Brooklyn Blogfest Sells Out
Over on Atlantic Yards Report this morning, in a post called Blogfest Meets Shillfest, Norman Oder reports on last night’s Brooklyn Blogfest at the Brooklyn Lyceum, an event we were boycotting on principle.
Over on Atlantic Yards Report this morning, in a post called Blogfest Meets Shillfest, Norman Oder reports on last night’s Brooklyn Blogfest at the Brooklyn Lyceum, an event we were boycotting on principle. In its first couple of years, though rather disorganized, the motley gathering had some charm to it. Based on Oder’s report, though, it sounds like it’s run its course. We decided weeks ago not to attend, because it was becoming clear to us that that the event’s organizer and some of the other participating bloggers had completely sold out to the evening’s sponsor, Absolut, which was using the blogfest to launch its new Spike Lee-branded line of vodka. (From AYR: “I’m not going to get into gentrification, but goddamn,” [Lee] said, musing about “white linen tables” on Lafayette and DeKalb avenues. Then he corrected himself: “This is to celebrate Absolut, so we’re not going to get into gentrification tonight. Sorry, Absolut.”) An email we received a few weeks ago (posted in full on the jump) described a program whereby bloggers would be given a Flip video camera and some other Absolut swag in return for blogging and tweeting about the new brand of vodka. A number have done so and we’ve yet to see a single instance of disclosure; nor has the event’s organizer, Louise Crawford of Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn, been forthcoming about the backroom deals. (Here‘s where she should have mentioned the payola deal.) This wasn’t just a matter of a company donating some booze and getting to hang their banner in return; there’s nothing underhanded about that. It was a full-fledged sell-out with paid-for but undisclosed editorial pimping. We’re certainly in favor of bloggers finding innovative ways to get compensated for all the hard work it takes to maintain a blog, but in order to maintain any credibility they need to be transparent about who’s buttering their bread; readers can be a pretty understanding bunch as long as they believe you’re being straight with them. Based on the play-by-play on Atlantic Yards Report, the night ended up being much more about promoting Absolut than about blogging. Here’s how Sunset Park Chronicle described it in a tweet: “brooklyn blogfest–the creative unite…or become captive audience for spike lee’s absolute vodka fest. Weird.” And here’s another disgusted tweet. Norman Oder has posted a question to Crawford on the New York Times, where’s she’s featured this week in a piece called “Ask The Brooklyn Blogger.” It’ll be interesting to see how she responds.
Update: Louise Crawford has published a post addressing the Absolut sponsorship issue. Like a few others in this thread, she is either misconstruing or purposefully obfuscating the core of our criticism: We’re not against sponsorship or advertising (obviously, given that it’s how we make our living), but we are against promotional blog posts and tweets for remuneration that are not identified as such.
Email, May 5, 2010
Invite to Collaborate with ABSOLUT + Spike Lee
As you sit at your desk blogging about the latest and greatest in Brooklyn lifestyle and real estate, we’d like to offer you inspiration of the liquid kind. As the world’s most iconic vodka, ABSOLUT has built itself on the philosophy that creativity inspires excellence evidenced in everything from the brand’s place in modern day mixology to the history of collaborations with artists dating back to Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. As we enter into a new artist collaboration with Spike Lee, we are reaching out to you as the creative forces behind Brownstoner with what we believe is an interesting proposition.
Over the last several months, we have been collaborating with famed director and Brooklyn beloved Spike Lee, on a one-of-a-kind project that serves a veritable love letter to Brooklyn. As a creative visionary and voice of your community, we’d like to let you in on the secret by asking you to join us in a viral, underground effort. By agreeing to participate, you will sign on to celebrate Brooklyn in a manner befitting of this beloved borough, and will receive exclusive access to product, information and events before anyone else. In addition, we will ensure that your name and your blog are a very special part of all the big news.
We have also recently been working with Louise Crawford of Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn on her Fifth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest and are hoping you will help us reveal the announcement there, on June 8.
More specifically, we would be offering you:
· A feature as our Blogger of the Week on ABSOLUT VODKA’s Facebook page (reaching half a million fans!)
· VIP access to a celebrity event in Brooklyn we are planning for early June
· Special call-out as a key collaborator during the Fifth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on June 8
· Gift of a Flip camera to capture all the action this summer
· Gift of product that has yet to hit store shelves
And in turn, we want to leverage your creativity through:
· Your participation at the Fifth Annual Brooklyn Blogfest on June 8
· Three dedicated blog posts throughout the summer
o One story that we will unveil at Blogfest on June 8
o Two other posts inspired by the project
o Agreement to carry an ABSOLUT blogger badge on your first post
· Tweets, Facebook posts & Four Square activity when appropriate, to promote the blog posts/program throughout the summer
· And most importantly…
We want your thoughts, ideas, feedback and excitement towards the program. ABSOLUT collaborations are wholeheartedly just that a collaboration. If you are interested in joining us for the celebration, please let us know by May 12. We will be bringing all collaborators together on May 13 or 14 to share all the details. More to follow!
Cheers!
It’s not controlling, it’s called marketing. When you go to the grocery store…do you think Bubbalicious just happens to be at the checkout line…they pay to be there. It’s called product placement.
Great post. Asking bloggers to write about your product seems to be a big trend at the moment among corporations who are trying to make a splash in social media. Ann Taylor was recently criticized for doing something similar when it demanded bloggers write favorably about the company in exchange for gift cards. The companies are probably well intentioned in trying to reach out to a wider audience online, but then the whole thing backfires because it comes off as controlling and inauthentic.
“One, I like the vodka…it mixes nicely with ginger ale and cranberry”
Yeah, that’s what I had. It’s called a ‘brooklyn stoop party’ or something. i won’t say any more except we have way different palates.
@BIB — wow. I’m assuming you mean your photo above? Brownstoner didn’t ask you to use it and doesn’t link back at all to your site?! Just wow.
BTW, your photo montage last night was tops. Really lovely.
I’m with snappy though, you should have gone and called the spade a garden trowel. But thanks for clarifying!
I do think you do a good job of running a commercial site with advertising without being a shill for your sponsors. And I don’t know that it is always an easy thing to do. But… really, isn’t this blogfest sponsorship thing something dreamed up by some Brooklyn-living media professionals, who could just as easily be working for the Chip Shop or Kelso Ale as Absolut?
One, I like the vodka…it mixes nicely with ginger ale and cranberry, also with ginger ale by itself. My favorite bartender and I came up with a shot and called it a Jolly Rancher, I wont tell you haters what’s in it…cause I’m like that. Hmpf.
Secondly, who decides what disclosure one should offer about their business? Clearly, it wasn’t that “secret” if they sent out invites with the information regarding the “backroom deal” on it. This is where one person can skew an argument and seem “better than the other”. Kinda how the past due invoice from an advertiser was outed last year on this blog. That’s not cool. That doesn’t make on person doing their business better than another.
Everyone makes their business work the best way they know how. That’s how people get boxed into bullshit that like writing on their hand instead using a teleprompter when needed.
Sponsorship, advertising, etc. are all totally fine but requiring bloggers to write editorial puff posts and tweets that have been bought and paid for with gifts without disclosure undermines the entire medium of blogging. It’s all about disclosure and calling a spade a spade.
As for photo usage, most bloggers in Brooklyn have an understanding among themselves that a modest amount of photo usage as long as its with proper attribution is fine. The one commenter above, evidently, is not on board with that approach so we removed his photo from this post.
“Brooklyn vodka” should be served in an old mason jar from an undisclosed location somewhere near Brighton Beach.
Wait… so if it had been a locally sourced vodka (by the way, a college friend of mine makes an excellent one in Oregon), it would have been okay that they sponsor the blogfest? Or is the idea of sponsorship in general you don’t like? Right, because unlike advertising, it’s…
Okay, not really following you, Mr. B. Is it me?