A couple of months ago, I found out that Kramer Books, an independent bookstore in DC, had started doing book events. I took the postcard listing the events and the website URL, and went to the website. Soon, I saw an author I wanted to see (Derek Thompson, author of Hitmakers). I went to the event, which took place in a pretty tight space, with enough seating for about 20 or so, and standing space for about 20 or so more. Kramer's was selling $5 wine, which I believe was part of draw. I thought Thompson was very interesting, and I actually went home and got his book from the library (and I will be sharing thoughts on it in a future blog post).

Based on my positive experience, I kept tabs on the Kramer Book's online event calendar. Soon, there was another event I wanted to attend. It was three journalists who cover the White House (and being a politics and news junkie). So I put it in my calendar. In the back of my mind I thought this would be a very crowded event, this being DC and the space being so small. Well, I took the Metro from Rockville, and got there around 5:20. There was a line around the block. The event didn't start until 6;30. It was very hot, and based on the space, I knew I wouldn't get in, so I decided not to stand in line for an hour. It costs $6 to ride Metro from where I live to Dupont Circle, where Kramer Books is. I basically wasted $12. And well over an hour. I was not happy. The next day, I noticed that Kramer Books had tweeted about a livestream. I tweeted back that had I known I would have skipped going down there. I got back a reply that they tweeted it, and put it on Facebook and Instagram, and they were sorry (more like sorry, not sorry) that I hadn't seen it. I asked why they hadn't included this on their event page. And I got no response back.

The thing is I will most likely never attend an event at Kramer Books again. It is too costly and too much of a crapshoot. And their social media response was not good. A better response would've been to send me a link to the recording.

Events can be great marketing tools. In this case, Kramer's gets people in the door, and hopefully, checking out their book selection or eating at their restaurant. Events can also generate publicity.

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