Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Po'okela in 2010

Ahuwale ka po'okela i kāu hana iā ha 'i - Any guesses at what this means? The meaning and delivery of true customer service continues to be lost on the indifferent. Getting value for spent money and time seems to be more difficult to come by than ever. And, The Brew Lounge flipped and flopped and flailed all over the place. You'd think I was running for elected office. I won't even get started on how many missed promises I have from this same time last year. Not to say that 2009 wasn't a chock full year of mostly decent stuff here that I reported on to you from the great wide world of craft beer. I'm just not so sure it was always what you wanted. I feel like I've let myself down and can't help but think that I've done the same to some of you. Quantity, you say? I could not care less about the number of postings, provided the quality remains at least above average. Over a year ago, I surveyed and asked what was most valuable to you here at The Brew Lounge. Establishment Reviews and The Calendar of Events ranked as the content you were most interested in. Individual Beer Reviews got a healthy response as well. The Calendar of Events has been maintained with an almost religious tenacity. Everything else? Who knows where it's all gone? In terms of topics most commented on by readers at The Brew Lounge, "Topics of the Week" have gone by the wayside, but they always generated a healthy amount of conversation amongst you all. Go back and see some of the topics that we've discussed in the past. So at the risk of setting myself up yet once again, here is what I will push myself to become better at in 2010 for the sake of serving up some of the best beer-related content on the Web. - reinstitute Topics of the Week...but make them less frequent, like perhaps Topics of the Month. - if somehow I can't even keep up with "Topics of the Month," I'll consider rejoining the monthly Session - that last one segues nicely into my next promise...to become more social, on the Web that is. Comment more on other sites/blogs/etc. I value comments from readers on The Brew Lounge, but yet only sparingly drop notes at others' sites/blogs. More Facebook, and yes, perhaps more Twitter. - start up individual beer reviews again. When Adam and I used to do this on a somewhat regular basis, I enjoyed the process of sitting down and evaluating a beer...talking about it with the person sitting next to me. While taking BJCP classes probably will not be in the cards for me in 2010, methodically critiquing beers is something that I think will be valuable to me and to some of you. - do something different with The Brew Lounge, different look, different organization. I don't know. I certainly have at least a dozen or twenty ideas kicking around. Problem is, they all require some sort of technical ingenuity, which I frankly don't have time to explore. Maybe some college kid will come poking around looking for free-to-cheap work? By the way, Ahuwale ka po'okela i kāu hana iā ha 'i translated means "It is through the way you serve others that your greatness will be felt." I will remind myself of this and make it my mantra this year at The Brew Lounge. There is so much excellence in the world of craft brewing, that it doesn't need a subpar effort from me. None of you deserve any less than my best effort. I do not write and do all that I do here simply to fill spare time or feed my ego. I do this for the sake of bringing light to a relatively small industry that I wholeheartedly believe in and for the sake of bringing as much useful information that I can to anyone who happens to stop by and participate at The Brew Lounge.

3 comments:

Jeremy said...

Keep up the good work Brian!

Mark said...

I think you are being too hard on yourself. You are doing fine. Sure there is always room for improvement and it will result via your own self critique(s), suggestions from others, and your inherent nature to excel in all you do. Keep positive and don't get over serious - we can read hard tack reviews elsewhere if we wanted to. CHEERS ;>)

Shawn said...

There aren't two days that go by that I don't stop and visit the Brew Lounge...if that's any indicator...you're doing a great job by me!