It’s less than 2 weeks before the annual Wine Bloggers Conference, and I’m finally getting a little jazzed with it. life has been busy these days, with my day job, the WBC Scholarship, and, well, STUFF but I’m looking forward to a few days off spent with my 300 closest friends in the sweaty summer weather in Virginia. As a 4 year veteran, some things that I’ve learned on the road to blogging:
- Get to know your sponsors. We have a few hours on Friday to learn who has made the event possible; stop by and say hi! You never know what relationships might form.
- Attend the keynotes with Jancis Robinson and Eric Asimov. These sessions are great kick starters and will get you in to the groove.
- Go with the flow, don’t get overwhelmed.
- Be prepared to want to do more than one thing at once
- have FUN!
- Don’t be overly structured
- Spit spit spit. I can’t emphasize this enough. Yes, there are moments (dinner, after hours parties) where I don’t spit and enjoy myself, but you are representing bloggers as a whole, and should have some decorum. It’s a business conference at the core, disguised as a party. Present yourself accordingly.
- Don’t forget to sleep!
- Engage in the “Anti-Conference” spontaneous events; these are the best way to network with your fellow bloggers, writers, and industry professionals.
- Participate in the Unconference sessions. These informal discussion panels let you get involved.
- Have an open mind. You never know if there are wines you wouldn’t normally try, that you will love!
- Bring something from home that represents your region, style, and / or personality. This could be wine, but it could also be food, a book, or a t-shirt.
- Bring business cards. yes it may seem archaic, but it’s the best way to quickly introduce yourself with a memorable item. The stacks of cards collected are reminders when we get home to follow, tweet, and read otehr peoples information.
- Follow the #wbc11 twitter stream. Make sure you are not protected (my main account is, but I tweet under @luscious_lushes for public consumption). We want to hear your thoughts!
- Find time to post a few quick blog posts with your thoughts BEFORE, DRUING, and AFTER the conference. First impressions are great conversation starters.
- Spend some time on Friday morning meeting the sponsors. They are the reason we are all able to attend this event, and they want to know the bloggers are much as we want to know them.
- Participate, however briefly in the after hours events such as the Other 46 Tasting and the International Wine Night. While there will undoubtedly be parties at the time time, it’s a great way to get to know other people.
- Find a party to attend! This is a great way to get ot know people on a personal level. Sponsors, wineries, and bloggers all host formal and informal parties during the event.
- Attend the break outs. Too many people don’t attend the core of the conference and they miss out. While You Need to choose which bits are important to you as a blogger, just to pull the meat out.
- am Content
Here’s what I thnk I”ll be doing:
- Keynotes, of course
- Breakout 1 - Online Technologies and Wine. I am really looking forward to hearing more about current online technologies and how they relate to blogging and the wine world. Hey, I work in IT. Once a geek, always a geek. This stuff fascinates me.
- Live Wine Blogging: Red and White – Also known as Speed Tasting, Speed DSating, or Insanity, I get a kick of out fast first impression tastes and the twitter storm that occurs. you can tweet or blog, or take notes to blog later. I suggest tweeting, as it’s the fastest way to keep up with the tasting.
- The Other 46 Tasting - I’m the first to admit, I’m a snob when it comes to wines being made in other states. But, in keeping with my belief that you need to go with an open mind, I’ll show up to taste wines from Texas, Indiana, and other states (spit cup in hand). Who knows! I might find something I like!
- Saturday Morning Wine Country Visit – one of the core events of every WBC is visiting a local winery or two and learning about the local wine culture.
- Vibrant Rioja After Hours Party – I like Rioja, and what’s NOT to like about a wine and food crawl?
- Unconference Blogger-Led Discussions – This was one of my favorite events at the first WBC, and I’m pleased to see it has finally made it back. Part of the inspiration for me, is hearing what other bloggers think on topics. This format allows us all to have a structured but informal conversation on topics we all want to hear about.
- Ignite Wine! – Five minute mini presentations on all sorts of topics. How much can YOU distill in 5 minutes?
As you can see, there are some sessions not on my personal agenda. It’s not that I don’t find them valuable, it’s just that I don’t think I will be personally interested in them. In leaving them off my “must do” list, I create some free flow, where I can catch up with my blogger friends, experience some of the local restaurants, write some posts, join an off the grid get together, or just chill.
I will see you in 10 days and can’t wait to report this year’s news!
