The 10th annual Wine Bloggers Conference will return to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California in 2017. The conference will be located at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek from November 9 – 12.
The first and second conferences back in 2008 and 2009 were held in Santa Rosa and this launched the WBC as the annual gathering of online wine writers. Because of this history, it was a natural choice to return to Santa Rosa and Sonoma County in 2017 for the 10th event.
In addition to returning to the location of our founding, we are also changing the time of the 2017 conference. The first-ever conference took place in October and we chose November as it is much more affordable in well-visited Sonoma County. Space is simply not available and hotel room prices are too high in our traditional summer months.
We are just starting to work on identifying sponsors for the 2017 conference but are super pleased to announce NakedWines.com will be the sponsor of the traditional Saturday night banquet dinner. Nakedwines.com uses crowd-funding to support indie winemakers all over the world and dozens of them work out of their winery in Sonoma Valley. So we’re really excited to meet their winemakers, hear their stories, and learn how this new type of business can interact with the wine blogging world.
For more information on sponsoring the Wine Bloggers Conference, please contact reno@ZephyrConferences.com.
The Hyatt Vineyard Creek is an AAA Four-Diamond property, styled after a Tuscan villa and perfectly situated in the center of Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa itself is in the center of Sonoma County and so within easy reach of the many wine regions in the county.
Please note in 2017 we are paying attention to our Advisory Board which has been suggesting for years we raise prices of the conference. The WBC prices started at an extremely affordable $95 for Citizen Bloggers in 2008 and we have not increased them since then. For 2017 there will be a graduated $100 price increase, depending on when you register:
- Through September 30, 2016: $95 published writers and citizen wine bloggers, $295 industry wine bloggers, $395 non-blogging participants (current price)
- Through December 31, 2016: $120 published writers and citizen wine bloggers, $320 industry wine bloggers, $420 non-blogging participants
- January 1, 2017 – April 30, 2017: $145 published writers and citizen wine bloggers, $345 industry wine bloggers, $445 non-blogging participants
- May 1, 2017 – September 30, 2017: $170 published writers and citizen wine bloggers, $370 industry wine bloggers, $470 non-blogging participants
- October 1, 2017 and Later: $195 published writers and citizen wine bloggers, $395 industry wine bloggers, $495 non-blogging participants
We are expecting great interest in the 10 Anniversary of the Wine Bloggers Conference as we celebrate the past, present, and future of wine blogging. We hope you can join us. Register Today!
Fabulous – I’ll keep an eye out for your announcement.
Soon! We should have the details confirmed in two weeks and the rates up in three.
Any idea when the special WBC17 hotel rates will be available? Looking forward to attending. Thanks – Hilarie Larson