So, you want me to write about your beer event...

I love writing about upcoming beer events. It's what I do! I help breweries/bars/restaurants get the word out and I help beer lovers find cool stuff to do.

However, there are some logistical issues that I feel should be obvious to those who want me to write about stuff, but in practice, appear not to be.

1) It is in no way necessary to comp me for the event for me to cover it. Let's repeat that: IT IS IN NO WAY NECESSARY TO COMP ME FOR THE EVENT FOR ME TO COVER IT. If I get an offer, I may accept, but that's absolutely not why I write about events. Why DO I write about events? Well....

2) ...first of all, the event should be interesting. Fifty cents off a pint plus some swag isn't super newsworthy. Is there a new or hard to find beer being served? Will the brewer be there? Is it a beer dinner? With the exception of ACBW or LaCBW, I don't do listings, I tell stories. For example, there was an interesting sounding event a while back, when the food and beer were sourced from the same farm, but I didn't hear about it until less than 2 weeks beforehand, so there was little I could do with the info.

3) I need to know about it about a month ahead of time. OK, two weeks. But that's it!

• If I'm to write about it in the Gambit, lead time is two weeks MINIMUM, and depending on the day of the week it is, it might not be enough. Every week I write my column for online publication that Tuesday, and the print version is the Tuesday after that. I can't have stuff that's already passed by in the print version.
• I do have the opportunity to do web only Gambit posts for stuff that comes up more at the last minute, but only if there's some meat on the bones of the story. I can't do a one paragraph thing for that. I'd need to interview a brewer, chef, someone like that to make it an actual story.
• Eater no longer does single event writeups. Even compiling multiple ones in a single post is something they're moving away from. It's an editorial decision, and out of my hands.

4) If you send me event info, please make sure it's complete- date, time place. If people need to buy tickets, include that info. If there's a menu, include that. Let me know the breweries and beers involved. 

If you can't send the info in time, that's OK, but don't be mad that I didn't include it. I'll promote it on my social media, but there's not much else I can do about it at that point. 

I know I probably sound super bitchy, but it's because I WANT to write about your event. I WANT it to be successful. These aren't arbitrary rules I have in my head to make life difficult to beer event planners, these are my deadlines, and these are things I need to answer to my editors for. 

So, hopefully this clarifies some things, and writing about events will be a far less stressful (and sometimes thankless) process for all involved.