Richmond, BC gets PR blogger in Lindsay Anderson, but little else

I want to hate Lindsay Anderson.

She is probably a very nice person, but I'm tempted to hate her because she got the coveted role of blogging 365 days a year on the dining scene in Richmond, BC, just south of Vancouver.

I had applied for this position and never heard back. I blog about food and Canada (not always together but usually separately), so I figured an interview was entirely possible. True, Ms. Anderson has quite a background.

She also worked as a cheese-monger and baker, and volunteered on several Italian farms where she herded goats, made cheese, harvested olives, and helped plant a vineyard. In 2010, She moved to Italy for a year to earn a master's degree in Food Culture and Communications from the University of Gastronomic Sciences.

She could use a proofreader as "She" should not be capitalized after "2010."

You can't blame me for trying. I wanted to blog about food in Richmond for 365 days, get paid $50,000, and have a free gym membership. And I wanted to live in the Vancouver area.

Did Richmond make the right choice? Well, Anderson takes a lot of pictures so we don't get too many words from her. Regular readers know I am better with words than pictures. Anderson features a few pictures of herself, whereas my pictures would possibly frighten small children. She likes virtually everything, something which I wouldn't have been able to pull off. I respect the right to be truly honest if I don't like something. Perhaps Anderson really likes most everything, but it can be off-putting in the way food TV "loves" everything with equal abandon.

And a few of her readers believe she spends too much time in Steveston. You should be aware of these things if you are going to spread yourself throughout a city.

She seemed really proud about making it to 100 days; the post was the first I had heard that someone was indeed blogging for Richmond. I could do 100 days standing on my head; I wouldn't be treating that like it was a marathon.

One new perk not offered in the deal was getting to stay in fancy hotels in Richmond. Even thought you get an apartment as part of the deal, a few nights in really nice hotels would have been extra special nice.

Anderson does get to go to a lot of Asian places, an area where I don't have that much experience. I would have offered a fresh perspective.

The ad made it seem like the city was looking for that fresh perspective. However, Anderson is from the area; she has eaten in some of these places before she took the job in June.

Richmond, BC wanted someone to give them publicity about its dining scene, and Anderson does a reasonably good job of doing just that. Still, the challenge of a honest outside blogger giving a perspective on a city's dining scene would draw quite an audience. For myself, I would prefer that be in Canada. I will take whatever perks you think would help get the job done. With some notice, I can start really soon. Just send me an e-mail.

photo credit