It’s been a week since the end of the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia and the tweets following the hashtags #WBC11 and #WBC12 continue without showing signs of slowing down. The Wine Trail Traveler attendees wrote five articles and 11 blog entries placed in one covenient location. There were several highlights that have burned long lasting impressions. The two keynote addresses, Jancis Robinson and Eric Asimov, inspired us to continue writing. The best breakout session by far was the wine aromas session. This session that included a lecture accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation and an activity should serve as a model for future breakout sessions.

The two wine tastings and tweeting events were well orchestrated. Five minutes is not a sufficient time to taste, listen to the winemaker, ask questions and tweet. However, it did work and after the first couple of wines one can find their multi-tasking groove. I thought this event worked better than similar events at other conferences attended.

The dinner at Monticello and the winery visits were also highlights. Granted Monticello was too hot to fully enjoy, but those of us that like history certainly took something away from the experience. The winery trips were great as was the lunch at the winery.

What I missed from this conference was the same thing I miss at other conferences, press trips and FAM trips: time to write and time set aside specifically to network. Doing either at 9:00 pm or 11:00 pm is difficult when your body is clamoring for sleep. Placing a half-hour break between some of the events could provide the time to network and write.

The Wine Bloggers Conference was full of events and from morning to late night. I look forward to the conference next year in Portland, Oregon.

Cheers,
Terry