What Can I say about WBC?

June 30th, 2010

So much has already been written about the Wine Bloggers’ Conference this past weekend in the form of top 10 posts and sum ups. The consensus seems to be that the conference rocked and I’m totally in agreement there. I was told by Grace of Cellar Mistress before the conference that this weekend would change my life, but I’m not sure I knew what she meant or knew the extent to which that would be true. Now, I know.

The Top Gun Bloggers themselves. (Left to right: Drew, Ben, Joe)

The content of the seminars were fantastic. From Jeff Lefever of Good Grape giving us tools to make ourselves better bloggers to Hardy Wallace (Dirty South Wine) and Meg Maker (Palate Press, Maker’s Table) thoroughly disagreeing about writing and the fundamentals of why to write (with that still being okay) to Top Gun Wine Blogging with Joe (Suburban Wino), Ben (Vinotology), and Drew (Vineyard Vlog) and laughing my ass of. It was all unique. I don’t think I could get a support system and community feeling like that just any old time. The conference was so special in being able to give me more perspective of why I’m doing this. It also completely inspired me to keep it up. I love this stuff and that was cemented in my head and heart this weekend.

But, you know I can’t write a post without saying how awesome it was to hang out with my fellow bloggers. I’d forged friendships with some of these people through blog comments and Twitter but we got to confirm these friendships in real life, and that’s completely priceless. There was a little get together that I arranged after dinner on Saturday night including myself, Joe, Ben, and Steve (Notes From The Cellar) that I think we’ll all look back quite fondly on. After packed days of busy events, sitting back and just hanging out with a couple bottles of wine was really the thing that made my conference (Thanks guys).

And if that wasn’t even enough, I was amazed that some of the people who I look up to and admire knew who I was. It just really made me believe that I’m not out here talking to no one (even though analytics tells me I’m not, it’s nice to meet people face to face). People are reading. And they’re people who I think are awesome.

If it was possible, the weekend made me really love what I do here even more. I’m so happy to start getting back into the swing of things and put out loads more content for you guys. There’s a lot more to come. I have plenty to catch up on.

Filed under: Uncategorized View Comments
  • lisamattson
    Hi Amanda,

    Epic picture of the Top Guns!

    It was great meeting you at the Wine Bloggers Conference. I will forever think of “The Movie Game” and your mad IMDB iPhone app skills when I see your posts on Facebook. I really enjoyed hanging out with you during the excursion as well.

    Thanks for friending me on Facebook. I will become a fan Wineing Woman when I return from vacation. Here's the link I promised. The video blog we launched in February is The Journey of Jordan: http://blog.jordanwinery.com. Please check it out. If you have any suggestions on content, I’d greatly appreciate the advice.

    Please do look me up if you’re ever coming up to Healdsburg. If I don’t see you before 2011, hope to reconnect in Charlottesville next summer.

    Best,
    Lisa Mattson
    The Journey of Jordan: a wine and food video blog
  • Hi Lisa,

    Thanks for your comment! It was a pleasure to meet you and hang out Saturday and Sunday (though I'm a little glad you didn't get me on camera ;-) )

    I'm hoping to head out your way sometime early next year (budget willing) and if/when I do, you will absolutely be on the list of people to catch up with. I'm amazed at how many of you live in that central area. It'll be easy to catch up with lots of people all at once, though! And regardless, see you in VA next year for sure.

    Take care!
    Amanda
  • vinotology
    Really great stuff Amanda. It was so awesome to get to meet you and spend time hanging out. I think that the little back lawn gathering that we had was worth the price of admission for the conference by itself. The relationships are really what the entire weekend was about for me. I learned a lot of great stuff, but putting personal time in with all of you guys is what I will never forget.

    I look forward to making it out to Boston one of these days, but if it doesn't happen this year, I look forward to seeing you in VA in 2011.
  • Likewise, Ben. Glad that the weekend happened and we hung out. I feel like I've made friends, not just blogger friends, and that's the key.

    If you come to Boston, awesome. I'll show you (and the wife?) around and it'd be fun. If not, I'll see you in VA for sure. Next year though, I'm going to make a week out of it. A weekend is too short.
  • Scott
    I feel very similarly energized. It was great to say 'hello' but I am insistent that in Virginia, or maybe somewhere in between we spend more time together Amanda. It was difficult with so many great people to get to know. I'm glad you had such a great experience, I really did too.
  • Agree, Scott. Totally agree. We need to catch up next time for sure. A weekend ends up not really being enough time to get to everything even though at the start it seems like there's plenty of time. I'm glad you had a great time, too. I don't think I could ever forget the awesomeness.
  • Todd
    As a somewhat reformed member of the Old Guard (that is someone who did his writing in print publications as opposed to cyberspace), I have to say that the bloggie community impresses me a great deal. Not so much for the degree of diversity (though that's very cool) or even for the diversity of opinion (also very cool) or even for the quality of the contributions. Really what sets you whippersnappers apart to me is the high degree of collegiality among you. I'm not suggested that you all get along. But I do think that the level of acceptance of each other is pretty high. You don't seem to be as stratified as the print people (and again, at the end of the day, that's what I was and probably still am mindset-wise). I think that's great. With few exceptions, in my early days in the writing business, I was sort of rudder-less. There wasn't a "community" in the sense that older and more experienced writers would take newbies under their wings. Perhaps it was simply a function of how often we interacted at events. Today's writer, whether a blogger or more mainstream one, is really foisted among his or her peers more often thanks to the internet. Regardless of the reason, and admittedly mine is just one opinion, I commend you all collectively for allowing entry to your "club" to be open to all.
  • Thanks...I think? Seems sort of like a "backhanded compliment", but perhaps I'm not reading it correctly. Forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, Todd.

    For the most part, the bloggers are hobbyists, not intent professionals. The sense of community comes out of a shared common interest, whereas I'd guess the "old guard" writers were jockeying for the big gig. I hope what we do all share- writers, critics, bloggers, etc.- is a joy for the fermented grape and the conviviality that ensues when a bottle is opened.

    Sorry to pounce on that comment, Amanda!
  • Todd
    In no way backhanded at all. I'm seriously commending the community, regardless of whether some are hobbyists or hardcore I'm-in-it-for-the-money. The world is different than when I came up, and all for the better. There was commonality of interests/purpose 10 years ago, too, there just wasn't a lot of we're-all-in-this-together. I think that what's going on now (not that all of it is interesting, accurate or informative -- though you could have made the same claim about the old guardians, too) is going to to be game changing (once it works its way -- or is that figures its way? -- out).
  • Thanks, Todd. Sorry; I guess I approach compliments for traditional wine writers from a defensive crouch. I meant no offense!

    I agree that accurate information is important. My feeling on blogging is that anything that's subjective- and I believe taste and aroma/bouquet are totally subjective- is free to interpretation. Getting basic regions, grapes, geography, history, etc. needs to rely on journalistic integrity, and getting the facts straight. I think the readers can pick out the folks who do their homework, and hopefully keep those with inaccurate information in check...gotta love these comment fields!
  • Well said. And don't get hung up on the analytics (I forgot to mention that in our session...I swear I could've talked for hours on that topic).

    I think Drew and Hardy said it the best: "write like no one is reading." Then, your voice will never be compromised. And you have a good one, so I know that people will be reading.

    I'm serious about pre-pre in Atlanta. It's 8 hours from Charlottesville, so I'll have to figure that out. Maybe a one way trip from Atlanta, then folks can fly out of Richmond or DC. If the ride is pimp enough, 8 hours is no big deal.
  • I used to be obsessed with checking it daily but now I barely even check it once a week. In the end, it's not really that important if I have 12 readers or 12,000 readers. I'm writing the same stuff and style either way. This weekend confirmed with me that it's okay to do that, and I couldn't be happier. I obviously care about my readers because I respond to all of my comments and all that, but at the end of the day, no matter what, I love what I do.

    I'm coming down to Atlanta for your pre-pre thing (once plans are worked out and all that). I've never been so I might as well come hang out, road trip up to VA, and have a killer time.
  • Amanda,

    You are just as sweet in real life as you are in your writing. Keep up the great work and pursue your passions with reckless abandon. Can't wait to see you again at a future event and in Virginia for WBC11

    Josh
  • Thanks, Josh. That's really nice of you to say, even though you almost have video proof of me swearing ;-) I can't wait to see you again at WBC11 or if you're ever in Boston, give me a shout!
blog comments powered by Disqus

Copyright © The Wineing Woman. All rights reserved.