Send a Wine Blogger to Walla Walla!

Yup, for only one week skip that morning "iced latte grande with 2/3 half-caf free trade, 2 1/2 pumps of sugar-free cinnamon dolce, 2 1/2 pumps of sugar-free vanilla, 1 pump sugar-free gingerbread, half 2% milk, half nonfat, a splash of soy, 2 raw sugar packets, 3 Splenda packets and 3 honey packets (shaken not stirred in the hot espresso first) light with ice and whip, heavy on the chocolate sprinkles, light nutmeg sprinkles, and don't forget the twist and two olives."

Just think - with all the money you’re spending on fluff, flavoring, whip and grounds, you could help send a wine blogger to Walla Walla! Now, I bet you're thinking, "Why would I want to send a wine blogger to Walla Walla?" Here's why - so they can share with their many readers all about the growing wine industry and the many distinct wine appellations in Washington State, as well as Walla Walla’s own fabulous wines, food, agriculture, and historical downtown. Th-Th-That’s why!

The Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship Fund was designed to sponsor selected recipients in attending the Third Annual North American Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington held at the Marcus Whitman Hotel, June 25-27, 2010.

Funds for the Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship Fund are generated by donations from wineries, PR and marketing agencies, wine industry members, and individual wine lovers. Through a committee, applicants are asked to describe their blog, their financial needs pertaining to the Wine Bloggers Conference, and why they are deserving of a sponsorship. Funds are awarded based on the committee selection process, and monies are pooled. No one donation will be given to a specific individual, which provides more wine bloggers to attend the conference. It is important to know that the committee members, who will determine the scholarship recipients, have paid all their own individual fees to attend the conference.

Now, what’s that reason again to send a wine blogger to Walla Walla? First of all, the majority of independent wine bloggers write for free - for the love of the grape. In the mean time, the wine industry's traditional media is evolving and traditional print is being replaced with social media and blogging. And if you don’t believe it, ask the traditional print media why they have suddenly hopped on the Facebook, Twitter, and the blogging bandwagon. And here you thought Facebook et al and blogging was just for techy, love starved, angst ridden teen-agers.

The Third Annual North American Wine Bloggers Conference offers an extraordinary opportunity for wine bloggers, wineries and wine and media related industries to learn more about this exciting industry, from soil to bottle, and most of all, gain further understanding of each other's needs. Wine lovers, wineries and companies that donate to the scholarship fund will be spotlighted on the Wine Bloggers Scholarship Fund website, and every effort will be made to encourage the winning scholarship recipients to blog about you as well.

And when this is all said and done, who will benefit most of all? It is the wine consumer who will benefit as they seek up-to-date information online about what wines to purchase and overall information about the growing world wide wine industry.

Many thanks to Thea Dwelle of the Wine Bloggers Scholarship Fund and her committee. Tell them I sent you.

Wine Bloggers Conference - or- Bust: Road to Walla Walla!

In conjunction with the third annual North American Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC), WineCHATr.com will provide 12 citizen wine writers the opportunity to catch a ride across Washington wine country. WineCHATr.com is an online community for the growing wine industry, where both popular wine bloggers and businesses come together to connect and share information on wine.

In eight months, hundreds of wine bloggers will converge on Walla Walla for the WBC to sip, sample and see what the Washington wine industry has to offer—while sharing their experiences online. The three-day event—taking place June 25-27, 2010—will attract over 250 wine bloggers as well as industry professionals from all over the country.

For many of the WBC attendees, this will be their first opportunity to visit Walla Walla, or even Washington State. As a way to provide a complete Washington wine experience, WineCHATr.com created the WBC-or-BUST: Road to Walla Walla campaign, which provides 12 lucky wine bloggers all-expenses paid travel between Seattle and Walla Walla.

“Washington is a premier wine region and a road trip just sounded like a fun way to get visiting bloggers where they needed to go, while sharing a broader Washington experience including it’s wine, food, and landscape,” says Marcus Pape, founder WineCHATr.com.

Starting in Seattle and traveling by way of several key wine regions, bloggers will be wined, dined, and educated for three days and two nights as they make their way to the conference. Along for the ride will be a video crew, a few key wine media professionals, and several local industry icons providing some quality Q&A and regional flavor sharing. All provided to these visiting bloggers at no cost for simply doing what they do best – blogging.

“The WBC-or-BUST campaign is a terrific primer for next year’s conference,” said Ryan Pennington, Senior Communications Manager Washington Wine Commission. “Winning bloggers will experience the true breadth and diversity of our industry first hand, arriving in Walla Walla with a truly unique understanding of what Washington wine is all about.”

For more information on the WBC-or-Bust: Road to Walla Walla campaign and how to qualify or get involved, contact WBC-or-BUST! If I didn't already live here or was an WBC Event Sponsor, I would sign up to catch a ride. This is going to be a very cool experience!