What do Wine Bloggers, Wine Writers and Wine Influencers all have in common? Quite alot! Wine Blogging is just one form of wine writing and just one aspect of being a wine influencer. Join us on Friday, October 5th at #WBC18 for our panel on of experts familiar with all three medias as they discuss blogging, writing, social media, and “influencing” in terms of where we are today and where we might be headed in the future.
Thaddeus Buggs, The Minority Wine Report, Moderator
Thaddeus Buggs is a shameless wine enthusiast who has spent more than a decade studying wine, traveling and, of course, drinking it. I’m finally retired after 22 years chasing the bad guys as a FBI Special Agent. He is well known among most wine circles in Chicago and South Florida, a hard character to miss at a wine tasting. I holds an advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a premier wine-education organization. I’m currently studying at the Diploma level with WSET.
James Forsyth, Vinous Media
Vinous’ renowned critics and writers travel the world visiting the major viticultural regions, meeting with winemakers and tasting wine to bring readers, timely in-depth content on all things wine, from the most iconic estates to up-and- coming producers. On Vinous, readers can search an archive of over 200,000 tasting notes, explore thousands of articles and watch hundreds of video interviews with winemakers. The Vinous App enables wine lovers to take photos of labels to pull up expert tasting notes on the go and link through to relevant real time retailer listings.
Michael Wangbickler, Balzac Communications
Mike Wangbickler is President of Balzac, a leading marketing communications company for the worlds of beverage, food, and travel. Before following his heart to wine country, Mike followed his head to Silicon Valley where he spent 8 fast-paced years in communications, but finally concluded it wasn’t for him. Armed with a “live to eat” motto and an evident passion for wine, Mike entered Balzac’s life in 2004 and became the agency’s President in 2016. Among his many achievements, Mike holds a WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine & Spirits and WSET Level 3 Award in Sake. In addition, he is a Certified Wine Educator (CWE) and WSET Certified Educator.
Tom Wark, Wark Communications
Tom Wark began his career as a wine marketer and publicist in 1990. In 1994 he opened his own consultancy, Wark Communications, which serves small and medium sized wineries and wine-related companies with media, communications and marketing services. He began FERMENTATION: The Daily Wine Blog in 2004, where he has been publishing daily on issues of wine politics, the wine industry, the wine media, wine marketing and the culture of wine. An advocate of wine blogging, Wark helped launch the first Wine Bloggers Conference in 2008.