Wall Street Journal publishes article on Louisville I wrote in its Off Duty travel section

The Wall Street Journal, May 7-8, 2011—"Louisville, Ky.: Day at the Races"

On May 7, The Wall Street Journal published an article I wrote about Louisville as a travel destination—”Louisville, Ky.: Day at the Races”:

• Download a .pdf of the article here
• Read the article on The Wall Street Journal’s website here

Running on the day of the Kentucky Derby, the full-page feature in the Journal’s Off Duty section included

• a 500-word essay sharing insider insight on Louisville
• the top local picks from notable Louisvillians: musician Jim James (lead singer of My Morning Jacket), novelist Sue Grafton, chef Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia, and hotelier Laura Lee Brown (owner and curator of 21c Museum Hotel)
• a sidebar on five of my favorite local venues

I also assisted the editor and photographer with selecting subjects for the nine pieces of art that accompanied the article.

In mid-April I received an email from an editor at the paper asking if I was interested in writing an insider’s guide to Louisville to run in Off Duty on Derby day. He’d been editor-in-chief of BlackBook and apparently figured that publication’s Louisville City Guide editor would be a good writer to consider for this assignment. That’d be me.

When I speak about writing, I stress the importance of promoting your work on your own website and via social media. This assignment is a perfect example of why that’s important.

In addition to the Louisvillians who graciously contributed to the piece, thanks to Louisville Magazine‘s publisher Dan Crutcher (also the owner/my boss at Louisville.com) and staff writer Josh Moss who gave me ideas and helped me track down contact info.

On Air Canada, I’m your in-flight entertainment

My article on hotels where the art is given the gallery treatment, complete with booklets, podcasts, or even an in-house art historian, leads off the October 2009 issue of enRoute, Air Canada’s in-flight magazine.

Download a .pdf of my article here.

I was excited to include a hotel in my current hometown (Louisville’s 21C Museum Hotel) as well as one in Washington, DC (Ritz-Carlton Georgetown), where I had lived for the past eight years.

I also wrote the accompanying sidebar that describes three hotels where guests actually become part of the art (in particular the recording studio in Daddy Long Legs Independent Travellers Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa sounds worthy of a stay).

You also can read the article on enRoute‘s website, Wish You Were Here: Gallery Hotels, although it doesn’t include the sidebar or (more importantly) my bio.

I’ve written some other articles for future issues of enRoute too.

Update Oct. 15, 2009: The sidebar is now online too–Wish You Were Here: Creativity Meets Hospitality.