As I mentioned last year, I've added Beer Mapping's POI files to my GPS (and if you don't like the acronymicality, that means I've loaded files with all the American brewpubs, breweries, and beer bars listed on Beermapping.com into my car's navigation computer). It works well, and I use it a lot. I've been using the site more often, too. BeerAdvocate has more listings, but I find Beermapping's map functions much more useful for what I do: travel for beer.But I've found a problem: outside major cities, the coverage of beer bars gets pretty thin. I've been adding a few, and I'd like to urge you to do the same. It's quite easy: just search the database by name to see if your fave local (or not so local) beer bar is in there. If it is, add a quick review. If it's not, add it: all you need is the name, address, phone number, URL, and whether it's a brewery/brewpub, beer bar, or beer store. Submit it and unlike some "other sites," the adds go online within a day or so.
Yeah, it's like work. Yeah, you don't get paid. But you know? This is what things were like back in the day. We told each other about bars with good beer because there wasn't another way to do it. Now there are ways...but Beermapping delivers a different -- and for some uses more valuable -- product.
They're working on other applications too. They have a mobile app, and they've integrated Twitter (something I have yet to do...and don't really intend to). There are other mapping tools in development. I figure the least I can do is add some bars to the database. Why not help out?
