First and foremost, I must apologize for the extended no post. With my current campaign for city council underway, I feel uncomfortable writing about all the roller coaster type activity in this years race. I will try to instead point to posts by Kerri at Real Hartford, the Undercurrent Blog, www.ctnewsjunkie.com, Helder Mira’s new blog and a new friend in the area at Urban Compass…she writes Springfield specific stuff but has included Hartford info on since her and family have moved to the Hartbeat.
One thing that I can write about without getting stung by the ethics bug is my ongoing frustration with the West Hartford Advocate. I have a love/hate relationship with this paper. I drink beers with the circulation manager, have had my ugly mug in LushLife a couple of times, enjoy the writings of Whitey Bulger (he’s not in Europe…he’s here!!) and two of our events (in 3 years) have appeared in Local Motion (no…not Dave Giardina.) But I have to say that for a supposed arts and entertainment weekly, the West Hartford Advocate has a horrendously horrible (that’s right…horrendously horrible) listings section.
Out of 23 advertised pages of “listings” in this weeks edition, only eight pages actually have any arts happenings listed. These eight pages are also not full pages. They have a six point font to make room for ads. To be fair, there are numerous ads from performance spaces advertising events stuck amongst all the bar ads. The cost of one of those ads combined with the ludicrously ludicrous (that’s right…ludicrously ludicrous) requirement of three week advance notice makes it almost impossible for smaller venues to have events listed.
It’s quite obvious who West Hartford Advocate’s target audience is. But this should not effect event listings. The heart of any arts & entertainment weekly is it’s listings. Combined with decent reporting and cutting edge editorials, the weekly can then evolve into a true, reliable alternative media vehicle. Other than Whitey Bulger’s (yah…I know that’s not his real name) reliable columns and commentary, the editorializing of señor Highet is subpar at best and their listings would rate 3rd place on their own “Best in Hartford” issue (Behind the Courants CAL section and latinmusictonight.com.)
Suggestion: Be proactive! Have someone dedicated to finding out what is happening in the city. Don’t depend on submissions (and if you do, for Jahova’s sake…if something comes in 20 days before an event instead of 21…list it!)
OK…I’ll shut up and go back to reading about Carla’s pasta stop in Wethersfield.
[...] Luis says it all here. [...]
no hard feelings dude! i only hope you wrote the editors and expressed your unhappiness. i doubt alistair and brianna will read this here and you do have a good, solid point to make. perhaps whitey bulger will foward your blog along.
i agree the Advocate should have more connections with the city; its people, the communities and its content. i push for this from the inside as best i can. its frustating when friends make good points but also feel the need to resort to name calling or mocking. i believe there’s a better chance of causing change by asking (or demanding) it rather than only complaining!
see ya at kenny’s,
chillwill
ps, don’t just read about carmela’s pasta shop, stop in for lunch. its family owned and pretty dang tastey….even if its in wethersfield.
pps.
hartford advocate
121 wawarme avenue
hartford, ct 06114
Coolio Chilly Willy…
I try not to resort to name calling in whatever I post…I just did a quick skim and nope…no name calling. I try to do everything tongue in cheek so that’s where the bad humor/sarcasm comes from.
I understand your frustration over people who complain but don’t try to do anything about change. One of the big reasons I’m even running for council is because I don’t want to be one of those people who sit around complaining about the city. Difference with the Advocate is that I believe to the marrowest marrow (that’s right marrowest marrow) of my being that there can be no changing the Advocate.
The Advocate is in business for one reason…to make money. The vehicle they use is this supposed front of “Arts & Entertainment Weekly” They have smart people who work for them that have done the math and know the best way to get the most money. It’s not rocket science. Believe me…if it made financial sense to be more Hartford friendly (whatever the #$% that means) than the Advocate would have done that by now. One can only like it or not…I don’t.
peace
ps, tried to take you up on your suggestion to go to Carla’s. Got stopped by the wethersfield cops for “driving while brown” (really…they said that…driving while brown.”) They searched my car, planted a ton of ecstacy in it, kept talking about my mama, and turned off their camera’s while they smacked me with their batons.
I’ll try again next week…maybe you can drive this time
alittle research does wonders…
I’m pretty appalled by the lack of editing going on with the (ahem) WEST Hartford Advocate e.g. the Cow Parade.
the HQ is in West Hartford and duh yea it’s been “done before”. Talk to people outside the paper-bubble and you might learn somethings that don’t require “extensive research”… jeez.
um….alittle help getting off this high horse.
Thanks
Luis, thanks for the plug! I can’t believe my in-laws made it to La Paloma before I have, but there you go. They enjoyed meeting you and even sent me a photo so I can see what the place looks like.
I would love to discuss the Advocate with you sometime. Any chance they’ll take you up on the renaming, I wonder?
sorry about the name calling comment, i thought you were purposely calling the hartford advocate…. the west hartford advocate, but i guess you just didn’t know the correct name of the paper!?!?!? c’mon dude, its been in the rack near the door for a long time now! BTW, whitey bulger was gonna grab the rack friday afternoon but y’all were closed, so i will have the driver grab it wednesday.
i had a conversation with brianna friday and she didn’t remember receiving many announcements, schedules or information about la paloma. every week i see the massive stacks of flyers, printed emails, snail mails, faxes and press releases the listings editors (past and present) must go through to pick out stuff. many people send in stuff weekly, its a MASSIVE amount. for any business/organization/person to get stuff listed requires sending it in regularly. she gets crap from the new inertia like 3 times a day dude, how many times a month do you send in stuff to be listed? like most things in life, you have to make an effort, things aren’t just given to you..well except from parents, they’ll even wipe your own butt for a few lucky years!
anyways, it seems like the problem is you expect the listings person to put in la paloma because you want them but don’t send in your events schedule on a weekly basis like everyone else.
too bad. that really sucks for everyone. it doesn’t get la paloma the exposure it deserves and it certainly leaves a gap in the advocate’s listings. neither is going to be much of a help to our city with that happening. i think brianna is going to email or call you. hopefully all will work out. i know she wants to improve the paper…as do i. but things can’t improve when there is more complaining and grandstanding than conversation and actual effort to improve things.
luis, please don’t just give up on stuff because you don’t like the deadlines and paperwork. i hope if elected, you will learn how things work and make great things happen and improve the city. you’ll have my vote.
chillywilly
ps. sorry about the long freakin’ post, but this seems like something that coulda been easily worked out and made things better all around. i hate how sometimes our community condemns and complains so easily about certain things, rather than trying first. i am trying, i am sure you will too.
Chilly Willy…Yes, we get it…you are trying
If i have to hear that one more time I think I will Bee to the Aye to the Are to the BARF!!
I tried not to personalize so I would expect you not to. This isn’t about La Paloma or Brianna. There was a live Hip Hop Show at Kenny’s Red Rock on Saturday night…any mention in the sAdvocate? Don’t think so. If you were able to take time away from your ‘trying’ I could list you countless happenings in Hartford which get no play in the sAdvocate. This is not a Brianna thing…she is but one in a line of many overworked employees who have come and gone. She works via a process put forth by the powers that be. I’m sure that if you sat with her in the midst of your ‘tryin’ she would most likely give you numerous examples of how the listings could improve.
“for any business/organization/person to get stuff listed requires sending it in regularly.” The only thing that i can say to that is: That…Makes…No…Sense. One shouldn’t be penalized because they don’t send in regular submissions. If one meets the requirement set forth by the Advocate, the listing should get listed. Could it be that too many listings get in the way of revenue producing ads? Idunno…I just pour coffee for a living.
I don’t wanna ‘work things out’…that would show the hypocracy in the system and it would only solve my problem…not the overriding issue with the process.
People making excuses for not knowing how to do their damn jobs!
I see events routinely miscategorized (since when is a boating safety course a literary event?), I see businesses that’ve been closed for months remain listed–even if it shares the address with a business currently open (Vietnamese Bistro and Cafe Verde, a few years back, Alley Cat and Center Squeeze, more recently), and I see tired excuses made for subpar writing.
The West Hartford Advocate (thanks Luis, I’m gonna start calling it that now) represents the stereotypes of Hartford that my students are familiar with–the constant bad news and the bar scene. How about something sustainable for people to make their homes here? How about something that recognizes, rather than mocks, the vibrant social justice community?
how is the advocate supposed to know there was a hiphop show at kenny’s if nobody sends in something?
how is a venue that sends in one thing a year going to get recognized when a hundred other things are sent in daily? its not penalization, its numbers. would someone get elected if they made one speach a year? its reality, not penalization.
luis, why take time from my “tryin” to tell me about “countless happenings in Hartford which get no play in the sAdvocate”?? Don’t tell me, tell the listings editor!!!!
how will things ever change? to me that’s as bad as not voting and complaining about who’s in office! sorry you have given up. i haven’t, but i’ll stop trying to get la paloma in the paper since you see me as only a cog in the wheel of the establishment and the powers that be. sorry if my “trying” offended you.
and yes, obviously, there is only so much room for listings because of ads. the advocate sells ads to produce the paper. and we need enough ads to pay for rent, etc, just like a coffee shop sells coffee to buy beans and pay the rent so they can have poetry readings.
ohh well. we certainly see things differently. hope we can still be friends. you fight your battles your way, and i will fight them my way.
best of luck to you. i will only continue this over a beer at kenny’s!
Willio Chillio…Your obviously someone who hasn’t learned the subtle art of bitchin over threads without getting all touchy
Of course, we’re still friends. Trust me, i have much more closed minded, company man, sellout friends than you. (d’oh!!) [I will start putting a d'oh! next to all jokes so y'know] (d’oh!) Regardless…I’ll look forward to meeting you at the playground after school…d’oh! I mean having some beers wit you @ Kenny’s Red Rock for some beers.
editor’s note: The above threads were added as advanced publicity for Progressive Happy Hour which takes place every Tuesday evening after 9:30pm at Kenny’s Red Rock on Capitol Avenue. Of course Luis loves the Hartford Advocate and it’s top notch reporting and more than satisfactory arts listing.
D’OH!!
Luis,
Tu eres mi heroe! (d’oh!!!)