A little cup of irony for breakfast rather than my usual
strong cup of coffee today. Whilst I sipped it I realized that I may have
changed. The old Maxine used to dash straight into things, without a thought or
a care, sure in the knowledge that the fact that I was right was enough. That
moral outrage would see me through and that the world was such a place that
everyone would see that I am right and order would be restored.
Maybe I haven’t changed, maybe I have just learned that this
world is not based upon the right thing, but cowardice and the easy options.
The irony of this morning is that I am blogging about blogging. More
specifically my distaste for certain bloggers. A blog is a blog is a blog. That
is it, they are used for so many reasons, even as a business. More usual is
that they are a diary, an online diary, a voice, interesting words written by
people who want others to read them. Some have topics like weddings, events,
photography and more recently, food. This is where I begin to lose my mind, and
all sense of reason. There are many food blogs, of which I am a major fan. They
discuss recipes, and tips on cooking, and foods and display a love of food in
general. They have advertising, links to other blogs, and websites that are
useful. Then, and this is where I get
frustrated, the reviewers. They are a different type of blogger.
I myself in the past have blogged about restaurants, usually
when I have had a bad experience. I have blogged about hotels, holidays, the
state of the driving in the UAE and Christmas cards and the lack of desire I
have to write them. I write about my life and what’s happening in it.
I see a rise in Food Blogs that are actively e-mailing PR
Managers of hotels and suggesting that they have a ‘reach’ or a ‘following’ and
that a review by them, of the hotel restaurant would (if it is a good one)
improve the footfall into the restaurant. How anyone has the balls to do this
is beyond me? Dear PR manager, I think I am aces, I have loads of followers on
twitter and if you don’t give me a free meal I will tell them that your
restaurant is terrible, kind regards Food Blogger. It is mind boggling. My main problem is these reviews are done not
by a food critic who has discussed the finer ins and outs of the food itself,
not by someone who knows food, not by someone who loves food with an obvious
passion, but by someone who loves Social Media, and the power that it wields.
I happen to have, due to my 16 years in the country a large
and varied network of people in the hotel and PR industry, and it still amazes
me that people here forget that Dubai is miniscule. However, and this is my
major problem, the ‘reach’ that these bloggers have is real, it is not as the
blogger themselves believes to be, it is not an ardent following of ‘foodies’
who are hanging off every typed phrase and horrific photograph waiting to
either rush out and book if the blogger says so, or to neatly cross of the list
of potential outlets if the blog says no. Indeed it is not. The reach is that a
hotel or outlet or brand can become hounded on twitter. They can be besieged by
the blogger and the close knit group of people who follow. It becomes a witch
hunt and then the word of mouth. Before a hotel knows it, they have been
discussed on twitter and a few retweets later the damage is done. The reality
of it is that the people who follow don’t enjoy it either, they just don’t have
the balls to say so. I will no doubt be harassed for doing so myself. However,
I care not. I have the many emails these food bloggers send to people to read
through and laugh at.
If I hear one more PR Manager say to me, but if we don’t give
them the free dinner they asked for they will come and give us a sh*t review, I
will scream. Let them come. Let them review. The people who listen to them are
not your customers anyway. If you would read a food blog and make a decision on
a restaurant that you like the look of based upon one persons review then who would
want them. We live in a world of sheep,
if one person has a blackberry, then it becomes the ‘must have’, if 2 sunglass
clad fools spend 12,000 dhs at a nightclub, then it must be the place to go.
Regardless of if everyone is standing about wondering what they are doing
there. If I hear one more tale of emails about free hotel stays, free holidays,
free samples I think I may have to resign from twitter. It isn’t how it is
done. When you show me your statistics and what you can do for my company in
black and white, in numbers then maybe I will entertain you. Until then ….
What these bloggers don’t know, is there is a silent group
of people who don’t barge onto twitter and share things, but email each other,
from hotel to hotel, from PR to PR, from Journo to Journo, laughing. Laughing
at you. Thinking to themselves that 1 dinner really isn’t the end of the world
to just keep you quiet. That’s the problem. It’s easier to keep you quiet than
to just put an end to it. One day. One day a PR manager somewhere will just hit
print screen and this will all be over. Sadly it won’t be me. I will keep the e-mails and I will re-read
them and laugh.
The point of my somewhat rambling note, is that the concept
of a mystery shopper is a brilliant one. If you get a free meal, you will be
served differently. If you don’t get a free dinner, but you let them know you
are coming, paying and reviewing Same.
Thing. They will treat you differently. The only way you can guarantee that you
get a fair idea of a restaurant and how it operates is to just book and go. Then
try writing about the atmosphere, the parking, the service and the food.
Because a night out is an experience, not just what’s on your plate.
