Request for comments: Travel advice in FAQ?

I seems to me that this argument has arisen mainly in respect to Oregon. I did not notice any such detailed discussion for other regions, although some suggestions were made and were included. I see no reason why Oregon should be singled out for such detailed consideration. The fact remains that one could write a book on most of the regions, and I do not see why Oregon needs so much special consideration in comparison with, say, California where things can change fairly rapidly also. I hope we do not get stuck in minute details concerning Oregon. There are still very important sections to go including Bordeaux and Burgundy, to name two. If Oregon becomes a troublesome section, then perhaps it can be delayed and other regions included until the Oregon question can be resolved. Please remember that Mark Lipton is a professor with a very full time job. He is spending a large amount of time on this project. Hopefully some others can write some drafts of other sections for him to consider, as some already have. This project is nearly too much for a single person, and especially for someone who is as busy as Mark.

As an occassional poster and regular lurker at AFW, I think travel advice is great. Of course, caveat emptor applies and anyone who takes an x-month or y-year old suggestion on face value, especially in fast moving or volatile regions, is probably doing herself/ himself a disservice, and not being misled by the FAQ.

Moreover when did an FAQ prevent people from posting repeat questions!

So one yea for the recommendations!

Cheers

Well, not that you really seem to care on my opinion but here goes:

1) Oregon is different that many other regions as there really are not that many places, lodging in wine country.

2) Unlike Napa it is less commercially developed.

3) Finding lodging and knowing what areas provide lodging is at best difficult in Oregon. 4) Restaurants in wine country mostly appeal to farmers not visitiors. There are some very nice ones but you have to know where to look.

If the FAQ is to address any lodging or any restarants the more the better. Links to brochures for wineries that is complete is even more helpful.

also has nice website.

When I have gone to Dundee, Tigard to visit wine country the first time some

15 years ago Best Western and the Shilo Inn were about the only places to stay. Then I found Hotel Oregon in Mcminnville-an ecclectic Hippy type place. Very odd, very strange but very Oregon in all its glory. I still like to stay there.

I understand the concerns re accuracy over time. I also see the value in including recs in an FAQ. While its true that new discussion might be more valuable, there's no guarantee that people with knowledge are reading the group at any given time (or that their information isn't dated). A pointer to the FAQ doesn't mean that we can't have discussion.

I'm for links to specific resources in a particular area. Might I also suggest that each travel section have a disclaimer along the lines of: "The following is a compendium of various posts to AFW on the subject of travel to this area. Wineries, lodging, and (most especially) restaurants change over time; recommendations here might be dated as to the quality (or even existence) of certain establishments. Use this as a tool for research, not as a definitive guide. Feel free to ask for more current information " I know its a slight added hassle, but if Mark or Cwdjryx could add a "last edited" date to those sections it might be worthwhile.

Thanks for all your work!

Mark Lipt> Those of you who've read the Oregon thread may know that the question

"Joe \"Beppe\"Rosenberg" wrote in news:IoOdnZcVbpDr99rYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Salishan Lodge in Lincoln City, on the coast, is still there. While it may not have it full earlier "presence" It's still a very nice resort and is a destination itself. They recently did a complete upgrade of the golf course, which i understand is very nice.

John

I think travel reccomendations are fine (so long as they don't become a book!), and dating the individual suggestions would be very helpful.

Jose

I guess I'm the one responsible for all of the furor this topic has generated since I first raised the issue with regard to a list of Oregon wineries that Mark included in his draft FAQ. It was certainly not my intent to create any kind of controversy. It just so happened that I had just returned from a trip to the Willamette Valley, where I visited a number of wineries, some of which were on Mark's list and some which were not, and I sort of wondered why some wineries made the cut and some didn't. Mark explained the methodology he used to compile the list, and I have absolutely no quarrel with it. If anything, he is to be commended for the effort he put into the pursuit, not to mention tbe effort he has put into this entire FAQ project.

My concern is that putting a partial list of wineries (I am far less concerned about dining or lodging establishments) in the FAQ could be interpreted as some kind of endorsement of those wineries to the exclusion of others. Although the issue came up in the context of Oregon wineries, it is by no means specific to that region, as some posters have suggested.

Let the diswcussions continue.

Vino

Keep up the good work and thanks Mark...

My view is that FAQs in general--here or elsewhere--are of very little value. They sound great in theory, but in practice, people seldom visit them, and the frequently-asked questions continue to get frequently asked.

I certainly don't think they hurt to have and I wouldn't want to dissuade someone who wants to do this from doing so. But I think they are never worth the amount of amount that has to be put ino them to do a good job.

So I vote for saving you the work.

Mark Lipton wrote in news:M7CdnZzFybtDTdvYnZ2dnUVZ_s- snipped-for-privacy@insightbb.com:

I am with Ken on this. In addition to his point, simply saving work on futile efforts, writing that things change so current information should be sought is valid for wineries as it is for restaurants which are really no better than their last few days of meals.

Sorry, that should be "amount of effort," of course. Sometimes my own typos just amaze me.

Perhaps Webalizer statistics from my domain that hosts the web version of the FAQs will provide some objective information. My bandwidth usage has increased considerably since the FAQs went up. There have been at least several hundred direct hits to the FAQs. Some ISPs cache pages after the first hit to increase efficiency of their service, so the direct hits may produce many more indirect hits from cached pages which are not recorded by Webalizer. Hits are now coming from 38 countries around the world. Some of these hits are for some of my pages. However there are many new countries and many more hits by countries for which I already was receiving hits. My conclusion is that quite a few people are reading the FAQs on the website.

I'm strongly for including this sort of information. Historically it's a question we get a lot. You're doing great work, thanks Mark.

-E