Arrive a day early and join a pre-conference excursion to the Yakima Valley, Washington State’s oldest and largest wine growing region. This pre-conference excursion is hosted by Wine Yakima Valley. Stick around on Sunday and visit Washington State’s Red Mountain AVA. One of the state’s smaller AVA’s producing some of the state’s finest wines and grapes.

To register for either excursion or both simply let us know when you sign up for the Wine Bloggers Conference by clicking on REGISTER.

If you are one of the 70 participants that have already registered for the conference, email us at info @ winebloggersconference.org and let us know that you want to be on the bus too!

Pre-Conference Excursion to Yakima Valley

Date: Thursday, June 24th

Pick up: Richland, WA: 11:00 AM downtown or 11:30 AM at the Tri Cities airport in Pasco (code: PSC). This allows you to fly into the area directly either that morning or the night before. We will suggest a hotel in Richland where you can stay the night before or leave your vehicle if you have one.

Drop off: Walla Walla, WA: 6:30 PM at the Marcus Whitman Hotel – WBC Conference Location with a drop off in Richland before going to Walla Walla for those who are driving and want to take their car to Walla Walla.

Cost: $35 paid in advance includes local transportation, winery visits, and lunch

Wine Bloggers Conference 2010 in Walla Walla

Friday, June 25th: Starts at 11 AM

Saturday, June 26th: WBC!

Sunday, June 27th: Ends at Noon

Post Conference Excursion to Red Mountain AVA

Date: Sunday afternoon, June 27th

Pick up: Walla Walla, WA: 1:15 PM at the Marcus Whitman Hotel – WBC Conference Location and in Richland before continuing on to Red Mountain AVA for those who will be driving and dropping off a vehicle that day.

Drop off: Richland, WA: 8:00 PM at a downtown hotel. This allows you to either take a shuttle back to the Seattle airport, fly directly out of Pasco’s airport the next morning, or to get into your vehicle and drive from there.

Cost: $35 paid in advance includes local transportation, winery visits, and dinner.

For more information click on PRE & POST or send us an email.

Driving a car? No problem. For the pre-conference excursion you can park your car at the hotel in Richland and the bus will pick you up at 11 AM and then drop you off back at your car before it continues on to Walla Walla on Thursday, June 24th. For the post-conference excursion you can drive to the hotel in Richland after the conference, drop off your car, get on the bus, enjoy the Red Mountain AVA excursion, and then get dropped off at your car the evening of Sunday, June 27th at 8 PM.

You can make this even easier by simply leaving your car in Richland the entire weekend. Get on the bus at 11 AM on Thursday, June 24th and get off the bus at 8 PM on Sunday, June 27th.

Luggage? No problem. There is plenty of room on the bus for all your baggage and wine too!

Are you on the bus?

This post was contributed by Shana and Thea, two bloggers attending WBC09.  We LOVE community contributions, thanks so much!!!

If anyone else has advice feel free to add to the comments section!

About a week to go till the Wine Blogging Conference takes over the Flamingo Hotel for the second year in a row and inspired by popular demand, Shana Ray (aka @Sharayray) and Thea Dwelle (aka @winebratsf) decided to create a guide to the Wine Blogging Conference for newbies and anyone who wants to know any insider tips. So, here we go:
Make sure to add #WBC09 to all your tweets!

Bring your cellphone or laptop charger! There will be a lot of tweeting/facebooking/live blogging going around and we all know how quickly iphone batteries die.

Tweet at your own pace, don’t feel pressured to tweet… Even if us Twitter-holics harass you.

Remember that your tweets are for everyone to see.  Keep your drunken tweets classy!

Follow people who will be at the conference (Twitter Names) and don’t be afraid to say hello.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Last year, I was so nervous because I thought that everyone’s wine knowledge was so much more extensive than mine. Even though that may have been true, the people I met were so humble that they did not make me feel stupid when asked what a Sangiovese was. – Shana

Don’t be afraid to jump in conversations. Don’t wait for someone to talk to you. This is your chance to network and meet new people so don’t be shy!

Come with an open mind, everyone likes different things.

Don’t come between a wine blogger and their bacon. Yes, for a second year in a row, bacon will be a topic that will come up almost as much as wine.
Don’t just drink what you know. Branch out and taste new varietals and brands.

Get enough sleep – Don’t party too much on Friday night, you will wear yourself out!

If you sit near Thea, Megan, Ashley and Shana, please do not shush us…. We will attempt to be on our best behavior, but we will not make any promises.

Wear comfortable shoes, especially during the winery tours.

Make sure to keep hydrated and eat up!

You are allowed to use a spit cup. Shana just learned about this new concept of swirl, sip and spit. It is a necessity to make sure you try all the delicious wines that will be made available.

Ask the winemakers and keynote speakers questions! They are there to teach you about wine, so soak up the experience.

Make sure to bring a bottle of your favorite wine to show off!

Please make sure you come say hello to Thea and Shana.  We will most likely be some of the loudest people around, so it shouldn’t be hard to find us! Also, make sure to thank Joel and Allen for creating such an amazing event for the wine industry.

Lastly, bring your sense of humor and don’t take yourself so seriously! We are a funny and sarcastic bunch of people and you will be sure to have an amazing and memorable time!  Wine bloggers have been known to imitate the 3 stooges or break into spontaneous rubber chicken dance-offs on occasion.

Please comment if you have any more advice for newbies or any questions for us or other second timers! We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

-Shana and Thea