Comments

1
Do it because you would have anyway and was asked nicely (friend of not), and only for that reason.
2
Uh...is Lydia "friendly"?
3
@ 2. Would that make a difference?
4
You're going to help Lydia anyway because that's how you do, but it's nice to see you pretend to hand-wring over it anyway.
5
I swear to god, if it turns out "Lydia" is a member of Tacocat and someone at the Stranger whores them out one more time, I'm going to flip my shit.
6
I'm still waiting for these supposed benefits that come with drinking with Stranger staffers.
7
Of course you should do it. It's your freaking JOB. You aren't a machine sorting through calendar submissions with a program. You're a person with taste and opinions, and you've got friends with taste and opinions. You should be bringing all that stuff to bear when you write your column, and give us your best advice as to what may be worth our time. Go ahead and lavish a little extra attention on your buddies - any of us would do the same.
8
I would blend @1 and @7 to say the contact caused you to pause and go back and reconsider what you might have done anyway, and that your opinions can be affected by those you know best, so why not a small bump? Besides this is THE CALENDAR - not that big 'o deal.
9
Okay, if you're reading the comments it may be too late to sway you, gentle reader/voter, but I have gone on record over at Facebook that if the "Yes" vote wins, I will personally buy Brendan a steak dinner to promote Sandbox Radio's upcoming episode "Swing Time" at ACT.

Get yer tix! http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStag…
10
Take the middle path?

Use their urging as impetuous to reconsider if any of the entries deserve a little more love and act accordingly?

Otherwise, Gurldoggie makes a strong point.
11
@5 From your lips to Brendan's ears...
12
@3

Seriously? You don't know what it means to find out if a woman is "friendly"?

Oh. You and your sense of humor -- you are playing one on me. Sorry I missed it. Me dumb.

Obviously to be serious about it you have to play it straight. I was joking around about trading for sex because I thought that the idea that you would do friend a favor to bias results which makes Stranger less worthwhile cheats readers and also your organization where we rely on honesty...sorta....so, how could you even have to ask the question? Seriously? Obviously people do that sorta stuff all the time. But it is BS.

And the issue is not a matter of NICE versus FAIR.
It's a matter of SMART.
Being honest is good business. Goosing the listing outside NORMAL HUMAN DISCRETION (there is a matter of taste) hurts The Stranger...makes it less reliable, useful which ultimately cuts ad revenue and your salary.
13
There's nothing wrong with fixing previous errors caused by deadlines. I agree with 1, 7, and 8.
14
All right, I'm going to up the ante Mullin. If the yes vote wins, I'll buy Brendan a steak and lobster dinner to give IPlayz: Life and Death in the Digital Age some extra attention. Do we have an arms race?

Get your tickets here - http://seattleplaywrightscollective.org/
15
Damn. We're gonna get this boy FED!
16
Someone asking is different than doing it to get yourself free drinks. Almost all the bar reviews, and particularly the bartender crushes, reek of a quid pro quo.
17
It's tricky. We tend to curate our friends, in some capacity, and so it's hard not to promote them. We like them in the first place, and us lucky ones even like the things they make (and aren't staring at the wall while they play the pan flute). The people we choose to have around are an extension of our tastes.

That said, I generally think you should promote something because you like it and want to promote it, not because someone asked you to promote it, friend or not. I generally think that friendship is a separate realm from our professional lives. It's important to maintain boundaries between the two, to some extent. So we can recommend the work we appreciate and like, but recommending the work we like on the basis of being asked in the context of friendship-for-professional-advancement seems sticky. And to be honest, I think Francis is in poor taste here to reach out to you like that.
18
You've got a pretty solid reputation as a straight shooter BK, so If the people in question have a reputation for quality, and the project looks interesting give them that bump.
19
Corollary/Flipside: should one "bury" a listing due to unpleasant interpersonal history?
20
@ 20. Never. Friendly nepotism can be a grey area, depending on the circumstances, but disappearing someone's event for revenge purposes is always a shitty thing to do.
21
I chose NO only because the stated reason for updating the entry was to appease the requester(s)... In truth, I think it would be fine if (and only if)... 1) the change represents your legitimate views of the entry (like you said, given time, you may have wanted to beef it up anyway); and 2) it is something you would do/have done for other artists with whom you have no connection (e.g. your reviewing the calendar on a whim a see an entry that you autonomously decide warrants "beefing", if you would go ahead and beef it... without seeking permission from the SLOG). The idea is that whatever you do needs to be the consistent thing.

In this case though... you f-ed up by broadcasting your reason. It would have only been unethical if the beefing up was undeserved and/or you wouldn't go back and beef up a non-nepotic entry, even if it warranted and you had the time. Only now, in this case, it would be unethical because your motives are suspect due to your public disclosure.
22
Brendan, sometimes I worry that you are a little too thoughtful and ethical to work at the Stranger. I hope you don't let the others in the office take advantage of your kindness.
23
I'd be happy if you just got the calendar correct for once.
24
The fact that you already completely ignore events happening at particular venues (Skylark? Never heard of it. ), makes this question irrelevant. Do whatever you want since that's what you're already doing.
25
It is possible to take a middle-ground and recuse yourself from the review and ask a colleague to take it on?

Please wait...

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