The 2009 date and location is now set: July 24-26 in Napa and Sonoma, California. Registration is open and we are limited to the first 250 who register.
We looked at many options for the location of the 2009 conference and finally settled back at the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa. Those of you were there last year know the Flamingo is perfect for our needs. In addition, we heard from many of you in our post-event survey that you would prefer to return to California in 2009. We’ll be broadening our search for a 2010 location.
One thing we did change was to partner with the Napa Valley Vintners Association to make Saturday at the Conference Napa Day. We are still working on details but rest assured this is going to be a fabulous day.
We also changed the date from late October to mid-summer. Our primary goal is to make the conference more accessible to wineries, especially those who have or are planning blogs.
We look forward to seeing all of you in Napa and Sonoma this July!
Hi BrickofWine,
Unfortunately, we don’t have an option for attending just the winery dinners. Why? Two reasons. First, one winery dinner with wine would cost more than the conference registration fee for citizen bloggers, so it is better to register for the conference! Second, we might easily hit a maximum attendance figure set by dinner constraints and so can’t give up a spot intended for conference participants. I hope you understand!
Why on EARTH would the U.S. conference be held anywhere BUT Sonoma/Napa? This *is WINE blogging we’re talking about.
I’ve registered! Very much looking forward to WBC’s 2nd year.
Woo-hoo! Welcome back everyone! Thanks to Joel and Allan for working on this.
Thanks, Bradley. We specifically searched long for a date that would work better for winery bloggers.
I applaud the dates selected. There’s a better than average chance I’ll be able to make it this year.
Uhmmm… One the days is my birthday.
Can I get a special discount for that? š
Joel, If you’d like to have a variety tasting, my members of PS I Love You would be happy to hold a cultivar seminar. Just let me know, and I’ll do the work on my end to get the vintners’ wines for it. — jo
PS: if equals a sponsorship, I’m sure my board of directors would be pleased with the decision to partner with you.
We were originally leaning towards New York, Fabio. The thing that dissuaded us was the post-conference survey from last year in which New York rated the lowest location out of five for possible 2009 site. 48% of 2008 attendees told us they were not likely to travel to NY for the conference. Why? Undoubtedly because California dominated in terms of number of 08 attendees. So, while we would like to “share the wealth” and spread the conference around, we felt like we need to do so slowly after it is more established. We hope you can make it this year!
Ok, I am going to understand if I can come š BTW, it would be very nice to have a conference on the est coast (New York, for example) for those who come from Europe.