Latest on The Q Card

We're a couple of weeks into selling The Q Card, so I wanted to update you. We've got 22 affiliates on board, in 18 cities. Each of the affiliates has a Q-Card point-of-purchase display, letting you know what their Q-Card discount/deal is - or you can find an updated list on the website. We're adding more every week, so hopefully we'll keep growing and growing. If you've got pull with any joints that don't accept the card, get 'em to sign on!

Normally, cards will be good for a year and cost $10, but the first 1,000 cards sold will be good through October 2011. So, get one now, and you get deals and discounts for almost 17 months. On top of that, all cards sold in June are 25% off ($7.50).

You can purchase cards via PayPal on http://www.theqcard.com/ (even if you don't have a PayPal account, you can use PayPal to pay with a credit card), or you can email me to make alternate-purchase arrangements. Also, we'll be selling the cards at Brew B Que in Buda on July 4 and at the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival in Austin on September 19.

We'll be throwing some Q-Card launch parties at several of the restaurants that have signed on as affiliates, so stay tuned for details.

You can keep abreast of who's signing on via the website (currently a beta site; revamped site under development; should be live within a month), as well as via Facebook and Twitter.

Sincerest thanks to our friend Addie Broyles, for giving the card some love in the Statesman.

Lastly, now that the program has been launched, I will no longer officially score (on this blog) any of the joints that are Q-Card affiliates. I don't want anyone to doubt the motives behind any good reviews/scores, so I'm bowing out of officially scoring affiliates, thus removing any conflict of interest or even the appearance of impropriety. Nothing else about the blog will change. The other Man Uppers will continue to score, as usual, and we'll keep posting reviews, scores, handing out awards, etc. But, when it comes to the official scores (i.e. the ones that I use to determine our "Best of" winners), I won't take part.