“The popularity of the European Wine Bloggers Conference is growing so fast I am expecting it to be leading the voting on X-Factor next week. [...] Yet it is going through something of an identity crisis. … All fair enough, but if it is not in Europe, attendees come from all over the world and are not exclusively focussed on wine, blogging forms only 10% of content, and it is not really a conference, don’t we have a problem with nomenclature?”

To answer the question, I need to explain a little about the genesis of the event and the thinking behind it.

THE STORY BEGINS …

The European Wine Bloggers Conference was born out of discussions started on a Facebook group for Wine Bloggers in 2007. It was through this that I met Ryan & Gabriella Opaz (we are true “facebook friends”). To cut a longer story short, we decided that Facebook was not a good way to actually MEET bloggers, so we should organise an event to give us a chance to talk & drink together. Thus, the concept of the “Wine Bloggers” conferences was born. This is where our brand story begins.

The EWBC stands for …

EUROPEAN

We hoped to find a way to bring people together from more than one country. We were writing in English, but we wanted this to be international, but also close to the wine regions we are familiar with. The obvious, though maybe not far-sighted, solution was to call the event the “European” conference because it sounded more inviting to the people we were mainly trying to attract – the neighbours we had never met.

It was never the intention to limit either locations, participants or wines to Europe, and in fact the first event had participants from 11 countries including outside Europe. It should, in hindsight, really have been the “International” event from the start.

What defined the “European” event was that we had to deal with participants with multiple languages, from different countries, and an industry unaware of social media. This made it important that we focus on building COMMUNITY first. We couldn’t jump straight to wine tastings, or talking about communication tools without first finding ways to bring people together. This helped to lay a strong foundation for the event.

In 2012 this is particularly of interest since we will, in essence, be taking the event to Asia. One can argue whether Turkey is European, Asian or both (or neither), but the location will be an exciting blend of both worlds; taking place on the Asian continent, but in a modern city such as Izmir, while enjoying the foods, sights and sounds of a cultural legacy important to both Asian and European history, and on the subject of wine, a product arguably seen as more “European”. Turkey is certainly close enough to Europe to be in accession discussions with the EU.

After five amazing years, the community is what makes the EWBC so much fun, and it is a global community, so the “European” moniker is misleading.

WINE

Everyone who comes to the EWBC is passionate about wine. Wine is what brings us together, what we share in common despite differences in everything else we might do; professions, language, culture, communication channel, etc.

Yet, the event is not just about wine. This is not a Wine Tasting event with content tagged on.

The EWBC has always been a conference about “digital communications” where the common topic is wine, and as such there are many ways to achieve this. Few bloggers were exclusively wine writers. There have always been food bloggers, travel bloggers, marketers, consumers, developers, archaeologists, producers who also make olive oil, and so on. In fact, as organisers we strongly believe that to really promote wine we need to escape the “wine bubble” and get other people talking about wine.

We have been incredibly lucky to find sponsors in Rioja (Dinastia Vivanco), Lisbon (Wines of Portugal), Vienna (Austrian Wine), Brescia (Franciacorta) and now Turkey (Wines of Turkey) that understand this and have wanted to participate in this event to give their wine stories a context and to become part of the community so that we can both learn from each other.

In other words, the event has a strong wine message, but it is not JUST about wine.

BLOGGERS

In 2007 and 2008, when the event launched, if you created content online you were a “blogger”. There were other tools, but this was an exciting time to create your own content channel, usually on a blog platform. Facebook was a clunky, limited way to interact with people and build conversations. Twitter existed, but was not yet mainstream. Blogging was “it”.

The event also come out of the “wine bloggers” group, so it was natural that we should use this term to mean “online communication”.

However, we recall discussing this issue even at the first conference in 2008 in Rioja. There were other ways to communicate about wine and we started thinking that we wanted to ensure we also included those without blogs or those considering starting one. The event was started by bloggers, much of the conversation was about blogging tools, but it not was a condition of entry.

In 2011 using this term is almost quaint. There are many ways to create content, and blogging is only one part, but there is no easy all-encompassing alternative term. That is why we now use the tag “Digital Wine Communication”.

CONFERENCE

The main event has always been a 2 or 3 day “conference” programme including presentations, tastings, parties, unconference sessions, lectures, performances and more. However, the “C” in EWBC should always have been “Community” because the days of the event were really as much about the opportunity to meet face to face and share stories and wines as they were about traditional conference content.

Since the beginning the events AROUND the conference were equally important; there’s the amazing ‘United Nations of Wine‘ event that takes place just before the content where participants bring a wine to the “BYOB” to share with friends; there’s the exhibition area where we can meet wineries and wine related businesses and learn about their stories; there are also the post-trips to wineries, regions and tourist locations that are great opportunities to learn about the host venue.

This is not a “conference” in the sense that most people understand the term. It is an annual gathering, a community event, a learning opportunity full of potential to discover great things and make new friends. Does the term do it justice?

AND YET

And yet … even if we are neither just European, nor just about Wine, for more than Bloggers, and not simply a Conference, is there another name that captures the essence of the event that has emerged under the banner of “the EWBC”?

We have been thinking about this a LOT, and we think that the strapline “The Digital Wine Communications Conference” is a more accurate description of what we DO, … but “the EWBC” is who we ARE. We do not want to lose this legacy … and so for the time being we have kept the term even if we no longer think of it as an acronym, but more of a badge we are proud to wear.

So, in summary, for 2012 the event will be branded: EWBC, the Digital Wine Communications Conference

We hope you like it.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22nd

Creative Social Media strategies for Publishers

Time: 15:00-15:30
Who is leading the wine publishing industry with the most creative social strategies and why? What can you learn from the market leaders, what will give you the edge using creativity, strategy and technology to create commercial value for your business.

The Basics of Social Media

Time 15:00 – 15:30
What is social media, why is it important to my business. How do I use it to help increase awareness of my brand online? With over 500 million Facebook users and 150 million Twitter users, we help you understand the basics behind the fastest online growing communications medium.

How Audio and Video can Transform your Blog

Time: 15:00-15:30
Learn the basics of creating podcasts and video for your blog, using tools such as AudioBoo, iMovie and iTunes – the tools, the techniques and the technology.

How to develop a global online community for your personal brand

Time: 15:40- 16:10
Learn how to use social technologies such Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Blogs to build, grow and create a sustainable online community for your business.

How creating compelling content will help grow your blog community

Time: 15:40-16:10
Learn to create successful, interesting blog content, develop a loyal readership, as well as learning some of the methods to get your blog noticed.

What is social media monitoring and why is it important to help me understand what customers are saying about my business

Time: 15:40-16:10
Are you following online conversations about your brand? Do you know what people are saying about your product? If you’re not listening to the conversations you may be missing out, and your competitor may very well be. Learn the basics of social media monitoring and the technology behind it.

How to track and measure all your social media activity?

Time: 16:20-16:50
Ever wondered who clicks on your links, how many times they return, where they came from? Learn how to use tools such link trackers, google analytics, tweetreach and facebook insights to really understand your audience and their behaviour.

Sharing through Twitter, Facebook and other social networks

Time: 16:20-16:50
Find out how you can distribute your content into social networks easily to increase readers to your blog. Learn how to use tools such as twitterfeed to automatically publish your content into Twitter and effectively use Facebook to publish to fan pages or Flickr and YouTube for sharing visual content.

Gadgets & technology: iPhone, Ustream, QIK, Twitterific, Tweetdeck, Google Alerts etc

Time: 16:20-16:50
A quick fire session on some of the more popular social media technologies that can help you make your blog more interesting, help grow your audience or track your activity online. Looking at Ustream, QIK, iPhone, Graphedge, LiveFyre, Disqus. This will help you develop smarter strategies to grow your blog and community

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23rd

Freedoms, Rights and Responsibilities

Time: Saturday 9:00
Moderator: Robert McIntosh of The Wine Conversation

• George Sandeman from Wine in Moderation
• Ken Payton, Citizen Wine Blogger and Founder of “Reign of Terroir”
• Adam Watson-Brown, Head of Sector of the Directorate-General Information Society & Media of the European Commission

We will discuss the influence wine communicators have had upon the consumer, and how best to encourage the creative exploration of wine for the benefit of all. This discussion will draw on the practical experiences of the Wine in Moderation campaign, the future impact of EU regulations on online wine communication, as well as Ken Payton discussing ethical issues that come from being a “citizen wine critic”.

Webinars and Wine Communications

Time: Saturday 9:00
Moderator: Damien Wilson
Panelists:

• Delegates from the Burgundy Business School

How online software is changing how we communicate with wineries and wine professionals. The Burgundy Business School’s Institute of Wine Management has embraced the online webinar as a teaching tool for their students, and they are going to show us live how education online can take place in the 21st century.

Additionally the question of the press trip will be raised as to what can be done to either help enrich the experience, or sometimes to eliminate it all together.

Creative Commons

Time: Saturday 10:15
Moderator: Ryan Opaz, Co-Founder of Catavino.net
Panelists:

• Massimo Travostino, Partner at Studio Legale Pecoraro-Travostino
• David Honig, Founder and CEO of Palate Press

The idea of paid content is changing. Can you really make money giving away your content?

In a time when major publishers’ paywall experiments appear to be failing, and as the volume of free content grows, can cooperation improve the quality of material available whilst creating new business models?

This session will look at the alternatives to subscription models, including Content Licensing, and the Creative Commons. When is Free not really free, and how can you protect yourself?

Online Wine Commerce

Time: Saturday 10:15
Moderator: Julia Sevenich, Wine Publicists and Author of Uncorked in the Alps
Panelists:

• Rowan Gormley, Founder and CEO of Naked Wines
• Evelyn Resnick, Author of “Wine Brands“
• Andre Ribeirinho, Founder and CEO of Adegga.com

The growing number, and influence, of bloggers and online wine lovers is changing how we buy and sell wine. What does this mean for how we create and use content? What does it mean for the wine business? What new opportunities are there for wine retailers and consumers?

Publishing Platforms

Time: Saturday 15:00
Moderator: Robert McIntosh of The Wine Conversation
Panelists:

• Delegates from Media 140

If there is to be lots more good content, and it is to be shared more widely, what are the platforms to consider, and how can you ensure your content is included?

Experts in the field will examine what platforms to keep an eye on and look at some examples of this already in action.

Generics Reaching Out

Time: Saturday 15:00
Moderator: Charles Metcalfe, Wine Critic, Author of “The Wine and Food Lover’s Guide to Portugal” and Wine Blogger

• Willi Klinger, Director of Wines from Austria
• Michael Cox, UK Director of Wines of Chile

Wine groups, such as sales & marketing associations, regional boards or generic wine marketing bodies, have an important role to play online, offering their members support, expertise and joint marketing budgets. How are these bodies approaching social media today, and what more could they be doing to support their members and their target audience – wine buyers and content creators? What budgets are available, and how should they be being spent?

Time: 16:00 – 16:45 pm

Roundtable:

• Esteban Cabezas – The Wine Academy Spain
• Marcio Ferriera – ViniPortugal
• Evelyne Resnick – Wine Brands

Theme: We will have just spent a day looking at where the world wine and online media have converged; how video is changing the way we communicate about wine; how wineries and wine bloggers can communicate better. So to end the day, we want to look at the future, and what tomorrow will  bring us? Will we become more open, or will the inverse occur, creating virtual walls around individual content?

Questions:

• What role will blogging have in the next 5 years of wine communication?
• What importance will we place on video as we move into the next generation of wine communication?
• Do Twitter and Facebook serve a purpose or are they just steps in the evolution of wine communication?
• How can Generics better embrace the benefits of Social Media? And when will we see them doing more?
• The Social Wine world is highly personlized and time consuming at times. Is this method sustainable, or will we see less authentic forms of it in the future?