“I didn’t know what to expect coming into the weekend and I was blown away by the whole thing, particularly the level of participation from the industry, the wineries and the winemakers. Really cool and fun to be a part of it.” R.J. Hilgers, 2009 Participant.
The 2010 North American Wine Bloggers Conference will take place June 25-27, 2009 in Walla Walla, Washington. Wine bloggers, industry bloggers, and other wine and social media professionals will gather from throughout North America and beyond to meet, learn, and share.
Washington State is the second largest producer of wine in the United States and has over 32,000 planted acres. The state has 11 distinct appellations and two sub-appellations and our 2010 conference will highlight the diversity of the area. The entire state wine industry is looking forward to hosting the conference. Our host, Walla Walla, is a town of about 58,000 residents that is smack in the middle of wine country, has an historic downtown often voted “Best Main Street” in America, and is known for its high quality restaurants.
Who Should Attend
- Citizen Bloggers who write about wine or the wine industry on their own. In 2010, we are also focusing on wine & food pairing and so invite all food bloggers as well!
- Winery Bloggers who have a winery-related blog. We will have special content tailored to winery bloggers.
- New Media Innovators who work in the world of blogging and social media.
- Wine Industry members who would like to learn about new media or interact with bloggers.
Cost, Payment, Cancellation, and What is Included
The cost of the conference is $95 for citizen wine bloggers (those unaffiliated with a business or organization), $195 for industry wine bloggers (those whose blog is affiliated with a winery, retail store, or other business or organization), and $295 for non-blogger participants (industry, media relations professionals, friends and family, etc). We are able to offer a lower price to citizen bloggers and wine-industry bloggers because it is for these folks our sponsors underwrite the conference. If you are a member of OpenWine Consortium, you will receive a discount of $10 (just indicate your membership on the registration along with your member name and we’ll discount it automatically). Payment is required in advance by credit card.
If you must cancel your registration, your payment is 50% refundable through May 25 and not refundable after that. Please note you can insure against losing your conference registration fee (and your airplane tickets) by purchasing trip insurance. This is only good for those of you traveling from outside of the conference area and staying overnight.
The conference includes multiple wine tastings, two dinners, one or two lunches, two breakfasts, and outstanding content. Not included in the conference price are your hotel and transportation to and from Walla Walla.
Host Hotel
Our host hotel is the Marcus Whitman, a beautiful historic hotel located in downtown Walla Walla. The Marcus Whitman is offering us conference space, discounted room rates, breakfast, and free wifi. We have a block of 100 rooms reserved for June 25 and June 26 for $129 per room per night; you can extend your stay if needed. To reserve your room, simply call the hotel directly (509-525-2200 or toll free 866-826-9422) and tell them you are with the Wine Bloggers Conference. If you would like to share a room with another conference attendee, please visit our Forums section on OWC and talk with other participants. Note we expect all 100 rooms to go quickly and will provide details on a backup hotel when this happens.
Arrival and Departure
Registration begins at 10:00 AM on Friday, June 25 and runs through 2:00 PM. Getting to Walla Walla will require some planning on your part but is much easier than you might imagine. Your options:
- Fly into Seattle (4.5 hours by car) or Portland (4 hours), rent a car, and visit other wine areas on the way.
- Fly to Spokane, Washington (3 hours) and rent a car. Spokane is a small airport with a major flight schedule and is easy to navigate.
- Fly to the nearby Tri Cities Airport in Pasco (1 hour), which has many daily flights including a non-stop from SFO. We especially recommend this option if you are planning to do the pre-conference excursion on Thursday and/or the post-conference excursion on Sunday afternoon.
- Fly directly into Walla Walla airport itself, via Seattle. Flights are limited.
Dress Code
Dress is “wine country casual”. What does that mean? Really, you should dress as you feel comfortable. For daytime sessions, jeans or shorts and a polo shirt are fine. For the evenings, many people will dress up a bit.
