Need Volunteer(s) For Media Dinner

[DonRocks]

[Thank you for the well-written preview, Daniel - you've done donrockwell.com, the media outlet, proud. In case anyone hasn't noticed, our forum hosts, membership directors, calendar girls, etc. often attend these events, representing the website (I choose not to attend, and instead offer them to our hard-working volunteers - it's the very least I can do for all their efforts). Almost 100% of the time, this results in a cogent, well-written and surprisingly objective preview that's a win-win-win (for the restaurant, since they get publicity; for the volunteers, since they get a free party; for the website, since it keeps us out there on the vanguard of the restaurant community). This was a wonderful example of how to do it properly - the disclosure of a complimentary meal was made early on, so there is no doubt in the readers' minds that this is a media event (you'll be reading about how wonderful Sugo is on other blogs as well, but you won't be reading much about how the blogger loaded up on free food and booze. When are people going to realize that this is how some of our area's most popular "lifestyle" websites work? That they're nothing more than paid PR outlets posing under the guise of "journalism?" When is a legitimate major media outlet going to have the balls to call these "blogs" out for what they truly are?). Daniel's post can be trusted, and you can rest assured that any positive comments can be counted on as being what he really thinks (the one thing I tell the attendees is that if anything is really "bad," it's best just to be silent, rather than trashing a place for giving away free food during a pre-opening event. It really is taboo to lambast a place during a media party, as it should be. Recently, for example, I sent a couple to a pre-opening party that was an unmitigated disaster, and you didn't hear a word about it on donrockwell.com because it was apparently a travesty and a joke (although I'm sure if you look around the blogosphere, you'll find plenty written about it because of all the free booze that was given away). That's how the process works, and Daniel did an exemplary job. And after all the hard work he puts in volunteering for DC Central Kitchen, he bloody well deserves a free party. If he says something was good, you can trust what he has to say (knowing, of course, that Sugo was putting forth their best effort last night in order to impress the media). Cheers, Rocks]

I'm looking for a volunteer (you can bring a +1) to represent the website for a media dinner downtown this Thursday at 7pm at The Park at Fourteenth. I'd like to please limit this offer to long-time members with at least 10 posts. Please PM me if you're interested - first come, first served. I'm assuming this is a sit-down dinner (although it might be walk-around), and would ask that you dress at least in polo/khakis, dress-casual, or whatever you want to call it. If you enjoy your meal, I'd also ask that you write about it (noting the above quoted text from DanielK's Sugo writeup).

[DonRocks]

If anyone wants to represent dr.com at a ZBurger media dinner this Thursday, September 6th @ 7 PM, in Columbia Heights, write me. Usual rules apply (no trashing allowed, etc - SEE ABOVE POST). First one to reply gets it. I need to RSVP in a couple days, so if anyone wants a free tour of the historic Tivoli theater lobby, a sampling of everything on Z-Burger's menu including ice cream, etc., write me back with your full name (and the full name of any guest you'd bring).