{"id":4947,"date":"2011-07-21T00:36:09","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T07:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/?p=4947"},"modified":"2011-07-22T03:32:38","modified_gmt":"2011-07-22T10:32:38","slug":"rant-on-bloggy-entitlement-and-such","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/21\/rant-on-bloggy-entitlement-and-such\/","title":{"rendered":"Rant: On Bloggy Entitlement and Such"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0More webby criticism. I’ve had quite a bit of thinky free time. Not interested in my opinionated bloviating on blogging? How’s about an odd little museum in Auburn, Washington<\/a>, instead? <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve read a significant number of posts by bloggers saying, essentially, here’s a bunch of stuff I need if you’re going to invite me on your trip. Or, alternatively, here are a bunch of tactics you, blogger, can follow to get a free trip. And often, that stuff irritates the daylights out of me. No, truthfully, every<\/em> time that stuff irritates the daylights out of me. Rarely, do I see anything saying “Do good, honest work. Strive to write well and love your readers. Everything else will follow.”<\/p>\n

Honestly, when I get an invitation to travel somewhere I think:<\/p>\n

ARE YOU SURE?! YOU WANT TO SPEND MONEY FOR ME TO DO WHAT, NOW? BECAUSE YOU WANT ME TO WRITE ABOUT IT ON MY BLOG? WHAT? ARE YOU SURE?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, I do I think these thoughts in all caps.<\/p>\n

I am stunned to get invites for swanning about Austrian spa towns, or going to freaking Antarctica, or jetting about the back country of Alaska in tiny planes that look like they came out of cereal boxes in 1953.<\/p>\n

Recently, I received two utterly amazing invitations. One to attend a week of ukulele classes in a tiny plantation town on Hawaii’s Big Island. The other, a trip of my choice with a tour company. On the options, the trans-Siberian from Beijing to St. Petersburg or, the one that makes me all crazy, a trip through Kenya and Tanzania that includes a stop in Zanzibar.<\/p>\n

I am never not amazed. I never think, “Goddamit, I deserve this, or you ought give me this trip because X, Y, and furthermore, Z.” I never think, “Good lord, I can’t believe you expect me to pay for my own hookers” or “If you don’t give me wifi, how do you think I can get anything done, after all, I’m a blogger<\/em>!”<\/p>\n

Hat tip to my pal Mike Barish for the story about the writer asking for hookers on a press trip. That’s some serious nerve. Also, I think it’s idiotic that hotels charge for wifi, but that’s not the fault of my hosts.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not so naive to think that I’m not a marketing investment or a commodity. I understand that on the scale of things, I’m cheap advertising, and that there’s a certain unwritten expectation that I’ll deliver shiny copy extolling the already over-documented virtues of the hotel or hosted meal or destination. I can point you to any number of independent bloggers who do exactly that, and to another handful who expect to be compensated by their hosts for the honor of having them partake in their all expenses paid adventure. I can copy and paste from an online brochure without leaving the house. And while celebrity endorsement fees are a grand dream, I’m not so egotistical as to think I have that kind of reach to warrant compensation for saying “I went to Prague. It was awesome.”<\/p>\n

Sometimes things go terribly wrong, like that time I missed a flight to Mexico, something I’m still embarrassed about. And oh, there was a damaged motor home, and also on this trip to Austria, focused on outdoor activities, I got\u00a0 an absolutely vicious sinus infection and was unable to participate in anything beyond the first day’s leisurely stroll to the lakeside restaurant. I had to cancel a commissioned story because I’ve been unable to do the homework for it, and while I did get to revisit a major site on the itinerary, I’m quite sure my take on it won’t be what the PR people wish I’d written.<\/p>\n

At the most basic level, I write about\u00a0 my experiences on a vanity web site. That’s what most independent bloggers do — we go and on about our opinions, our trip, me me me, and how weird or smelly or trying or any number of adjectives was it when we did some epic thing that many people will never get to do, and certainly never get to do on someone else’s nickel.<\/p>\n

I don’t think, “I deserve this.” Or “look at all this exposure I’m giving you.” I know what my statistics are, I can see them, my traffic is negligible. If I had any shame, I’d be utterly sheepish about admitting this to you. While I might say, “Yeah, I probably won’t recommend this hotel,” I’d never say “I can’t believe you put me in such a second rate place.” I’ve actually gone so far as to tell the hosts that the place was not that great, but never in a personalized way. “I can’t\u00a0 send my readers there” is a completely different remark than “that place is not good enough for me.”<\/p>\n

I’m not sure how we got from “Hey, here’s a little story about a trip I took!” to “Do you know who I am?” I’m not sure where we lost the wonder around the simple fact that telling stories can get us from Antarctica to Zanzibar and started to complain that we should have been flown there first class.<\/p>\n

There are travel writers who work very hard to make a good living at their work, scribbling out query after query, squeezing every single story out of a trip so they can make it pay, chasing markets in all corners of the globe, working, working, working. I’m not those people; I’m an independent blogger. The most anyone can expect from me when they invite me on a trip is a post or two, a photo or two, and the contents of that post or photo? Totally up for grabs.<\/p>\n

When I receive an invitation to do something unbelievable, I go from disbelief (ARE YOU SURE?) to absolute undiluted wonder. When it happens that I sit on the snow with penguins or look at the mustard and cranberry tundra of Denali National Park from the rattling window of a four seater propeller plane or stand on a completely empty beach on the island of Maui while the sun comes up, I think this: Thank you.<\/p>\n

I hope I’ll get to go to Zanzibar. But even if I don’t, I’ll remain grateful to have even been asked.<\/p>\n

Press trip posts<\/strong><\/p>\n

In interest of getting a little more 3D perspective, I’ve\u00a0 added a few links to posts I’ve written while on a press trip or sponsored travel. The sponsor is included (in parentheses).<\/p>\n