limitations. One of the subjects that we discussed involved a long running debate over whether the ultimate goal of journalism and reporting is to seek the truth and to publish it (as my college newspaper editor used to tell us) or to strive to be objective and show “both sides” of a story. These debates raise very difficult and crucial questions for individuals who are concerned with either presenting or receiving information and news. And these topics are certainly germane to the concept and practice of beer journalism.

I make my living as a writer (both in covering the beer industry and as an attorney). In my freelance writing, I wear many hats. Depending on the assignment and market, I work as a critic, journalist, or reporter. Regardless of my role, the information I provide in my articles, columns, or posts has to be true. That is the core principle. In my writing as a monthly columnist for BeerAdvocate, my job is to (hopefully) write thought provoking pieces, sometimes against conventional wisdom, about the craft beer industry. I often take controversial stands (keeping in mind the context that this is beer writing and not war reporting) and frequently criticize players, subjects, or things that many people celebrate. In the fourteen years I have been professionally writing about beer, I have had scores of people disagree with my positions or opinions. I am proud to never have had anyone question my facts. I work hard to spell the brewery’s name correctly (is it Brewery or Brewing Company?). I seek out information from the people involved, understanding that there is rarely only two sides to any story. I travel widely and frequently to capture the full picture of a brewery, brewer, or beer. I try not to be too steadfast in my opinions, recognizing that circumstances (and even my palate) change and evolve over time. I also always try to offer constructive criticism as opposed to just lobbing anonymous rhetorical bombs. I also take the subject seriously. I do not use the word ‘brew’ to refer to beer, only to an act.

The lines of journalism, reporting, and ethics, however, blur when it comes to the subject of blogging and writing in less professionally structured settings or as amateurs and hobbyists. And Wikipedia again comes to the rescue:

Journalism has developed a variety of ethics and standards. While objectivity and a lack of bias are of primary concern and importance, more liberal types of journalism, such as advocacy journalism and activism, intentionally adopt a non-objective viewpoint. This has become more prevalent with the advent of social media and blogs, as well as other platforms that are used to manipulate or sway social and political opinions and policies. These platforms often project extreme bias, as “sources” are not always held accountable or considered necessary in order to produce a written, televised or otherwise “published” end product.

In the early days of beer journalism, there was Michael Jackson. There was Fred Eckhardt. And there were a few others. They were symbols, loud voices shouting over and trying to make sense of an increasingly chaotic and emerging band of (what would eventually come to be called) craft brewers. The times were heady, all over the place, and a lot of fun. As craft brewing grew, a second generation of writers emerged, including Stan Hieronymus, Lisa Morrison, Lew Bryson, Stephen Beaumont, James Robertson, Alan Eames, Lucy Saunders, Ray Daniels, Randy Mosher, Jay Brooks, Will Anderson, Vince Cottone, and many, many others. Some of these individuals practiced journalism. Others wrote encyclopedic tomes of tasting notes or regional travel guides. Some were industry based writers, others professional writers, and the remaining were enthusiasts. These individuals helped broaden and deepen writing about American (and foreign) craft brewing.

Since their emergence, a few other generations of writers have developed, including myself. For those of us in these early generations, we frequently looked back to our more experienced peers for direction and to some extent thinking on beer, for better or worse. This provided some easy measure of knowledge (good), but led to some measure of homogeneity of thought (not so good), and to the recounting of many incorrect facts and even myths about beer (really not good).

In the era of the Internet, with the advent of blogging, beer website forums, and Twitter, few beer writers (whether they be professional or amateur, journalists or bloggers) seem to understand or appreciate these earlier generations of writers, where every last detail was not available at the flick of a finger. I intend this with no measure of curmudgeonly complaint. Every era begets this way of thinking, an ever recurring lament of those who come after you and yours. It’s just different, no better or worse.

In this new era of beer writing, with all of its advances in technology and information, we are still left with some very old and unanswered questions. And to my mind these questions strike at the core of Heather’s Session topic and to the future success of beer writing and to the industry it seeks to cover. These questions largely relate back to those raised by our guides, Jacob McKean and the elusive Gregg as interpreted by Heather: what is the role that beer writers should play in the culture and advancement of craft beer? Are we advocates, critics, or storytellers?

Despite all I have said and written on the subject in the past, I can only speak for myself and the principles that I attempt to follow in my writing. Whether as a columnist for BeerAdvocate Magazine or in writing a 3000 word article on trademark law and disputes in the craft beer industry as a journalist/reporter for All About Beer Magazine or on Twitter, I seek to be correct about my facts. I do this because I want my readers to be confident in the information that I provide to them and because I know my editors both expect this of me and will check them before publishing.

I have opinions and I often express them in my writing. If I’m writing a column for BeerAdvocate or a post for my website, I will report some facts and then base and draw my opinions from them. In some markets, such as the reporting piece I wrote recently for All About Beer, my opinions have no place. I then go to sources and ask their thoughts. There is of course no small measure of my own personal selectivity in choosing which voices to include. As there is never a mere set of only two sides to a story, such editing will always be required. It is called editorial decisionmaking. That is a subject, however, entirely separate from the issue of bias.

And this is where the real trouble resides in my opinion. With all of the above in mind, and regardless of whether you’re an amateur blogger or a professional journalist, one point remains true: it is crucial to understand the relationship between a writer or communicator and his subject. This is true for every participant in the process, whether an editor, writer, brewer, or reader. If everyone involved remains on equal footing in terms of this understanding, a lot of the headaches would be more easily resolved.

The solution here is an obvious one but one rarely employed: sunshine. Light. Disclosure. Putting your audience on notice of possible conflicts of interest, bias, or more importantly, a perceived possibility of such. The test is not subjective. It is not whether you believe you are biased for or against something. It is whether your readers, listeners, audience, or any other participant would want to know a particular detail about yourself, your involvement, or the story that might color or inform their view of your presentation of what are hopefully facts.

Almost six years ago, I wrote about the subject of the nature of the relationship between beer writers and the industry they cover, and the concerns raised thereby:

It is my belief that this lack of ethical guidelines has caused beer writing to lack professionalism. This state of affairs contributes to a general absence of respect for the trade of beer writing. And where beer writing is not respected, the subject of coverage, namely the business of brewing, suffers. For a long time, it seems as if writers and brewers didn’t quite know what to make of one another. Sometimes hesitant to interact, brewers expected positive coverage from the writers. In return, writers quietly expected special treatment, be it the occasional free beer, meal, or access to events. The relationship eventually grew quite cozy, with the two groups serving each other’s interests quite well. The problem with this incestuous relationship is that the consumers never figured into the equation.

For journalists, one professional organization has advised that “[j]ournalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know.” A pretty amorphous pronouncement to be sure. To clarify, the code of the Society of Professional Journalists explains:

Journalists should:
— Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.
— Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility.
— Refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment, and shun secondary employment, political involvement, public office and service in community organizations if they compromise journalistic integrity.
— Disclose unavoidable conflicts.
— Be vigilant and courageous about holding those with power accountable.
— Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage.
— Be wary of sources offering information for favors or money; avoid bidding for news.

In an earlier version of the North American Guild of Beer Writers ethical guidelines, it asked members to avoid conflicts of interest.

Examples of conflicts of interest include (but are not limited to) the following: a) Writers, while employed in a public relations or spokesperson capacity, also writing about clients, client’s products, client’s competitors, or sponsoring organizations, in an editorial capacity, without also disclosing current employment;

These issues frequently arise in modern beer writing, whether it be in the form of a beer writer taking undisclosed PR side gigs with breweries or having the president of the Brewers Association, an importer, and a brewer reviewing beers from other breweries in All About Beer Magazine. While these are obvious conflicts and it would be wise to replace them with less obviously conflicted parties, at a minimum disclosure of the obvious conflicts should be provided to the audience. Providing such information allows the consumer to contextualize the information he or she is being provided by the conflicted source.

That would be the ideal standard. In the real world, we usually end up with no acknowledgment of the conflict. That is a problem and until resolved will continue to depreciate the value that beer writers seek to offer. Plain and simple.

The same goes for freebies, whether in the form of a beer sample or a paid trip. It would be ideal if we lived in a world that so respected beer writing that publications and media outlets were willing to underwrite the expenses of reporters. That is largely not the world in which we operate so we are left with the only key to a solution that we have: disclosure. If you receive a beer sample and write about it, ‘fess up (“Sample provided by brewery.”) If a brewery, distributor, or importer flies you and a group of other writers to Belgium, pays for your travel and hotels, drives you from brewery to brewery and bar to bar, all the while plying you with beer (let alone multiple times in a few months), you damned better well make sure to disclose that to your readers. If we don’t achieve disclosure in these more serious, later examples—and we often don’t—then I’m not sure how we expect that to trickle down to less professional outlets.

In 2008, the late Bill Brand commented on a story I wrote on ethics in the beer writing community as it relates to disclosure and I think his words maintain their weight today on a wide swath of what I’ve tried to address here:

I started writing about beer in the late 1980s and watched other people who wrote about beer get free trips everywhere. It harkened (is there really such a word?) back to the days when journalists weren’t paid very well and everything was furnished by concerned companies.)
But my company, in those days the Oakland Tribune under editor Bob Maynard, had a strict no freebies policy. I also wrote for the New York Times and once had a story on whale watching killed because I took a free two hour whale watching trip. Didn’t want that to happen again. So I stayed rooted in Oakland, traveling only to the GABF always paying my own way. I turned down my share of offers. Then about 10 years ago, Interbrew offered me a trip to Belgium. I dithered and dithered and finally decided, what the hell, I’ve never been to Belgium and took ‘em up on the trip. I didn’t consult anyone at my company (Bob Maynard was dead and a mega-corporation owned the paper). When I got back — I wrote a big piece on a great beer dinner in Bruges. We published a note on the story that the dinner was part of a trip to Belgium paid for by Interbrew and the Belgian Tourist Board. Since then, I’ve taken a handful of free trips and each time when I write something, I simply say: Full Disclosure. This trip was underwritted by blah-blah. Yes, I feel a bit uncomfortable. Yes, it can put one in a compromising position and if you say it doesn’t, I say, hmmm. But when the alternative is not going, and it’s a really big deal, I’ll do it. And you know what, these days no editor has ever complained. About the New York Times, I dunno. Their pay was mostly in prestige and a bit short in the cash department, like most print outlets. Let’s face the facts. You’ve got to have an independent source of income and badly need a tax deduction, if you’re always going to pay your own way. In the newspaper world, with the net crashing down on us, the chances of getting a travel advance for a beer junket are remote, indeed. It’s a lousy situation and the danger for beer writers is we can become kind of house pets for the big breweries, etc. I don’t know the economics of the beer brewspapers and magazines, but it would be nice if they could pay more, wouldn’t it.

In terms of non-professional journalists, I think disclosure is an important thing as well. We are starting to see an increase in brand strategists and paid brand storytellers and although their content is often interesting and even compelling, the audience rarely understands the nature of the financial relationships and conflicts of interest underlying such presentations.

In terms of what I would like to see for the future it would have to be the expansion of thoughtful, fact based criticism of the craft beer industry. I don’t mean bitching about everything you don’t like. Instead, I enjoy reading works by thoughtful individuals who spend time contemplating how the industry can provide better flavors, better information, better customer experiences, to expand its reach and to generally be better. Despite what is often said, people in an around the craft beer industry do not always have to stand in lockstep agreement on every subject or otherwise hold their tongues when even mild disagreements arise. In my view, advancement and betterment come through thoughtful reflection, consideration, and debate, not through passivity, head nodding, and thoughtless uniformity.

For professional writers, we should certainly not acquiesce to becoming mere cheerleaders or fluffers for the industry we cover. We may be friends with some or many of the people we cover (this is a convivial industry to be sure) but sometimes hard truths are inevitable. We also shouldn’t strive to select only positive stories. There is no shortage of important (context again noted) issues facing craft beer and our responsibility is to our respective audiences, not to the people we write about.

For amateur writers, criticism is about expressing opinion that is based in some underlying basis of fact and experience. If you don’t like dark beers, don’t castigate every porter you come across as crap. That’s not criticism. You just don’t like the style. And that’s fine. If you hated baseball, you wouldn’t keep going to Mariners games and complaining about every pitch. That’s tedious madness. If you have an issue with a particular brewery or beer, get your facts straight and then present them in a thoughtful and constructive manner. Just saying something sucks sucks.

As to the final bits of the Session topic, I wrote a few years ago about the types of beer writing that I enjoy reading. And I’m happy to say we’re starting to see a decline in beer reviews as the medium, and an uptick in longer form writing and interviews. In terms of actual writers, I certainly respect a large stable of professionals and amateurs alike. In recent weeks, I have particularly enjoyed the thoughts of Jason Notte and my buddies Joe Stange and our host Heather (see, disclosure there).

I’m also looking forward to a new era of beer book and magazine writing. Longer form, more narrative in nature, and with elements of storytelling as opposed to the same encyclopedic tomes that writers have been regurgitating for the better part of thirty years. Can we agree to not write any more books with tasting notes or descriptions of beers? (As someone who has somewhat recently written one, I will take the pledge). It’s time to tell stories, to dig deep, to root out new information, to expose new voices, and to report it in fun and innovative ways. Only then will beer journalism help broaden the appeal of the subject about which we all care so deeply.

Be Social:

Is The Beer Blog Dead? And Did The Beer News Aggregator Kill It?

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I’ve just received the first email from the new BeerPulse service that Adam Nason is putting together and it sort of captures the new world of the online blogosphere in my mind, one in which original content is largely aggregated from other sources, including mainstream media. It also immediately raised to mind a few issues I hadn’t previously considered.

Perhaps it is my own self-selection, but it seems (and I am largely without empirical proof on this one) that the cause of beer blogging has slowed considerably in the last year or two. I’m not sure whether you’d see this reflected in the attendance logs for the Beer Bloggers Conference, but that zealous crowd might not be particularly reflective of the larger amateur beer writing community. You can, however, observe the creeping inclusion of corporate beer bloggers into the conference’s attendance ranks, so that skews attendance upwards.

The Sessions beer writing project turned 5 in March, having now endured 64 sessions (I have somehow escaped ever having participated). Oddly enough, BeerAdvocate Magazine is now celebrating its 64th iteration as well. And as one of its columnists, I can honestly say that some months the ideas do not come without a fight. Perhaps writing online about beer has just grown stale (I still hate the term ‘beer blogger’ as it comes across as a pejorative when uttered by most people, myself likely included. I still correct people when they apply it to me, especially as this article constitutes only my second original post on this site in the last 6 months — so I figure real bloggers would object). I’m coming upon 10 years of having published articles about beer online, having registered BeerScribe.com in July 2002. But my website even back then was largely about reprinting my previous print writing. So I’m not sure I have ever really adopted or adapted to beer blogging in its traditional sense.

It also seems that the number of contributors to the Session seem to have dropped off some over the years. But, again, that is a small, hard-core crowd, as it is with the Beer Bloggers Conference. So it is hard to judge whether that has any merit. In the end, it just feels to me as if the quantity and content of beer blogging has diminished in the past year or two. Perhaps the novelty has worn off or people have just gone back to just drinking beer.

So back to BeerPulse (formerly BeerNews.org). I briefly had the chance to meet Adam while in San Diego for the Craft Brewers Conference and his site is a valuable addition to the craft beer information marketplace, especially his original reportage. But beyond his original material, BeerPulse has received some criticism for being an aggregator service, namely one that simply republishes/redirects to content and original reporting on craft beer found elsewhere on the net, with only a quick aside or comment lead-in.

Thinking about the new BeerPulse service and direction, I’m left with one question:

Has the news aggregator killed beer blogging or has it just run its course?

It does seem to make the whole process of engaging with the world of craft beer a lot easier (and frankly lazier for the receiver of information). I wonder whether such services have a negative impact on the participation by so-called citizen or amateur bloggers, who now compete with local television affiliates, newspapers, and corporate media purveyors for scoops about their favorite breweries.

To be clear, BeerPulse certainly provides a service in its aggregation efforts. I could of course set up hundreds or thousands of Google Alerts for every conceivable brewery, beer, bar, or event combination and then sift through the results, but that sounds like a horrible way to spend some time. So I’m happy somebody else does it for me. Back when the mainstream media spent little time covering the craft beer segment, one only had to keep up with individual beer blogs. While that seemed like a chore, and in the days before Google Reader, beer tech saint Jonathan Surratt put together the excellent but now-defunct Real Simple Beer Syndication. I still miss RSBS because it didn’t allow me to filter which blogs I reviewed. They were all there for the perusing. While I once at least scanned the headlines for hundreds upon hundreds of beer blogs, I now self-select and only take a look at about 20 beer blogs.

Of course, I could be very wrong about the current health and continued success of beer blogging. I do receive a couple of emails every week from aspiring beer bloggers asking me to take a look at their blog. So, for once, check out the blog from today’s emailer, Ben from Toronto (whose post recounts how someone I’ve never met called me an idiot a few times regarding my thoughts on beer cocktails).

And there are of course plenty of beer bloggers who have been at it and stayed at it for a considerable length of time, including my Internet brother-by-another-server Alan McLeod. Why not check out what his bedside table beer book library looked like in 2003, comprising his first beer blog post. It’s pretty amazing that he has been able to continually write a handful of posts every week, often in an entertaining and engaging fashion. I couldn’t have done it for a month let alone nearly a decade.

And I think Alan summed it up best with the last line from his first post:

“Funny, suddenly I can think of something I’d rather be doing than typing…”

-Article for once was not previously published in BeerAdvocate Magazine.

Be Social:

Beer Blogging, Ethics, Journalists, Payola, and Maybe a Beer or Two…

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A few weeks back, a handful of beer writers and bloggers kicked around the issue of writing, ethics, and coziness with the brewers we all cover in one form or another. As the discussion occurred on Twitter, it was necessarily limited to 140 characters, which, frankly, got pretty ridiculous when I added @Beervana @agoodbeerblog @BoakandBailey @stanhieronymous @evanrail @Thirsty_Pilgrim @nagbw to the discussion. Eventually we broke down to Morse Code, but I left the discussion with the idea that these issues should be raised in one of the upcoming Session events hosted by various bloggers. I’m not sure anything will ever come of it but I still think it was a good idea. The next Session, to be held on April 6, will discuss “What Drives Beer Bloggers?” Not really on point but perhaps the subject will be touched upon there.

After having harped on this subject plenty in recent years, I simply let the idea go…until I saw this post by The Potable Curmudgeon today describing the available sponsorship opportunities for brewers and other beer industry folks for the upcoming Beer Blogger’s Conference to be held in July in Indiana.

Now I can’t really tell TPC’s angle on all of this but it seems clear that something isn’t quite right. Now I’ve had plenty to say about the Beer Blogger’s Conference in the past and I’m not looking to rehash that except to note what TPC posted on the sponsorship opportunities:

2012 Sponsorship Opportunities

About the Conference

The International Beer Bloggers Conference is a unique opportunity to connect with the “new media” of beer. Beer bloggers are more than just enthusiastic about their beer experiences. They are actively socializing their experiences by publishing their thoughts on the Internet. There are almost 750 “citizen” beer bloggers in North America and approximately 130 are expected at the 2012 Beer Bloggers Conference, with hundreds more paying attention online.

Elite Sponsorship ($20,000)
Elite Sponsorship is a unique category that provides half of the sponsorship funds to bloggers as a stipend to offset the cost of their attendance. The stipend fund pays the registration fee of up to 100 attending citizen beer bloggers. Elite Sponsors win via a) promotion of the stipends by the conference itself, including
two direct emails to our worldwide list of bloggers, two blog posts, and multiple Tweets, b) connection to the attending bloggers, c) requirements for minimum posts, and d) Premier Sponsor benefits as below (with an extra registration). If you are interested in Elite Sponsorship, please ask for our separate Elite Sponsor
document.

Grand Sponsorship ($10,000)
• Opportunity to organize a special program, such as: participate on a panel or other content session, approved by conference organizers, that highlights your business; sponsorship of a Beer Blog Awards; giveaway promotion; etc
• Staff a table (and optionally pour your beers) during Meet the Sponsors on Friday
• Sponsor listing and logo on website; highlighted in pre-conference packet sent to participants; hang banner at the conference; and recognition during the event
• One blog post on the BBC site and multiple Tweet about your company or organization
• Includes two conference registrations

After Hours Party Sponsorship ($7500) – one available
• Provide beer for an After Hours party Friday from 9:00 to 11:00 PM
• Opportunity to address all participating bloggers during the party
• Sponsor listing and logo on website; highlighted in pre-conference packet sent to participants; hang banner at the conference; and recognition during the event
• One blog post on the BBC site and multiple Tweets about your company or organization
• Includes two conference registrations

Dinner Sponsorship ($5000 plus cost of dinner) Sold
• Provide beer for one of two conference dinners, either at the host hotel or elsewhere
• Sponsor is responsible for handling all dinner arrangements
• Opportunity to address all participating bloggers during the dinner
www.BeerBloggersConference.org info@BeerBloggersConference.org
• Sponsor listing and logo on website; highlighted in pre-conference email to participants; hang banner at the conference; and recognition during the event
• One blog post on the BBC site and multiple Tweet about your company or organization
• Includes two conference registrations plus multiple invitations to your dinner

Lunch Sponsorship ($5000 plus meal costs)
• Provide beer for a conference lunch, either at the host hotel or elsewhere as you choose
• Sponsor is responsible for handling all lunch arrangements
• Opportunity to address all participating bloggers during the lunch
• Sponsor listing and logo on website; highlighted in pre-conference email to participants; hang banner at the conference; and recognition during the event
• One blog post on the BBC site and multiple Tweet about your company or organization
• Includes two conference registrations plus multiple invitations to your dinner

Premier Sponsorship ($4000)
• Staff a table (and optionally pour your beers) during Meet the Sponsors on Friday
• Sponsor listing and logo on website; highlighted in pre-conference packet sent to participants; hang banner at the conference; and recognition during the event
• One blog post on the BBC site and multiple Tweets about your company or organization
• Includes one conference registration

Event Sponsorship ($1000)
• Staff a table (and optionally pour your beers) during Meet the Sponsors on Friday; this is the least expensive option to be able to pour more than one of your beers for all conference participants
• Does not include conference registrations

Live Beer Blogging Sponsorship ($400)
• Bloggers will have five minutes to taste, review, and blog or Tweet about one of your beers
• You will reach 10 tables of bloggers with about six to eight bloggers per table
• Does not include any conference registrations but you must have someone present to pour

Now some of this may seem somewhat innocuous, while some other parts may seem a touch close to payola. You can check out which breweries and organizations have already ponied up their money to hang with the beer bloggers. You may also note something unusually similar about the sponsors. All told, it looks like the conference founder, Zephyr Adventures, has finally found a way to make beer blogging pay. Just not for the bloggers…

Be Social:

Another Lament On The State And Future Of Beer Writing And Blogging…

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With April will come the 50th issue of BeerAdvocate Magazine. Quite a feat for any publication but especially one in the notoriously fickle niche of beer. Over the last decade, we’ve seen beer magazines come and go, some glossy, some very basic. The market remains a difficult place for beer publications (and at least one glossy magazine is currently teetering on the edge of calling it a day), which makes the BeerAdvocate model such an impressive feat. And more good things are set to come, with a substantial expansion of editorial pages planned, something that is nearly unheard of in print publishing these days.

For BA’s 50th issue anniversary, I had originally intended to write about the state of beer writing in the United States but, as often happens, I became sidetracked into a different but related topic area. As the topic corresponded in part to the state and nature of this blog, I figured this was as good a place as any to offer the thoughts.

I often find myself reading books by wine, spirits, and food writers. I have collected hundreds of them and browse a few every month to see how the other half lives, works, and writes. And in truth, despite receiving subscriptions to many of the beer magazines, I rarely do more than quickly flip through them. This is because most of what passes for beer writing in the United States revolves around simply giving the writer’s personal views of a product. Perhaps I am a particular type of media consumer, as I have suggested before, but others’ views of beer at the micro level do not interest me in the slightest. I just don’t have a need for the 1,000th review of Boston Lager or even the 5th review of the latest White Birch offering.

The other type of beer content that we often see, both on-line and especially in the so-called beer rags (Celebrator, Ale Street News, and the bi-monthly Brew Newspapers), is the announcement of upcoming beer releases and events. These offerings aren’t so much writing as calendar additions and press releases set to full sentences. These serve the purpose of alerting consumers, whether they be simple craft beer enthusiasts or more likely beer tickers, to the upcoming availability of a seasonal or special release. It appears that such content, which I’m not sure can properly be classified as beer writing, is growing in popularity (or at least volume) on the web. Too often such announcements simply turn into another episode of “Pining for Pliny” and celebrating rarity for its own sake. In the sub-culture of beer nerds, such content definitely has a place. Again, I’m just not interested in it.

To be fair, product reviews and announcements also constitute a marked portion of wine writing (but oddly not of spirits writing), yet the medium has somehow evolved beyond the limitations of the review and invited a broader investment of time, circumspection, and perspective. The world of wine especially has invited writers, both enthusiasts and professional, to develop their own voices. In the world of beer writing, there is far too little opinion offered (and I don’t mean regarding a particular product’s body or aroma), especially backed by any experience or individual voice. The world of wine writing offers this in spades and captures a great deal more of my reading time even though I probably drink fewer than a half-dozen glasses of wine in the course of a year. I don’t particularly enjoy wine but I have become surprisingly conversant in varietals, producers, and debates over various issues in the industry due to the breadth and quality of wine writing.

A few months ago I got into a fair amount of trouble for some comments I made on the subject and exercise of blogging about beer. And while I had intended the comments to relate to my own experience in the medium and not so much to that of non-professional writers, it struck a particular nerve with these bloggers. Over the last few months I have attempted to spend more time reviewing the work of citizen beer bloggers. The result, sadly, is not a more profound understanding of the medium but a reinforced confidence and parallel to my views on beer writing as a whole. I’ve simply not come across many unique or distinctive voices in this new online community of writers. It tends to be more of the same sort of repetitive and highly personalized content experienced in the wider market of beer writing available to consumers.

With this said, I should highlight a few writers whose sites offer something a little different from the usual beer content.

I have long respected the increasingly professional work of Ron Pattinson over at Shut Up About Barclay Perkins. If you enjoy reading about beer history, politics, and a lot of old, insider numbers, his site is well worth the time spent digging in to each subject.

I also think that many writers need to take off the beer blinders directing their focus solely to product reviews, the white noise of beer writing. The bottles, cans, and pints we enjoy came from a place run by actual people, but you wouldn’t know it by the writing about the beers. One area in which wine writing (both online and in print) puts beer writing to shame is in its avowed dedication to providing the narratives and back-stories of the vintners, growers, and owners behind the wines. We rarely do this in the world of beer, instead preferring to name-check celebrity brewers or re-interview the ten most familiar names.

This is an area where citizen beer bloggers really have the opportunity to shine and provide a service to the industry they cover/write about/lavish praise over every day. I read every brewer, brewery owner, or publican interview that I come across on the web because I want to get to know the people behind the brands and places whose names I see in press releases, tweets, or on Facebook. For those bloggers who do not have a background in writing or journalism, personality profiles provide the easiest way to get your foot in the door and to develop the skills necessary to provide a beneficial service to your readers. And while brewers may not always be used to telling their stories, they are a near-uniformly friendly lot and would be foolish to turn down any chance to publicize themselves, their brands, and establishments, even to new writers.

The folks at The Full Pint do this well in their Brewmaster Spotlight as does Drink Craft Beer in its Interview section. I wish these sites did more of this type of content. Another creative (and effective promotional) interviewing tactic is the Beer Wench’s Beer Blogger Interview series. People want to read about other people, not just products they don’t have in front of them and may not be able to buy.

For those content to simply regurgitate press releases and new product announcements, I’d suggest looking at the model being developed over at BeerNews.org. If this guy ever figures out what he actually wants to do, I think we could see some exciting things there.

I’ve also enjoyed some quirky blogs, including one dedicated to understanding the science of beer flavor. Appreciating the underlying foundation of beer and flavor is always a challenging and worthwhile pursuit for the dedicated beer enthusiast.

I also continue to worry about the creep of advertorial beer writing. There are now dozens of sites across the Internet that somehow manage to convince breweries to pay to have the site’s owners review their beers. While I have long decried this practice, craft breweries, in some apparent desperation for attention, seem to be supporting this unfortunate beer shill business model.

I remember being genuinely excited when I first experienced the RSS beer heaven that was Real Simple Beer Syndication. Confronted with hundreds of beer blog entries every day, I thought for sure that some distinctive voices would result. Over the years, I find myself coming back to the professional beer writing set (not that its members are all top-notch either) for readable content. Perhaps the retread nature of so much beer writing was initially necessary as beer writing established itself. For whatever reason, the wine world has also long attracted talented writers of literature and non-fiction, daring to try and capture their passion for the grape in a new writing form. But more than 30 years into craft beer movement, the industry is still sorely lacking such commensurate writing talent.

I’ve also lamented that people covering the beer industry, like Minnesotans and clothing store clerks, never deign to offer a critical or constructive word to those around them. Beer writing is often one long, seemingly endless love song to craft brewers despite some obvious age spots appearing in the mirror. Beer writers, especially citizen bloggers, shouldn’t hesitate to fill this void with their own viewpoints, when supported in their content.

It’s time for beer writers (both professional and enthusiasts) to take the training wheels off their pens, pencils, and keyboards. It seems that we have all been content to merely step in the footprints left by the pioneering beer writers, especially Michael Jackson, despite the entirely new world of beer that we inhabit. I am hoping to witness a new era of beer writing because, in part, I believe that it is essential to the broader growth of the beer industry. When done right, such writing should serve as a catalyst for the growth of the industry, both philosophically and production-wise.

I remain thankful for the opportunity to contribute to a publication such as BeerAdvocate Magazine, where dissenting opinions are tolerated if not encouraged. And I hope to continue to offer a hopefully different and distinct perspective to the world of beer.

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The Beer Blogging Brouhaha, Part 2: A Beer Bloggers Conference? #bbc10

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It has been an unexpectedly busy day here at BeerScribe.com in the wake of last night’s piece on the state of beer blogging. I can imagine few topics more geeky than the present one but I’ll indulge it for one more post. The first ever Beer Bloggers Conference is ready to get underway in Boulder, Colorado. It is put on by the same folks who run a supposedly popular Wine Bloggers Conference and it is pretty close to sold out with more than 100 attendees.

Despite a brief mention in my earlier piece, I hadn’t given too much thought to the conference but have just taken a closer look at the agenda and I must admit to being a bit puzzled by it. Aside from beer blogging in general, I am left wondering, at its core, what does the Beer Bloggers Conference actually offer attendees? Is it just an excuse to get together with other like-minded beer folks and enjoy a few rounds (which is a perfectly enviable vacation)? Or is it professionally (in the broadest sense here) helpful in some tangible or meaningful way?

Putting aside those who just want a vacation and to drink some beers, what does the conference actually offer? A lot of the seminars/speeches seem to be pretty rah-rah in nature, and that’s great, just not something I’d pay money to attend. For people who all seem to agree there is no real money to be made here, a lot of the conference’s remaining content seems to be related to making money on the web. And I’d be pretty skeptical if I was attending those particular seminars. Frankly, sharing “$10,000 worth of SEO advice” sounds like a load of bullshit to me, not too different from the dozens of spam marketing/SEO emails I receive every day for both of my businesses. So beyond the rah-rah from the usual industry cheerleaders, I’m curious to hear from the organizers, promoters, speakers, and attendees what the content actually offers.

Brewery visits and beer dinners are great and all, but is that the real reason for the conference? I imagine the conference organizers aren’t doing this for free so I think the inquiry is worth making.

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