Favor for a Favor: BiztechDay Offers Drama 2.0 a Media Pass in Exchange for a Write-Up

The Drama 2.0 Show has made it.

After blogging for more than a year, I’ve never been offered anything that wasn’t innocuous. You know – coffee, a lunch, an invitation to party, an introduction to a single girlfriend.

But when I opened my email this morning I was greeted with my first “favor.” Here it is:

From: “andrzej@biztechday.com”
To: drama20@hush.com
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:31:24 -0700

Alan,

I would like to offer you a media pass to BiztechDay October 25th in
exchange for a write up.

Would you be interested?

Tim Ferriss (4 hour work week) , Google Angel Christine Comaford and
Founder of Meetup, Biznik, etc are all coming to BiztechDay! Here is
the website -> http://biztechday.com/

Shoot me an email if you are interested. Have a great day!

Cheers,
Andrzej Buszko
[Phone Number Removed]

I decided to email Andrzej back:

Thanks for the offer!

What would you like included in the write-up? Any minimum length?

He responded:

Hello,

Could you please include the basic info (what, when, where) and the list of key speakers? Feel free to get the inspiration from the text below including the discount code for your audience.
Thank you,
Andrzej
**********************************
BizTechDay, Oct 25 Sat, Grow Your Business Using Web 2.0 Technology, Meet Tim Ferriss (4-Hour Workweek), Chief Editor of Yelp, Founder of Meetup & Google Angel Investor, etc
I will be check out BiztechDay 2008 in San Francisco this Sat and the line up looks really awesome!
30 Speakers+ including Tim Ferriss (4-Hour Work Week), Nish Nadarja (Chief Editor of Yelp.com), Christine Comaford (Google Angel Investor), Scott Heiferman (Founder of Meetup.com), Megan Casey (Cofounder of Squidoo.com), 1 Day of Education, Genius Hour Exploding with the Latest Web 2.0 business ideas!
BiztechDay (http://biztechday.com/[1]) is a no-fluff one day technology learning boot camp for business owners to learn how to grow your business using the power of the Internet, Web 2.0 technologies and business ideas that all business owners can apply right away!
WHEN: Saturday, October 25th, all day event
WHERE: Hilton San Francisco
333 O’Farrell Street,
San Francisco, CA 94102
Register online (if you haven’t already) and SAVE $75 OFF ADMISSION using Exclusive VIP Discount for my reader only. (Discount Code: [Removed])

http://biztechday.com/register (Code: [Removed])
Grow your business, forge relationships with your community and be part of the conversation. The one business conference this year, you cannot afford to miss.
See you this Saturday!
Click here to watch BiztechDay Comcast / CNN BiztechDay interview ->
http://www.biztechday.com/watch-edith-yeung-producer-of-biztechday-interview-on-comcast-local-cnn-edition/

Not wanting to post this without making sure I’d get my press pass, I emailed Andrzej back to find out how the deal works:

Ok. And once this is done how do I get my media pass?

Now calling me Keyser, Andrzej got back to me within a couple of minutes:

Keyser,
I will send ticket to your email address. It you would like to give the media pass to someone else, please send me the first name, last name and email address.
Thanks,
Andrzej

Not wanting to get screwed on this deal, I requested my pass:

You can send it to me.

First Name – Keyser
Last Name – Söze
Email – drama20@hush.com

I have your post ready to go once you send the pass. Can’t wait to attend and meet Tim Ferriss! Will definitely write about that too!

Sure, enough, within minutes Andrzej had emailed me my media pass through Eventbrite:

Welcome to Eventbrite Events

You can log into Eventbrite to:

* Manage your Eventbrite Events
* Print Tickets and Confirmations
* Update Attendee Information
* Invite Friends

[Account Information]
Log into your account here: https://www.eventbrite.com/login?email=drama20@hush.com

Username: drama20@hush.com
Password: [Removed]

View our user agreement and privacy policy if you have further questions:
http://www.eventbrite.com/tos
http://www.eventbrite.com/tos#privacy

Order Confirmation for BizTechDay – Technology Bootcamp for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

Location: Hilton San Francisco

Registration Page: http://biztechday-sf.eventbrite.com
Organizer: contact@biztechday.com

Purchase details

Complimentary

Type: General Admission
Quantity: 1

For assistance, please contact the organizer: contact@biztechday.com

Please print and bring this email to the event as your receipt.

———————————————————————-

This message was prepared by Eventbrite.

Collect event fees online with Eventbrite
http://www.eventbrite.com

Then I received a final email from Andrejz personally:

Awesome! You should have the ticket in your inbox.
Thanks,
Andrzej

If there was any question as to how things work in the blogosphere, I think this answers it – “favor for a favor” is the name of the game.

You give me a free pass to your conference, I promote your conference. You kiss my ass, I cover your startup. You send me a scoop, I’ll scratch your back when you need it. You pay me, I’ll write whatever you want. You suck my dick, I’ll cover every one of your company’s product launches.

Of course, I’m not unaware of the fact that press passes are always given with some implicit expectation that coverage will be provided. Yet ethical organizations never provide them only in exchange for a guarantee of coverage and ethical journalists never accept them in exchange for a promotional puff piece.

But I get it. This is “new media” and that means “new” rules. So I’m willing to play ball.

BiztechDay has some impressive sponsors (Visa, American Express, Microsoft, Comcast, HP, IBM, etc.) and I think they’d receive a lot of value from my presence (this would be my public “debut” after all). So I want to negotiate this one. In public, of course, for full transparency. So Andrzej, here’s what I want:

• Two first class seats on LAN Airlines from Montevideo to San Francisco with a 2-day layover in Miami on the way back.
• A one bedroom suite at the Four Seasons.
• Limo service.
• Comped meals with no daily limit.
• Sarina and Bambi.

If you are interested, you know how to reach me.

For anyone else interested in a favor:

• In the blogosphere: offer me first-class airfare, top accommodations, a driver, meals and a couple of women right off the bat. If you can’t, other blogs might be a little less demanding.
• In the real world: I specialize in “favors.” Just tell me what you need and I’ll tell you how much it will cost.