European Wine Bloggers Conference

A lot of you have been asking us what we have in mind for this conference, so here is our latest thinking on the subject to be able to start a discussion and get your feedback.

First, some points to note:

• Each of the topics will have a moderator and a panel of key speakers to lead a discussion, so each of these subjects will be covered in a number of different ways. Some of these speakers and moderators will be well known and highly placed people in this business
• We are trying to make the subjects suitable for a very big range of bloggers with different experiences. If something looks too basic or too complex, there is probably something else happening at the same time that might suit you better.
• There will inevitably be some slots where a participant will want to take part in both streams. We will do our best to record each one, so you will still be able to catch up after the fact.
• We are not breaking up into many different small workgroups, we are either all going to be together for keynotes, or in 1 of 2 alternative ’streams’ to the conference. You will be able to interact with most of the group most of the time and choose which stream you want to be in for each session
• Sessions will not be completely open-fora (forums) for discussion because we could have 50-100+ people in each session, so we will be asking for your input before each session, even before the conference, so we can raise questions and include your comments, but there will be limited opportunity to comment and raise questions in each session as well
• We kick off the day all together, split into streams, get back together for coffee & lunch times, and meet up again at the end of the day.
• During the lunch period and the breaks, there will be a limited exhibition area where wineries, destinations and service providers will showcase their products – this will be a key part of the day for discovering great new wines and ideas.
• As well as the long lunch period, where we can try lots of wines & browse while we eat, there will be short breaks between each session to encourage general feedback, mingling and a chance to introduce yourself to other participants.

So, without too much further ado, the conference programme looks like this at the moment:

Introduction and welcome:
9:00 – 9:50 :: Blogging and the Social Wine Brand

The we split the event into two streams of sessions which will loosely (for lack of better terms, but will change) be termed the “marketing stream” and the “tech stream”

STREAM 1 – ‘Marketing’
10:00 – 10:45  ::  Wine Tourism and Social Media
11:15 – 12:00  ::  Winery and Wine Blog Relations
12:15 – 13:00  ::  [Wine writing & ratings - topic title tbc]
15:00 – 15:45  ::  Monetising the Social Wine Brand (retailers, social networks, wineries, affiliate schemes etc.)

STREAM 2 – ‘Tech’
10:00 – 10:45  ::  Blogging 101 – essentials, tips and Q&A
11:15 – 12:00  ::  Video blogging – Basics and Q&A
12:15 – 13:00  ::  Tech Tools and Gadgets
15:00 – 15:45  ::   Social media to better reach your audience? (Using social networks, twitter, AbleGrape, etc. to raise your profile)

Then we finish the day back together again to discuss the future:

General Round-Up Session
16:00 – 17:00  ::  Social Wine Brand Future: New technologies, new media, and publishing

I am aware that most of these will raise as many questions as answers, but at least you will get a sense of what we hope to cover in the time available. If you do have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment box below and I will do my best to answer them. However, with the American Wine Bloggers Conference about to start and Ryan & Gabriella being away in the states, more complex discussions may need to wait a couple of weeks.

I hope you are as excited about this as we are, and we look forward to exploring these issues with you in Lisbon.