“Authenticity, being yourself, and providing insight all are important when it comes to wine writing. Be original, and always show your work!” – Cyril Penn, 2021 Keynote Speaker
WMC21 sessions kicked off today, Friday, August 6, 2021. We started off with an Introduction to Eugene and Communications from the Oregon Wine Board before Allan Wright, emcee of WMC and owner/founder of Zephyr Conferences, introduced Allan Wright (confused? you just had to be there). Next up was our keynote speaker Cyril Penn, who has spent almost 20 years in the wine industry as an editor at Wine Business Monthly. Cyril shared some fantastic insight into the business of wine writing and how much it’s changed.
The rest of the day consisted of a panel session with professional wine media and breakout sessions with topics on monetization, podcasts, managing yourself as a business, and wine media in a post-COV/id world. Of course, we had some wine tasting opportunities, it is a wine conference! DOC delle Venezie shared some Italian-style Pinot Grigio and Union Des Vines Doux De Bordeaux took us through a tasting experience that made us feel like we were in Bordeaux… almost… it did get us excited to visit! The day ended with our famous Live Wine Social with White and Rosé. Five different wineries presented five delicious wine varieties. The wineries included Benton-Lane Winery, Brooks Winery, Longevity Wines, Rodney Strong, and Troon Vineyard. Check out some photos from today’s events from WMC21 speaker and professional photographer George Rose!
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