It’s official! On July 22-24, I will be in Charlottesville, VA for the 4th Annual North American Wine Bloggers’ Conference (WBC11). I will be joining 300 other wine bloggers and industry folks for an action packed, 3-day weekend that will include two live wine blogging sessions, keynote speeches by wine literati Jancis Robinson and Eric Asimov, and a Virginia wine reception at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
There is a lot of excitement about the conference in the VA wine world. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has been a big advocate for the state’s wine industry and is excited about the attention and visitors that WBC11 will bring to the area. The Virginia Wine industry put together a video overview of the state’s wineries and vineyards, and Drink What YOU Like has had several great blog posts that not only give an overview of VA wines, but also provide some suggestions on logistics, resources, etc. (post 1 and post 2). Additionally, several local bloggers have posted music video tributes, and to help introduce other wine bloggers to the state’s delicious juice, My Vine Spot held VA wine’s first Twitter Taste Live event—Discover VA Wine: Monticello Wine Trail.
Long-time readers will remember that I went to Santa Rosa, CA two years ago for WBC09, which was my inaugural wine blogger event. It was a fantastic event, so my expectations for WBC11 are pretty high. However, with the amazing things that are happening in the VA wine industry and the way that the blog posts and tweets surrounding WBC11 are already picking up steam, I have no doubt that the conference will be huge success.
So, the countdown to WBC11 has begun…40 days until I arrive in Charlottesville!
Question of the day: If you’re a blogger, have you ever gone to a conference specifically geared towards the topic of your blog (i.e. International Food Bloggers Conference, FitBloggin’, BlogHer, BlogPaws, etc.)? What conference was it, and what was your experience like? Any suggestions for blog conference newbies?
Tips for Newbies: I was at WBC10 in Walla Walla last year. Beware the “Speed Blogging” session. Spit those wondeful wines out. DO NOT drink during the 60 minute barrage of wines…I learned the hard way. It’s a very intense session of tasting, tweeting and blogging. Here’s a link to my post about that day, if it’s permitted, http://www.wild4washingtonwine.com/2010/06/walla-walla-lost-and-found.html
William–That is a very good suggestion! And thanks for posting the link…I love having links, as long as they’re not spam, and yours was certainly not spam. In fact, I loved reading about your first experience with speed-tasting at WBC10. I wish I had been able to attend, but sadly, it wasn’t in the cards for me last year.