Influencer gets a FIRM NO to her offer from a Cafe and/or Lodge, the answer from the firm's

[SWBTATTReg]

owner is worth reading and is a wonderful response...as you can tell, I don't really like most 'bloggers', especially those that offer their services in exchange for something in return from the business. Talk about high end mooching, eh? Here's the article (parts of it, I didn't copy all of it, it's in today's edition of "Women's Health", titled "The Hotel This Influencer Wanted To Stay At For Free Is Now Billing Her Millions", Story by Tess Koman • 1h ago). Score a win for the owner, IMHO.

Now don't get me wrong, but I would suspect that any business that needed to drum up business, etc. already has things going on that would do the same thing, generate more business for the business, and not need the services of a 'blogger'. It seems that I hear all of the time of blogger efforts to score freebies from a score of businesses that write about their encounters with so called bloggers, it seems to be kind of an ongoing practice within the blogger community.

+++
Soon after YouTuber Elle Darby asked Dublin's White Moose Cafe and Charleville Lodge if she could stay for free, NY Mag reports the hotel's owner Paul Stenson shut her way, way down.

In a January 16 Facebook post, Stenson screengrabbed Darby's apparent email in which she asked for a comped stay essentially in return for traffic to the hotel. She notes her tens of thousands of YouTube and Instagram followers as proof this arrangement would be beneficial to the hotel.

"Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that, if not much self-respect and dignity," Stenson's reply begins. He continues:

If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The waiters who serve you breakfast? The receptionist who checks you in? Who is going to pay for the light and heat you use during your stay? The laundering of your bed sheets? The water rates? Maybe I should tell my staff they will be featured in your video in lieu of receiving payment for work carried out while you're in residence?In future, I'd advise you to offer to pay your way like everyone else, and if the hotel in question believes your coverage will help them, maybe they'll give you a complimentary upgrade to a suite. This would show more self-respect on your part and, let's face it, it would be less embarrassing for you. Best regards, Paul Stensonwww.charlevillelodge.ieP.S. The answer is no.

(rest of article goes on)...

I don't know if this owner's excellent response to this request of freebies from the business will stop this practice, but as a business owner owning 10 units of a very small lodging business (trout fishing), even 1 unit given up for free for a duration of time would have cut into my operating expenses, being that there were numerous other lodging businesses also competing for business in the area.

Enjoy, especially for those of us who do have small Mom and Pop businesses.

[Freethinker65]

1. Sounds like some influencers are a lot like Trump-

[SWBTATTReg]

3. I got a laugh out of your post, thank you! I enjoyed the laugh, and you're absolutely right

about tRUMP mooching.

[hlthe2b]

2. Uggh. The entire concept of "influencers" is repugnant to me.

Want to start a youtube channel where you give your impressions or invite comments, fine.

But these "know-nothings" who seek to influence the even more impressionable with their supposed superior knowledge/opinions is not only ridiculous but wrt COVID-19 and other medical/health issues, potentially deadly.

And those who offer their "superior" opinions about all those things young girls are concerned about (body image, dieting, clothing, manner of speech, makeup, etc.) are, , at a minimum, not helping the issues teen girls have today. At worse, they may be among several factors in the rising suicide rates among young girls, especially.

Obviously, other segments of our population may be equally poorly served by these "self-identified" experts.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. You nailed it!

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Absolutely! They're like leeches. It's ugly that some can maake $millions for their opinions.

[Ferrets are Cool]

9. I don't get the hate.

I have several "influencers" that I subscribe to. I do that because they entertain me. If they can make a living from that, who am I to poo-poo it?

[Mister Ed]

16. There's a vast difference between dislike and hatred. n/t

[hlthe2b]

21. Do you not see the difference between those who entertain and those who dispense dangerous,

or at least highly inaccurate and potentially inciting (for certain vulnerable populations) information?

[sinkingfeeling]

26. I don't hate them. Just think its another scam being played on the

unsuspecting. Many young people now aspire to be influencers, make an 'easy buck'.

[Scrivener7]

31. I would be embarrassed to be influenced by an influencer.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. Look at this ignotwit's racist shit:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10842037/Influencer-Elle-Darby-lost-100-000-followers-racist-tweets-returns-Instagram.html

[TheRickles]

13. According to the Daily Mail article, the hotel's response happened in 2018.

The story is still pathetic, but I'm not sure why it's surfacing now in Women's Health (which I did not check out - other things are on today's To Do list).

[nuxvomica]

6. I checked out their website and the hotel is very affordable

If I ever get to Dublin again I'd like to stay there. (That sentence has two meanings and both are accurate.)

Here's a snippet from their website:

Are you a millennial? If so, Charleville Lodge is legit the best place for your squad to stay woke.
https://charlevillelodge.ie/

[TNNurse]

12. Reading the website is quite a treat.

[nuxvomica]

29. Yes it is!

Another from their website:

THE WHITE MOOSE CAFE

The White Moose Café is the only 5-Michelin-Star restaurant on planet Earth. We specialise in high-carb, low-protein meals. We don’t do decaf coffee, non-alcoholic beer or gluten-free dishes, as we firmly believe that you only live once. If you are not happy with any of the above, you are probably a precious snowflake in which case we don’t want you in our café anyway. Thank you now. Bye Bye.

[Ferrets are Cool]

8. A simple no would have sufficed. I've always been told that you never know the answer till

you ask.

[Lucky Luciano]

10. Some people are fed up with the damage the Kardashian mentality has done to society.

Must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

[groundloop]

15. yeah..... such as the notion that it's cool to be stupid

[TNNurse]

11. The title "Influencer" is so telling.

It indicates to me someone with no actual talent or skill. The kind of people who would be influenced by such a person makes me sad.

[Wiscodoug]

14. Musicians

Crazy? Think again. Club owners have been trying this in reverse to musicians since the 80's. You would be surprised at how many times I have been offered "exposure" or low balled because "exposure" has value. I seriously have invested thousands of dollars for my rig, and even more hours of practice and running around than any non musician people could even comprehend. Yet a club owner may offer us a couple of free drinks to hump our gear in and out, jam for three hours all for exposure.
I am sure others have stories like this in almost every trade or unique skill.
I have two gigs next month, take home on my end.....200 bucks. Many might say hey Doug maybe you suck as a guitarist. Let me assure you I don't. I am the guy with the long hair.
Peace.

[iscooterliberally]

28. +1. I lived through that back in the 80s and 90s too. n/t

[getagrip_already]

17. There are real ethical concerns with how "influencers" operate....

I recently got blacklisted by pointing out that a youtube reviewer accepted over $7k in a companies product and still claimed it wasn't a paid review because there was no cash paid for the review and no contract signed.

Really?

Reviews on youtube are your business, and these expensive toys are your capitol. How much more of this can you expect if you don't either review the product or trash it because it is junk? What would it have cost if you had to buy those products and then resell them?

There is a quid pro quo there. Plus, you could easily resell that product for thousands, probably off the books.

Really?

That is payment in kind. Just admit it. Would it be that hard?

Not to mention your reviews become biased.

[tornado34jh]

18. Here is the thing about these type of people

Many of them are on Youtube, Twitch, or something of that sort, and the things that they do, something makes them very arrogant and ego-driven. Here is the thing, how many of the people that subscribe to their channel really follow them? I sometimes have heard on Twitch they get mad when followers don't subscribe. Hey idiot! Without followers, you wouldn't have been even known or have been successful. But I think it is because of the fact that they are ungrateful for the things that people do for them.

[plimsoll]

19. I kind of object to calling Youtube channels "Blogs"

Formerly blogs had text. While good editing can make a Vlog compelling to watch, they don't seem to require the same thought to consume or create. That makes them the ideal marketing tool, but not necessarily great for enhancing knowledge.

[rurallib]

20. Sounds to me that the 'influencer' wants a bribe in return for a good review

based on that their opinion should have no value at all.

[NBachers]

22. "Influencer" to me is "Manipulator."

[AllaN01Bear]

23. good on the owner. what is youtube influncer ? need input please.

[infullview]

24. What a strange world we live in that an 'influencer' is a "job"

All these children with way too much time on their hands, and most of them from the overly wealthy class with trust funds that give them the time to spend on line producing hours of ridiculous crap for notoriety.

Get a freak'n real job!

[Historic NY]

25. I got to say Stenson is well you'll see

]

[oldmanlynn]

27. An influencer is just a person who has a large audience

It would be similar to a famous person staying there and then featuring the hotel in a video as a great place to stay. This can absolutely cause others to stay there as well.

How would the owner pay the staff? With the additional sales of rooms that the feature might bring.

This is absolutely a business scenario.

Nothing wrong with a person like olivia dunne who has 6 million plus people watching her. She influences a large chunk of them and this can generate business for whoever works with her.

[Ferrets are Cool]

30. Yes, and welcome to DU