Be our guest

I’ve been participating in The Session since 2008, back when Ethan and I were writing for the sadly lost-to-time Beer-O-Vision. And yet I had never hosted! Until now, when I asked the question: Are breweries your friends?

I was wrong, in turns out, in that “we” aren’t the first brewery to host a Session: that honor goes to 21st Amendment in Session 22, so you can read all of those posts too and have a double Session!

Now then, on to the posts. Be sure to read and comment and cavort with all of the participants! (Only two of which, I’d note, were other locals: step up your game, Buffalo!)

The posts

• From me, The Session #107: Am I your friend?: How I reconcile disliking corporate social media while also running ours.

• From Jay Brooks, Session #107: A Friendly Discussion of Friendships: A lengthy look at the nature of friendship, “tribes” and how many times we as consumers want to identify with a company.

• From Matt, The session: Are breweries your friends?: Another brewery perspective, focusing on the distinction between advertising tricking you into buying something and telling you about something you’re interested in (another way I sleep at night).

• From Michael Chelus, Session #107 – Are Breweries Your Friend?: On how drinking local beer often means you do have a connection to the brewery, through the brewers.

• From Brian, The Session #107: Are Breweries Your Friends?: He rightly points out that even our question about self serving advertising was itself self serving advertising (you just lost The Game), and then gives his reason for saying “no”.

• From Boak & Bailey, Session 107: Am I Your Friend?: Why they follow breweries, and which ones do social media particularly well.

• From Gary, The Session Topic #107 – Breweries and Friends: The virtues of being friendly with breweries. (“Reticent to the point of discourtesy” would be a great name for a beer, though Tired Hands may have gotten there already)

• From Sean, The Session # 107 – Let’s Be Friends: Citing Schoolhouse Rock (always a good idea), they claim that no, a brewery cannot be your friend, but you can follow it on social media anyway.

• From Alan, Session 107: Are Brewers My Friends? Really? I assumed I knew what Alan would write, and I was partially right, but it was more nuanced than “no”, and now Ethan knows he has somebody to help him move.

• From Derrick: in The Session #107: Breweries as Social Media Friends they offer some advice for breweries on how to use social media well.

• From The Beer Nut, Stainless and hoses: Finally, someone calling me out on my crap! You’ve all been far too nice. They say that a brewery’s social media should be about beer, and then practice what they preach and discuss some beers they’ve had recently.

• From Jon, The Session #107: Are breweries your friends?: The distinction between “following” and “friendship”, and the importance of recognizing the line where the business begins.