My relationship with CAMRA at the moment is something of a
love-hate one. Hate is probably too strong a word, but my feelings towards the
Campaign have definitely cooled over the past few years. and this is for a
variety of reasons which I won't go into here.
What I will say though is, as I wrote in a comment on Pub Curmudgeon's blog, I really think that CAMRA has lost its way, and this comes
after the results of the Revitalisation Project; the grand design which was
supposed to breathe new life into the Campaign and set it on course for the
next decade or so.
However, despite these mis-givings I have decided to allow
my CAMRA membership to renew again, as the Direct Debit is due later this month
and there isn't sufficient time to cancel it. This is sheer laziness on my part,
but perhaps there's still something stirring deep in my unconsciousness which
doesn't want me to let go of an organisation which has been part of my life for
over 40 years.
If I had decided to throw in the towel, there are a few
things that I wouldn't have missed. Good Beer Guide surveys and selections
meetings top the list, but so do CAMRA committee meetings (I am involved in
more than enough meetings during the course of my work, to tick that particular
box). I wouldn't miss the Wetherspoon's vouchers either, as I barely use a
fraction of them, and Tim Martin isn't exactly "flavour of the month" as far as I
am concerned.
On the plus side though, there is the social side of the
Campaign, and this for me has always been one of the most important aspects of
CAMRA. The other real positive is that I will continue to receive copies of
CAMRA's award-winning, quarterly Beer magazine.
The publication is enriched by articles from a variety of
guest contributors, who are too numerous to mention here, but there have been
articles about pubs, food, walking, places to visit abroad, music, breweries,
beer and cider tastings and all things related. In short there is plenty to
entertain, enthral and educate everyone and anyone with an interest in beer.
Nicely laid out in a pleasing and contemporary style you'd
be forgiven for thinking that I am on CAMRA's payroll for writing this piece which sings the magazine's praises.
Beer magazine is only available to CAMRA members and not to
the general public, which may seem strange at first until you consider the
Campaign has had its fingers burned over general-sale magazines in the past.
Many reading this may not be aware that back in the 1980's CAMRA made a couple
of brave, but ultimately doomed attempts to launch "What's Brewing"
as a magazine for public consumption.
There were a number of reasons for these failures, but it
was said at the time this was due to the role played by Smith's News (formerly
WH Smith's News), in the distribution of magazines and newspapers to the
newsagent and book trade.
I don't recall anything concrete, although this was 30 plus
years ago, but I suspect sales might not have been sufficient for publication
of the magazine to continue. It may also have been that CAMRA were unable to
live with a loss for the sustained period necessary to get the magazine off the
ground.
This was a shame, but perhaps inevitable given the
cut-throat nature of the world of publishing, but whilst it was sad for CAMRA,
it was even worse for the general public as they missed out, and are continuing
to miss out on what is (in its current guise of Beer), an excellent
publication.
As a beer writer and beer enthusiast, I would say that, but
at least I am able to get my fix of all things beer, brewing and pubs related,
on a quarterly basis. If you are a CAMRA member and have been tempted to cast
this publication aside, may I humbly suggest you give it a second look.
One final thing, which I'm sure most members are aware of, CAMRA
is extremely keen to push the electronic/digital versions of both "What's
Brewing" and "Beer magazine". The Campaign's reason for going
down this route are purely financial, as they want to save on printing and
postage costs.
What they have failed to realise is they are swimming
against the tide. Printed publications, be they books or magazines are not only
holding their own, but are gaining sales over their digital counterparts.
So don't be pressured into going down this route, and make
sure you have registered with CAMRA to
receive a paper copy of both "Beer" and "What's Brewing", as trying to read these
publications on a computer screen or tablet. just isn't the same.