Because Bridget & I review restaurants, we occasionally get invited to promotional and media events. Some of these happen because we’ve gotten onto lists for P.R. firms, and others happen for no apparent reason.

I’m always fascinated why we get invited. While I have good table manners, an appreciation for fine dining and a zest for talking about it online, I know I’m not sitting on the hottest Web site this side of Digg. So I try to ask because that helps us improve our chances of getting to the next event. We didn’t get a clear answer for last night’s soiree, but somehow I think it’s because we’d favorably reviewed the restaurant in the past. Pretty sure.

Since I wasn’t getting clear answers as to how we got there, I started asking the restaurant rep what she hoped to get out of blogger/podcaster attendance and how the PR firm for the restaurant planned to measure the success of the event. I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t know. She did know that 25% of their guests were new, one-time visitors, and therefore it was important to have local buzz going about their restaurant. She also knew that word of mouth marketing is important for their business and that much of this happens on-line.

However, there wasn’t any talk about measuring the reach of any particular blogger or correlating any blog activities to an increase in business. She had faith that events like this would pay off. If it were me, I would want to know if online buzz increased and actually benefited the restaurant. It seems expensive and time consuming to host an eight-course meal with wine pairings for fifteen people without a clear sense of why you’re doing it.

Part of me can’t wait for a restaurant or P.R. firm to ask me about our subscriber base and reach as a qualifier to attending these events. I may even review the restaurant if they did.