Kim Kolb
This is not a video... I decided to write this time. There will be lots when the conference happens!
I will be attending the Wine Bloggers Conference in Portand, OR in August. My wine buddy Cynthia will be joining me. This will be my first conference, but I am sure it will NOT be my last. Portland holds a special place for me. My husbands family lives in Oregon and Washington and we have dear friends that live in Portland. I got the opportunity to visit Walla Walla, WA and Oregon last year and I did some wine touring. Let's say I fell in love with both places. No, it was not the Pinot Noir, in fact, I have to open my mind to that wine!
We were just notified today that the conference has sold out at 350 people! 225 of the attendees are Citizen Wine Bloggers (like me), equating to 64%. Another 45 are Industry Bloggers, meaning 77% of attendees are blogging about wine.
There are attendees coming from 26 different states, four Canadian provinces, and three foreign countries. WOW!
How would you like 350 people in one spot blogging about YOUR wine? Insane, I know!
The part I am MOST excited about is to hear the speakers...Really! We are hearing from some of the Industry Leaders and that is what we want so we can be better bloggers to talk about YOU!
But.... just in case you were wondering, there will be plenty of wine to drink. In addition to the overnight Excursions pre-conference and the Friday visits to Oregon’s wine country, we have five Grand Sponsors, 10 Premier Sponsors, 10 International Wine Night Sponsors, and three Event Sponsors, most of whom will be pouring wine. We will also have about 30 wineries pouring at both Live Wine Blogging sessions plus a Night of Many Bottles.
I am feeling like I will need a Detoxification after this trip!
Now, my trip will not be over after this conference... Oh no it won't! I am grabbing my wine buddy Cynthia and a dear friend Amy from Portland and we are going to invade Walla Walla... You can't be that close and not go, right?
A winemaker whom I have never met in person, only through Facebook has made the mistake of offering us a place to stay... I will not name her, that way she doesn't get bombarded with requests to hang out! Let's just say, we three and a few winemakers from Walla Walla are gonna get their Wine On! I would be very afraid, with all those WineyWomen running around!
Of course, I will go back and see all the wineries that I visited the first time... I don't want them to feel left out and plus, I am sure there are hugs and wine waiting for me!
Next year, I hear the conference is going to be in Canada... Getting passport renewed... If you want to hold a Wine Bloggers Conference in your state...hint hint, Colorado (only cause I live here) Give the Wine Blogger Guys a shout out!
If you want to be part of the chatter for this conference I would go here... especially if you are an Oregon Winery #WBC12 and @WineBloggersCon