Top 10 Things I learned at the Wine Bloggers Conference
My sixth Wine Bloggers Conference was approached with trepidation. I’ve been questioning the utility of the semantics of “blogger” and “wine blogger” of late. Also, I knew nothing of Penticton, British Columbia. Finally, very few of my closer blogging-friends and colleagues would be in attendance.
The format was the same. Bring together “wine bloggers” in a wine region to discover that region, learn about wines from other parts of the world, explore their wine writing avocation amongst their peers and strengthen the camaraderie of the group. It turns out my trepidation was without merit. It was a very successful conference for me despite nearly coughing up my lungs with a nasty bout of the flu. I learned a lot this weekend.
1. Modern Greek Vin Santo is an amazing wine and should be discovered by all wine lovers.
2. Lungs can’t actually be “coughed up”, but you can exercise and tighten up your stomach muscles in the process of discovering it’s not possible.
3. Penticton, British Columbia really is a “must visit” for serious wine lovers, and its “Penticton Lakeside Resort” was the most beautiful venue yet for a Wine Bloggers Conference.
4. It would do all wine bloggers good to focus equally as much on the quality of their writing as on the extent of their wine knowledge.
5. You can gain great insight into the historical culture of Napa Valley by reading America’s great writers of the South.
6. The liquor law of British Columbia are insanely anti-consumer and terribly protectionist. The citizens of this province deserve much better and BC wine bloggers should lead the charge to change the laws.
7. The Canadians make world-class wines, but their greatest wine accomplishment remains their magnificent Ice Wines.
8. There are wines coming out of Argentina called “Hand of God” that are very important.
9. The term “blogger” will more and more come to take on a pejorative meaning in the next few years as it continues to be the term associated with an amateur who should be taken lightly.
10. Say what you will about wine flacks, but the veteran wine publicists are among the most well-rounded and grounded, most perceptive an smartest people in the wine industry.
Tom,
Glad you attended your sixth out of six Wine Bloggers Conference. I’ll bite on this statement:
“The term “blogger” will more and more come to take on a pejorative meaning in the next few years as it continues to be the term associated with an amateur who should be taken lightly.”
I would suggest this is not something you learned at the conference but, instead, is your notion you are trying to sell to your readers. My logic:
1. When asked, 1/3 of attendees said they considered themselves writers, 1/3 both writers and bloggers, and 1/3 bloggers.
2. There was so discussion in the sessions which I attended about blogger being pejorative or losing ground. Really, quite the opposite was the mood as you clearly saw from everyone seeming to have a great time.
3. I had only one person all weekend suggest to me we should change the name of the conference. (Believe me, I hear lots of suggestions all weekend about everything. These are, after all, bloggers.)
4. Our advisory board discussed the idea of changing the conference name to remove blogger and while there was no consensus, the clear answer was we should not at this point. We had a small-group discussion of veteran attendees about changing the name of the Wine Blog Awards and, while there was no consensus, there was strong opposition.
5. In other niches, blogging is not at all considered pejorative or demeaning. Consider tech bloggers and mommy bloggers or, in the worlds in which I operate, food bloggers, beer bloggers, and fitness bloggers.
Do you think you might be leading the charge based on what you think rather than reporting on what you learned at the conference? There is a big difference in how you present this idea.
Allan
WBC Organizer
I echo what Allan wrote and I’d add that every year when we conduct the Wine Blog Award judging discussions with the judges revolves around the increased respect and very positive impression they have of bloggers. They often tell me how high the quality of the blogs are and even request contact information on the bloggers.
Respect is earned and efforts like the conference and the awards increase the awareness of what a blogger is and means to the wine community in general and where they fit in.
I submit its quite the opposite my friend. It’s been a short 6 years in an industry that’s been evolving for millennia. I would preach patience and perseverance more that abandonment of the moniker. More importantly, I would say what was learned this year more than anything is “a focus on refining your blogging craft, whatever the form you communicate with, to improve the quality is a top priority”.
As long as the format is called a blog you will be called bloggers. Not very imaginative but there you have it. Good writers and bad; good books and poor ones, if the content is there the piece will be read and you can call yourselves what ever you want. I’ll still read it. And if you were successful in changing the term blogger into something else will that improve your writing? As a blogger there are more important things to focus on.
It was great to see you again this year at the Wine Bloggers Conference, Tom.
As we discussed in BC, I have to disagree with your opinion that the term ‘blogger’ will become ‘a term associated with an amateur who should be taken lightly.’ I think your observation is short-sighted and unfortunate.
Yes, there will always be bloggers who act unprofessionally, as there will be those who do that in any industry. However, from what I see, bloggers for the most part are becoming even more professional rather than less, and growing in influence as they connect with their readers through comments, social media exchanges and better writing and use of an assortment of new media.
As more writers turn to blogging as a way of expression and connection, and as more brands realize the value of turning to bloggers for advice and assistance in getting their message to consumers, bloggers’ influence and professionalism will continue to rise and not fall as you suggest. I have seen this happen in other areas of blogging as better bloggers become more proficient in writing, online publishing and social media, and mentor new bloggers.
I guess we’ll all stay tuned and see what happens, as time will tell. In the meantime, can we expect a change in the header and tagline for this site? Or will you hold on to the term for the ride?
Enjoyed your Top 10 list, particularly #10. Great to see you Tom.
Which Southern writers in particular?
I detect a disruption in the force (as well as a pretty stiff opposition to my comment about “blogger”——what? No comment on the impossibility of coughing up a lung?)
First, let me just make a claim: I’ve been among the most ardent supporters of wine bloggers this industry has seen. I might be challenged on that claim, but I can’t see upon what grounds. I mention this to establish that I have no interest in disparaging wine bloggers.
ALLAN: You may be living proof that there are more ardent supporter sof wine bloggers than myself. However, I would submit that wine bloggers attending the Wine Bloggers Conference are not the best people to poll as to the relative influence or stature of wine bloggers. Also, I’m familiar with the discussion of veterans about changing the Wine BLOG Awards to something more comprehensive and away from the “blog” awards. You are right that the consensus is to NOT do such a thing. And it turns out, I’ve been convinced of that. However, someone needs to explain to me why the merits of and substance of the work of all the Wine Blog Award winners this year ought not be judged against the work of the wine writers for the New York Times, the Wine Spectator, Wines & Spirits Magazine, The Wine Advocate and the other wine writers that are not identified as bloggers.
JOEL: It’s hard to argue with your conclusion from the conference. I agree. Also, my experience is the same as yours with regard to the opinions of the judges of the wine blog awards after having read through so many examples of the writing that shows up on blogs. But it is something that leads me to ask if the reason for continuing to judge seperately the work of those that write on blogs from those that write for professional publications doesn’t simply reinforce the perception that those writing on blogs aren’t quite in the same league, when I know for a fact that many who write on their own wine blogs are not only in the same league as those who write for professional publications but often times better. Still, I’m convinced that the separation is the right thing to do because I fee the awards encourage writers who publish on blogs to step up their game.
MORRIS: Yes, because the publishing format is a “blog”, those using it will be called bloggers. But there is more to it than that. The reason I know this is because those who once distributed their writing via fax were not called “Faxers” and those who distribute their writing today via newspapers are not called “Paperers”. “Blogger is a synonym for two things today: “Amateur” (which is largely true in the sense most aren’t paid) and “Unprofessional” (which is not only another synonym for “amateur” but also carries with it a negative meaning).
AMY: It was particularly good to see and talk to you too. I would only suggest that bloggers DO in fact act less professionally than professionals do so more often. This is true because a far larger number of bloggers are less experienced tasters, less experienced writers and less experience reporters than professionals that are paid to produce a written work for publication. Additionally, every professional publication today uses social media to interact with their audience and readers, not just bloggers.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. All wine bloggers are writers, but not all writers are bloggers. The blog publishing format was revolution for wine writing. It allowed all voices to to have access to all readers, providing readers with important and provocative and new voices they may never had heard before. However, from the very beginning, these voices, despite many being very accomplished and important and insightful, were associated with pajama-wearing, basement dwelling tenants of their parents. Because there are so many very average voices among the important ones, this impression of bloggers remains for a very large segment of the population.
So I guess the question is this: Does this general impression of bloggers really matter. I think it does matter. But I admit, I may be overemphasizing the degree to which it matters.