Blog

Hi, and Welcome back to VINO2011NY here at the
Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. I’ve been so busy Tweeting (on Twitter search
#virtualvino) and streaming interviews with winemakers, trade
authorities and wine celebrities here for the past two days, I’m afraid I let
this blog get away from me!

I have way too much to say about all the amazing,
informative seminars that took place between Monday and Tuesday, and promise to
report back in full about all of the ones I attended. In the meantime, here’s a
recap of the two that I hosted and/or co-hosted: 

Prosecco’s New Quality Pyramid

On Monday afternoon I hosted a tasting of 10 Prosecco wines
from within the new DOC/DOCG boundaries that were announced last Spring. We
tasted both dry and off-dry wines, working our way up from the broad Prosecco
DOC appellation up to Prosecco Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG – the core of the
new quality pyramid – along the way sampling a couple of the new “Rive”
appellations that symbolize single “cru” bottlings.

“What Emily Post Can Teach You About Social Media,
Millennial App-titude and Geo-Marketing”

On Tuesday the buzz was building all morning about our
Social Media seminar, hosted by Tom Wark (@TomCWark), and streamed live on the
VINO2011NY website. Panelists included the Astor Center’s
Kent Wilhelm (@urbanminstrel); Snoth editor Gregory del Piaz (@GregoryDalPiaz); and bloggers Amy Cao (@amyblogschow); Jeff Lefevere (@goodgrape); and Talia Baiocchi (@TaliaBaiocchi). I was on hand (@WineWiseGuy) to handle questions coming in via
Twitter from as far away as Scottland, Rome and Moscow.

The session – which was sold out and spilled into an
adjoining ballroom that was standing-room only – proved that there is still a
lot to learn in this new marketing landscape. Jeff Lefevere noted that people
that ask about measurable ROI from social media simply need to be educated
about the benefits. From Twitter @tishwine made a great point
that social media is a way to connect with your customers in an authentic way,
meaning that you can prove that real people run your company. “Authenticity
involves a willingness to engage others. Social media is not a one-way street,
not even 2 way but a busy intersection.” @diane_letulle reacted with this tweet:
“Authenticity: it’s not just nice, it’s essential when so many people will call
you out if you’re faking it. @vindeitch said: if you
hire someone to tweet for you, how can that be authentic? @tishwine
replied: Good question. But still easier to be authentic with an internal
person doing SM (social media) than with a hired agency IMO (in my opinion).

On social media @theconcierge says “being social is an old
practice with new tools.” The discussion then moved to content types such as
video. The panel agreed that video is important and it doesn’t matter if you
choose Vimeo or YouTube, just do some video! Regarding Twitter, Amy Cao said
“140 characters are often a gateway to websites with a more in-depth message.
Tweets = Billboards.” @GregoryDalPiaz added that
once a Facebook conversation is started you should move it to your blog to
continue. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed following us here thus far. But we’re
not done yet, as the Grand Tasting is just getting under way here. We’ll be
streaming throughout the afternoon as we talk to movers and shakers here who
may influence which wines you’ll be tasting very soon at a restaurant, bar or
store near you. If you would like to ask us any questions here, via Twitter,
write to @VINO2011NY or me directly @WineWiseGuy. Stay tuned…