Kasper on Tap and the fragile nature of blogs
Vudean just posted about Kasper on Tap under an unrelated entry, and I've gotten other comments, so this might be the time to talk about the fragile nature of blogs and why page views matter to me:
EL - can you start a petition to get Rob Kasper's "Kasper On Tap" beer blog back!? He just annoucned its ending :(
I read 3 blogs religiouisly - this one, his, and one unlrelated one not from the Sun.
I need my beer fix!
The problem is it just didn't get the readership it deserved. Some folks enjoy blogging early and often (me) and some seem to prefer reporting and the craft of writing (Rob). The good news is that now he can focus on his column and stories, not just churning out the random musings that are my specialty. .. .
Honestly, I don't think a petition would do any good. The higher ups know he had loyal readers, he just didn't have enough to sustain the blog. The blog universe is so fluid. Even the Sun's blogs, if you haven't noticed, come and go often.
Maybe I can convince Rob to do a beer guest post for me on a semi-regular basis for his regular readers if there's interest.
Now you see why I continue to post my Top 10 lists, which usually generate about twice the number of page views as my other entries. Not every post has to appeal to the widest number of readers, but I do have to have a good mix.
Comments
EL, please keep those random musings coming--some of us are addicted to them.
I'm not a big fan of beer, but I like Rob Kasper, so would welcome the occasional guest post from him.
Posted by: Dahlink | October 30, 2009 4:59 PM
he should just start one on blogger. it's of the best variety: F-R-E-E
Posted by: ryan97ou | October 30, 2009 5:10 PM
Kasper's no longer on tap? (!!)
I need a beer.
Of course, now I don't know which beer.
Posted by: jl | October 30, 2009 6:36 PM
In Rob's honor, I had a Heavy Seas "Hang Ten" tonight at dinner. Yum...
Posted by: zevonista | October 30, 2009 6:45 PM
Kasper on Top was the first blog I ever read. I couldn't believe the paper was hip enough to have a blog just about beer, my primary food group. I think guest posts from Rob would be great - and appropriate, since he often posed questions to readers about favorite food/beer combinations.
Posted by: Heather | October 30, 2009 7:33 PM
(freudian slip)
Posted by: Heather | October 30, 2009 7:36 PM
I'm not quite sure I understand the logic of killing a blog. Isn't the marginal cost roughly zero? Why would newspapers kill anything that's driving pageviews, even if the numbers are "disappointing"?
Regardless, I hope Rob is willing to do guest posts. I very much enjoy his thoughts on beer, and many people enjoy fine beer just as much as fine food and wine. Not to mention that Rob was one of the driving forces behind the hugely successful Baltimore Beer Week. His blogtributions will be missed.
Wow, now it looks like the Sun doesn't even have links to the old posts. That seems a bit extreme.
Interesting question. Maybe I can get someone to answer it. EL
Posted by: Mitch | October 30, 2009 10:05 PM
Argh! Now I'm that guy that posts the same thing three times in a row!
Posted by: Mitch | October 30, 2009 10:07 PM
Mitch, Mitch, Mitch, Mitch ... we understand. It was the beer clicking.
Posted by: jl | October 30, 2009 11:09 PM
Hm, do you think they made the decision previously and were just waiting until Beer Week ended? I do have to say, when I read an interesting post from him in my feed reader, I would often click through to the full page to see what people had to say, and I was very often disappointed to see that I was the first commenter. For whatever reason, it didn't seem to attract the sort of community following you and Sam have. Maybe it's because all the beer folks already post their thoughts on their own blogs... Maybe it's just because OMG doesn't have enough to say about beer.
In any case, I'd love to keep seeing guest posts from Rob on D@L.
Posted by: MarkT | October 30, 2009 11:15 PM
Blogging isn't easy. It takes a huge amount of work. This is why 99% of blogs out there are crap and/or fail after a few weeks.
We're lucky that Elizabeth has the skills, the humour and the time (and I have no idea how) to blog. If Mr. Kasper would rather focus on other aspects of his craft, well, good on him for realizing his limits.
Posted by: Lissa | October 30, 2009 11:24 PM
I visited Rob's blog occasionally, but I guess not often enough. I would like to see him visit and do a guest beer post every now and then.
I enjoy his columns also, and miss his "Saturday's Hero", that was one of my favorite columns in the print edition.
Posted by: PCB Rob | October 31, 2009 12:49 PM
Good idea EL, I would love to see Rob do some guest posting here.
I still need some help finding some good beer blogs, particularly one with some local baltimore flavor. Anyone?
Posted by: vudean | October 31, 2009 3:45 PM
Hi, sandboxers. EL asked me to jump in here and explain some more about Rob's blog. I'll do my best.
Mitch, the cost isn't zero when you consider the time spent putting the work in. Think about how much time EL spends researching, writing, linking, finding photos, hunting down ideas, moderating comments and all the other work that goes into blogging. We often weigh the input of time for a project with the expected results before committing to a certain amount of work, and we're also constantly evaluating what we do to make sure it makes sense to continue. This is true across the paper and the site. Lissa and MarkT both touched on aspects we have to consider when evaluating our blogs.
That said, I agree with you that Rob's blog will be missed, but I think we'll continue to see his excellent writing in the paper and on the site in different ways.
Finally, his old posts aren't gone; you can find all his archives, dated by month, in the right rail of the blog: baltimoresun.com/kasperontap
Vudean, you might also click into Rob's blog and check out his blogroll for good beer blog suggestions and from the links from commenters.
Posted by: Multimedia Editor(ish) Mary | October 31, 2009 4:27 PM