US Drinks Conference

I'll be making a series of posts on the USDC, but thought I'd get some of the early pix up in the meantime. A big shout out of thanks to Denise Menefee for being the unrelenting driving force that made the conference a success. She's pictured here with husband Jeff who managed all the graphics for us.

Me and daughter Lindsay Raye

Carter Reum of VeeV Acai Spirit

Colleen Graham of cocktails.About.com

Tyler Colman, aka Dr. Vino

Jeff Grindrod, Gary Vaynerchuk, Steve Raye

Conf. Organizers: John Beaudette of MHW, Mike Ginely of Next Level, Denise Menefee of USDC, Steve Raye and Jeff Grindrod of Brand Action Team

Social media panel:  Tyler Colman, Christian McMahon of Heineken USA, Colleen Graham, Carter Reum, me

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Are We Engaged Yet?

I had just finished writing my presentation for the U.S. Drinks Conference and was reflecting on a few recent conversations I had on social media marketing and it dawned on me that we’ve turned a corner.

Within the past two days I’ve spoken to self-described Luddites or representatives thereof (guy has his secretary print out emails for him), expert practitioners of the craft, and a bunch of folks somewhere in the middle.

That whole spectrum will always be there, but what I realized is that I’m no longer an evangelist having to explain the new thing.  We’ve finally reached a point where at least everyone’s heard of social media. And while they might be a bit hazy on the definition and terminology (social media, social networks, word of mouth, viral marketing etc.) there’s pretty much universal recognition of its existence and importance.

That’s progress.  In spite of the few comments you still hear that “this Internet thing is gonna blow over” I think most people in the marketing business recognize that there’s been a sea change in the way we need to communicate with our customers, prospects and suspects. 

Simply stated, it’s no longer a situation where marketers are shouting at the multitudes and hoping someone hears and maybe even pays attention, but rather a conversation among and between people whose actions indicate they share an interest in a subject.  Whether they’ve become a Fan of a Facebook page, bookmark a forum or newsgroup, read or get an RSS feed from a blog, they…WE… all have one thing in common…we’re ENGAGED.

Engagement, however, is a two way street and has an implicit agreement that the commitment is mutual.  So it’s incumbent on marketers to recognize that at its very core, social media is personal.  Even a brand with a quarter million Facebook fans has to make each one of them feel an individual connection.

Coming back to my intro thought here, we have turned a corner, but we still have a long road in front of us.  The challenge now is how to scale personal communications within larger communities. 

That’s one of the subjects we’ll be hearing a lot about at the USDC…I’m psyched to hear what Gary Vaynerchuk has to say, as well as the folks on the panel I’m moderating on social media.  So Tyler Colman, Colleen Graham, Nora Favelukes and Carter Reum….what do you think?

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U.S. Drinks Conference 2010 coming in October

As many of you know we’re one of the organizers of the U.S. Drinks Conference. This will be the fourth year that we’ve held the event and is scheduled for Oct. 12 and 13 in New York.  Check out the website (www.USDrinksConference.com) for more details on speakers, agenda, registering, and hotel accommodations. Registrations are running at 3X the pace of last year and we fully expect to max out the room.  We moved to a bigger space this year, but indications are we'll have to expand further next.

Here are just a few of the highlights of the program:

Social Media:  Gary Vaynerchuk.  He’s been a one man revolution in the wine business in the U.S. and globally as well.  .  Gary’s cut back his speaking engagements as he’s broadened is brand to be a media and marketing consultant.  So we’re thrilled that the USDC is one of the few events that he’s kept on his schedule. (I’ll admit I was a little worried earlier this year, but thanks Gary for the commitment.)

For those of you who don’t know about him, that alone is a compelling reason to attend this year.  Word is he’s more influential to a broader audience of wine consumers than Robert Parker, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast…combined.  His grasp and application of social media strategies is setting the bar very high for the wine industry.  Not only that, he’s one heck of an entertaining speaker…expect your boat to be rocked.

Complementing Gary’s speech will be a panel I’m moderating on social media and I’m particularly pleased and proud to have Tyler Colman of Dr. Vino, Colleen Graham of About.com, Christian McMahon of Heineken USA and Carter Reum of Veev Acacia spirits on the dais.  They all bring a level of expertise in social media to the discussion that’s unique their field of interest, and our focus will be on real world best practices in this new media channel.

Distributor Panel:  One of the most popular sessions, you’ll get an earful of good advice from distributors on how they decide which brands to take on and support what they expect from suppliers and how they manage and motivate their sales forces. The moderator will be our good friend Ted Roman from William Grant and panelists include Kevin Fennessey of SWS, Efren Puente of Charmer Sunbelt, Bob Hendrickson from RNDC and Jeff Altschuler of Allied Beverages.

Financial Panel:  New to the roster this year is a panel on finding financing in this changed economic climate. We’ve got speakers from some of the major VC and investment capital sources working in our industry, and I’m really looking forward to what they have to say.

As I said, details are on the site, but here’s a list of the other panels…each boasting a stellar list of industry luminaries.

• Regulatory Panel:  Answers to the questions you didn’t even know to ask
• Navigating (what may seem to be the labyrinth of) brand entry and distribution including price structures and logistics options
• Supplier Panels on spirits and beer, and a separate simultaneous session on wines sharing case histories and lessons learned.
• How to allocate marketing budgets
• Retailer panel including on and off premise independent and chain specialists.

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Wine Library TV and Gary Vaynerchuk

I sat in on a seminar Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV put on at the Boston Wine Expo last weekend. Some folks are put off by Gary's "in your face" style, but once you get past the personality quirks, his message is definitely on point:

--Wine is "broken" in America
--People want to try and buy new stuff...new varietals from different countries
--Ignore the pretentiousness of wine, and go with what you smell, taste and like...don't let someone dictate your tastes...or vocabulary...to you.

I particularly liked the way he drives that message home not with a lecture but by his actions. After pouring the wine he tells his audience to give it a "sniffy sniff". He's not trying to be cute; it's his way of saying, "Hey, let's not take this too seriously." Then "Give it a Whirl" means " Go ahead and taste it." but once again with the implicit caveat that it's just a glass of wine, not the coming of the Messiah.

And oh yes, he's got biases...just like the rest of us. He's against "Fruit Bombs" and the "Oak Monster" but definitely a proponent for emerging varietals and countries such as Portugal, Greece, Chile and Austria. I particularly liked the way he got Jancis Robinson to validate his pursuit of unpreteniousness in Episode#568 where he tasted an Assyrtiko from Santorini along with two other wines.

Botton line for those of you in the business...Gary's arguably a more important influencer than Robert Parker, and most certainly among the "millennials" who are just now discovering wine as part of their adult lives. He speaks to them in their language. Are you doing the same? Sphere: Related Content