please empty your brain below
I wonder if the best thing to do is take the free stuff and then not write about it? The PR firm is hardly likely to sue (and on what grounds?) as it's bad PR and the word will soon get around that you have the freebies and don't write so the emails will dry up. It's a thought...

Richard | Homepage | 06.12.11 - 8:23 a.m. | #

On the surface the museum one seemed legitimate... although they could work on their phraseology - i.e the requirement to 'blog' is a bit much. But this is how events happen. I have been on both sides (receiving invites) and sending them out (all in my student days and well before the internet). I mean, this is how art shows, concerts, theatre, movies, books, etc. get reviewed. I still review books now - it is a legitimate part of my work. I get a free book and I review it for a journal or for a publisher. I always thought that the main issue was that many events were clearly not what your blog is about. But the museum one seems on the surface legit because you do blog about museums... When receiving invites by the way I never thought there was any impetus to attend events - some I did, some I didn't, some (like the art show where placentas were dried and pasted to canvases in the name of 'art' I distinctly remembering giving bad reviews of. And think about the numerous bad theatre reviews that have appeared over the years.

Antipodean | 06.12.11 - 8:45 a.m. | #

Big big big big big difference between:

Here is an event that you might be interested in, come along for free if you like on the launch night, its up to you.

And:

Here is an event that you might be interested in, you can get in for free if you give us a write-up.

Max Roberts | Homepage | 06.12.11 - 9:15 a.m. | #

Supposing that you actually really want to stop these emails, rather than writing about them every now and then, why not add the hover text that you added to your 'email' link when someone suggested it (ie 'marketing emails not welcome, thanks') into what actually appears in the email proforma created when you click on the 'email' link in the sidebar?

Then the annoying marketing types will have to actually remove it before sending their emails to you.

dg writes: I did precisely that two months ago. And still the marketing emails come.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 06.12.11 - 9:58 a.m. | #

PR=Lying Scum
These are the people who are paid to LIE.
Thank DG for making this a BS free zone.

Michael | 06.12.11 - 11:02 a.m. | #

I don't want them to stop because i enjoy reading dg's micky taking of them.

ColininThailand | 06.12.11 - 11:30 a.m. | #

I think that there is some reverse psychology at work here. DG is flattered at being asked and proud of being able to refuse. DG is only human, craves praise like every other human being, and is eager to share this praise with us, with an affectation of modesty which is becoming. That's my opinion...otherwise why would he blog at all?

k | 06.12.11 - 12:19 p.m. | #

Fight the power, man!

Christof | 06.12.11 - 1:05 p.m. | #

I guess its part of the Kleptomania (no I don't mean that word really I can't think of the right one) that means you have difficulty discarding pieces of stuff. I have no difficulty in ruthlessly deleting badly targeted mail/e-mail/chugger approaches/grinning sales people etc etc. See it once, chuck it, completely forget all about it!

B | 06.12.11 - 2:17 p.m. | #

As the writer above said: "this is how events happen....this is how art shows, concerts, theatre, movies, books, etc. get reviewed." I agree with your stance that you won't write about something where there is any conditionality. But not writing about what might be an interesting museum exhibit which you might well find interesting and might well have written about if you hadn't had an (unconditional, general) invitation to a press night seems curmudgeonly in the extreme. Be incorruptible by all means, but there's a middle way between that and being a cussed, self-righteous hermit.

David | 06.12.11 - 2:36 p.m. | #

"So look, I'm sorry to have to say it again on here, because readers are bored of hearing it"

Too right DG - you've written about it loads of times and the topic is very boring. Please write about something (anything!) else.

George | Homepage | 06.12.11 - 4:53 p.m. | #

Anything that starts with "Congratulations" would get deleted before I'd got to the second sentence!
Keep fighting the fight.

CornishCockney | 06.12.11 - 5:01 p.m. | #

I got the dating site one and was mildly offended as well as being rather bemused about why on earth anyone would fall for something like that.

That said, bad PR is always amusing :-)

Darryl | Homepage | 06.12.11 - 5:49 p.m. | #

I find these posts to be amongst the wittiest DG posts. I would like to see them continue.

gt | 06.12.11 - 6:56 p.m. | #

I'm not bored of these either! Please don't stop sharing your acerbic putdowns with us.

Suse | 06.12.11 - 10:13 p.m. | #

<Credit card> are pretty persistent, huh?

Tom @ Tired of London | Homepage | 06.12.11 - 10:58 p.m. | #

Think of all the extra work you'd have to do if these email stopped coming. You wouldn't have a boring standby piece to go to every couple of weeks.

babs | 07.12.11 - 2:45 p.m. | #

I'm sure that by now some enterprising PR will have cottoned on to the fact that they can stop DG writing about a competitor's event simply by sending a fake press release about the event.

im also waiting for the London Olympics to accidentally invite him to something thus forcing DG to remove all of his previous Olympics coverage.

Chris | 07.12.11 - 3:07 p.m. | #

Would you believe I've had two more blatantly promotional emails since I posted this.

Sorry babs, but do feel free to go and read something else on days you think I'm a lazy, tedious, workshy, space-filling bore.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 07.12.11 - 5:40 p.m. | #











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