The 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference will address the wine country fires by staging two panels on Saturday afternoon, November 11th at the host Hyatt hotel in Santa Rosa. In addition, WBC attendees are welcome to attend an optional dinner on Tuesday, November 7 at the Hyatt featuring Fire Chief Todd Derum.
From 2:45 – 3:45 PM we will hear from a panel of locals who lived through the recent, devastating fires. Our panel includes:
- George Rose: Photographer and WBC alum who will show photos of the fires
- Pierre Bierbent: Winemaker at Signorello Estates which was damaged in the fires
- Patsy McGaughy: Communications Director at Napa Valley Vintners
- TBD: Representative from Sonoma County Vintners
- Jolaine Collins (Moderator): Owner at Collins Communications
And then from 4:00 – 5:00 PM we will host a panel on How Media Can Respond to a Crisis in which we will learn how several of your peers not only survived the local fires but used their skills to help their communities survive. While we hope it never happens to you, this panel might give you the information to enable you to benefit your community in the event of a future catastrophe. Our panel includes photographer George King, writer (and chief Tweeter during the fires) Sarah Stierch, writer Virginie Boone, and moderator Jolaine Collins.
We hope these will be informative, healing, and useful sessions.