Comments on The Gray Report: W. Blake Gray now blogging for Crushpad

Congrads on the new paying gig Blake. I know some...

2011-12-28T21:37:02.972-08:00

Congrads on the new paying gig Blake. I know some of the original Crush Pad team and several happy customers, so my impression is that you are a good fit. They are a quality outfit with good people behind their services. For those who want an introduction to the art, without much of a fuss, it offers a nice experience led by a thoughtful team.

Blake, Just wanted to say thanks for your decanti...

2011-12-19T14:33:36.622-08:00

Blake,

Just wanted to say thanks for your decanting article, as well the ones
yet to come (of which I have had a sneak preview). We are delighted you are writing for Crushpad.
Regarding our purpose -- we are looking to develop a useful content resource from experts like you -- that will be useful to our existing
customers -- as well as those who may be interested in

congrats on landing another paying gig. I've ...

2011-12-19T10:07:13.011-08:00

congrats on landing another paying gig. I've enjoyed your blog for some time and went over to click on your Crush Pad link, so your mission is now accomplished :)

All the best to you.

Looking forward to reading your articles on Crushp...

2011-12-19T01:29:22.883-08:00

Looking forward to reading your articles on Crushpad. I've heard a lot of great things about them and your addition to team is a step towards the right direction. Congratulations.

Hey guys - NO worries at all, I am NOT upset and s...

2011-12-17T12:34:24.749-08:00

Hey guys - NO worries at all, I am NOT upset and sorry if I gave that impression (that was a reflection more on my frustration with the iPhone browsing/typing!).

Generally I am really curious and am glad that you're being (overly?) transparent on this stuff, Blake - as you know, that's my M.O. on these things as well (be open, let people decide for themselves if they think you&

SteveG: You're right. Joe: I meant no insult...

2011-12-17T11:49:30.977-08:00

SteveG: You're right.

Joe: I meant no insult. "Amateur" means not getting paid. To pick an important nit, I didn't call you "amateurish" and wouldn't. Sorry if you got iPhone finger trying to respond.

I think I've been more open about my arrangement with Crushpad than is really wise, so nobody can accuse me of lack of transparency, but

for 1WineDude: While I am sure W.Blake can speak ...

2011-12-17T06:21:17.928-08:00

for 1WineDude:

While I am sure W.Blake can speak for himself, I take the reference to "amateur" in the sense of a non-professional enthusiast ("lover", is the original French, I believe), which is in no way derogatory or denoting 'non-expert', in fact often quite the contrary.

(I enjoy your blog pages as well!)

Been trying to leave this comment via iPhone - not...

2011-12-17T05:09:03.510-08:00

Been trying to leave this comment via iPhone - not fun - so sorry if there are multiple instances of it...

Not sure how adhering to a longstanding policy regarding sponsored content makes me amateurish. In fact, I don't get that *at all*. Didn't you just take TWA to task for possibly not adhering to their longstanding policies?

Regarding getting paid to write blogs

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Yeah, in this econom...

2011-12-16T14:06:22.815-08:00

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Yeah, in this economy, if somebody's going to pay me to write AND I get a lot of choice in what I write, what's not to like?

Crushpad has been presenting me a menu of topics. I choose the topics I want to write about. For this first post, we discussed the lead, they had a suggestion, I riffed off their suggestion, and we were both happy with it.

I think that's pretty cool. I like Crushpad - ...

2011-12-16T11:52:43.187-08:00

I think that's pretty cool. I like Crushpad - I had a great visit with them a year ago. I have to admit that their previous blogging was a little weak. I'm looking forward to reading some well written content from Crushpad. Good luck, and hey, work IS work.

Work is work these days, go for it and keep it as ...

2011-12-16T11:27:48.594-08:00

Work is work these days, go for it and keep it as interesing as your blog.

Anon: You're absolutely right, you ARE patheti...

2011-12-16T10:50:11.192-08:00

Anon: You're absolutely right, you ARE pathetic for cowardly criticizing somebody without the courage to put your name on it. I only answer questions from real people with names.

1WineDude: To each his own. I tweet about my posts on my own blog. I don't see any difference. I dunno, if you want to insist on being an amateur that's fine, but I write to make money and have for

Blake - Are you going to rate and/or review Crushp...

2011-12-16T10:28:26.259-08:00

Blake - Are you going to rate and/or review Crushpad clients wine?

Pathetic.

2011-12-16T10:11:05.114-08:00

Pathetic.

This is NOT a comment on those who are blogging fo...

2011-12-16T10:08:46.337-08:00

This is NOT a comment on those who are blogging for Crushpad, but I turned them down because they had incentives in the contract specifically about tweeting / fb-ing the links to drive people to the blog posts, and I told them that didn't fit with my policies regarding non-sponsored content. I.e., me tweeting about the post, to me, was creating sponsored twitter content.

Maybe I&

Hi Blake, I, too, am one of the new paid bloggers ...

2011-12-16T08:26:52.132-08:00

Hi Blake,
I, too, am one of the new paid bloggers for Crushpad and I did 'pimp' the site and my blog post wherever I could. I was pleased to find myself in such good company and who knows maybe we can bring many eyes to crushpad so that it becomes obvious they have a happening blog. Pennies from heaven is what we may see. I couldn't open your tip jar so sorry.