With ten more articles to write, photo edit and publish for wineries visited in Prince Edward County, Ontario and the Thousand Islands region of New York, the Wine Trail Traveler staff needs to pause and prep for the Wine Bloggers Conference. How do you prep for a conference? One thing is to make sure we have enough business cards as well as a goal. My goal is to hand out and collect 100 business cards while attending the conference.

Another prep is to check out the Sponsors. There are some sponsors that I’d like to meet. On the short list is Vibrant Rioja, Navarra, Wine Tourism Conference, The Indiana Wine Grape Council and the Missouri Wine and Grape Board. There are other too as I read through the list and check out their websites.

Perhaps the longest prep is to check out the 300+ attendee sites. This will take awhile, but I’d like to see what they are doing. Of course I’m beginning to follow #WBC11 on Twitter, but can’t afford to park in front of my computer for hours without end. However the outside temperature is in the 90’s and the humidity is becoming oppressive. Following tweets is more pleasant than cutting grass.

Another prep is to determine which Friday breakout sessions I’ll attend and which ones Kathy will attend. We have been to and written about most of the wineries in the Charlottesville area. For Saturday morning wineries tour, I’ll focus on the attendees and what they think of Virginia wine. I should also brush up on Cognac. I think I have a bottle around here somewhere and my WSET book.

There actually is some prep work to do. Perhaps the most important is to determine what to wear based on the forecast. It has already been suggested to wear dark clothes in case one spills red wine. I figure if red wine spills, I’ll immediately use white wine to take out the stain.

Cheers,
Terry