2019 Wine Media Conference Agenda
Below is an outline agenda for the 2019 Wine Media Conference. We will be filling out the agenda with events, content, and speakers regularly. To keep updated, please enter your email address in the WMC News box to the right. All events from October 10 – 12 will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley unless otherwise indicated.
Monday – Wednesday, October 7 – 9
Pre-Conference Excursion: Our 2019 Pre-Conference Excursion will take place in the Granite Belt Wine Region of Queensland, with cooperation of the Queensland Wine Industry Association and Granite Belt Wine Tourism. For more information, please visit our Pre-Conference Excursion page.
Thursday, October 10
12:00 – 6:00 PM Registration (Ballroom Lobby)
12:30 – 12:50 PM Conference Opening (Semillon 2 & 3): From Lynda Schenk of Wine Communicators of Australia and Allan Wright of Zephyr Conferences
12:50 – 1:45 PM Google’s View of the Wine World (Semillon 2 & 3): What can Google tell us about wine consumption, wine tourism, consumer behavior, and industry trends? As it turns out, quite a lot! This session will explore how people are searching the web to make decisions about what wines to purchase, where to travel, what varietals to try, and much more. The information will be relevant both to industry participants and to writers who are looking for that next trend for an upcoming article or post. Presented by Damien Ferreira Gomes, Google Travel
1:45 – 2:00 PM Break
2:00 – 3:00 PM Wine Education Session With Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales: You Be The Judge (Semillon 1): Learn to taste like a professional from the KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show Chair of Judges, PJ Charteris, tasting award winning wines! The KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show is conducted annually by the RAS and has a long and proud history of recognising the best of Australian wine, dating back to 1826. 2019 will be PJ Charteris’ second year in the position of Chair of Judges for the KPMG Sydney Royal Wine Show. He brings a wealth of knowledge of Australian wine, understanding the great regional and sub-regional diversity of the industry, as well as a trained palate having being involved in the judging show system for over 20 years across several regional and state Shows. This session includes wine tasting and requires advance registration here.
3:00 – 3:30 PM Break
3:30 – 4:30 PM Wine Education Session With Angove Family Winemakers (Semillon 1): Angove’s Chief Winemaker Tony Ingle will lead this session. We will taste the first-of-its-kind Hopes End Brandy Barrel Aged Cabernet Sauvignon. We will then participate in and learn from two three-flight vertical tastings: first will be the Angove McLaren Vale Family Crest Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre GSM and second will be the Angove McLaren Vale Warboys Vineyard Shiraz. Single Vineyard, Organic, Biodynamic and multi award winning, the back vintages of these wines will come from the Angove museum. This session includes wine tasting and requires advance registration here.
4:30 – 6:00 PM Welcome and Expo (Semillon 2 & 3): This is your opportunity to meet our sponsors and try wines from the Hunter Valley, Australia and around the world.
6:00 PM Welcome Event at Brokenwood Wines (Depart from Lobby Entrance): Join the Hunter Valley Wine Tourism Association at Brokenwood Wines, the 2019 Hunter Valley Cellar Door of the Year, for a chance to meet some Living Legends of the Hunter Valley’s wine industry, all while you sip on a glass of Hunter Valley wine and enjoy some of our fine food. Read more about this event here. This event and roundtrip transport is included in your conference registration but requires pre-registration for planning purposes. Register here by Oct. 7. Conference badge must be worn to board bus. Busses will depart at 6:00 PM, arriving at Brokenwood at 6:15 PM for an official welcome and start at 6:30 PM and will return to the Crowne Plaza on a shuttle basis from 9:30-10:00 PM. Dress code: Smart Casual.
Friday, October 11
Breakfast on Your Own
7:45 AM – 2:30 PM Registration & Expo (Semillon 1): Meet our sponsors on breaks throughout the day.
8:45 – 9:45 AM Introduction to the Hunter Valley and New South Wales Wine Industry (Semillon 2 & 3)
- Dr. Julie McIntyre, Author of Hunter Wine: A History and Professor at The University of Newcastle
- Liz Riley, Vitibit
- Liz Silkman, Silkman Wines and First Creek Wines
9:45 – 10:30 AM Opening Keynote: Bruce Schoenfeld, Contributing Writer, World of Fine Wine (Semillon 2 & 3): For over 30 years, Bruce Schoenfeld’s frank and informative journalism has appeared in many of the most respected publications that cover wine. Bruce will explore what journalists should do to create lasting impressions and stories, what their role is within the wine industry environment and how to navigate through a rapidly changing universe for future success and growth as a journalist.
10:30 – 10:45 AM Break
10:45 – 11:45 AM Wine Media in China (Semillon 2 & 3): This session will explore the unusual approach to wine media and marketing in China – the traditional use of blogs is replaced by microblogging, subscription-based social media accounts, short video and livestreaming. Lean how the Chinese make use of transactional social media in their ecommerce and how their unique marketing approaches support these channels.
Panelists:
- Beth Dorrough, Moderator
- Jeson Chen, Founder of LVW
- Leos Tian, WBO
11:45 AM – 1:15 PM Lunch on Your Own: Check out these great Hunter Valley options and pick up a map at registration to see what’s nearby.
1:15 – 2:15 PM From Region to Row: A Journey Through Unique Terroirs (Semillon 2 & 3): Experience the history and wines of Pernod Ricard during this unique presentation with Travis Fuller. Read all about it here.
2:15 – 2:30 PM Break
2:30 – 3:30 PM The Importance of Digital Marketing and Why We Are All Doing It Wrong (Semillon 2 & 3): What are best practices in digital marketing? This session will guide you through an effective digital marketing program, including strategy, implementation and analysis. Discover how to create goals, what tools to use to implement your program and how to evaluate the results to make sure you are on track. Presented by Trish Barry, Mastermind Consulting
3:30 – 4:30 PM Live Wine Social – Red (Semillon 2 & 3): Live Wine Social (previously Live Wine Blogging) is the signature event of the conference, in which wineries each have five minutes to pour one wine for a table of attendees. Bloggers, writers, and influencers taste, analyze, and write about the wine or winery on the spot. Wineries then move to a new table in a speed-dating format. Participating wineries so far:
- 1813 | @1813huntervalley
- Briar Ridge Vineyard | @briarridgevineyard
- Audrey Wilkinson | @audreywilkinsonwines
- De Iuliis Wines | @deiuliiswine
- First Creek Wines | @firstcreekwines
- Glandore Wines | @Glandorewines
- Ivanhoe Wines | @ivanhoewines
- Leogate Estate Wines | @leogateestatewines
- Mt. Pleasant Wines | @mountpleasantwines
- Scarborough Wine Co. | @scarboroughwines
- Taylors Wines | @taylorswines
- Tintilla Estate | @tintillaestate
- Tulloch Wines | @tullochwines
- Tyrrell’s | @tyrrellswines
- Whispering Brook | @whispering_brook
- Wombat Crossing Vineyard
4:30 – 5:00 PM Live Wine Social Follow-up – Meet the Winemakers (Ballroom Lobby): Take a few minutes to ask additional questions or try the wines of winemakers who did not reach your table.
5:15 – 9:45 PM Wine Country Dinner Excursions (Depart from Lobby Entrance): These dinner excursions are included in the ticket price. View the list of excursions here: Friday Wine Country Excursions. Each destination is open to 20 attendees. Pre-register for your destination selection here on a first come, first served basis.
Saturday, October 12
Breakfast on Your Own
8:30 AM Registration (Ballroom Lobby)
9:00 – 9:45 AM Breakout Sessions: Choose one of two breakout sessions:
- Advanced Social Media Marketing (Semillon 2): There are two key components to effectively using Social Media to build your audience, generate leads and ultimately drive sales – they are Organic and Paid Traffic. In this workshop, we’re going to dive deep into the strategies behind how to build your audience organically and then utilise paid advertising to throw fuel on the fire and accelerate your growth. Presented by Scott Seward, Right Hook Digital
- Wine Media: Online Versus Print Wine Writers (Semillon 3): Is writing for print media really that different than writing for online blogs and publications? This session will explore the similarities and differences in writing styles, length and content. Panelists: Josh Martin, Gourmet Traveller WINE, Liz Barrett, What’s in that Bottle?, Christina Tulloch, Tulloch Wines
9:45 – 9:55 AM Break
9:55 – 10:40 AM Breakout Sessions: Choose one of two breakout sessions:
- Writing About the Underdog: Unexplored Wineries and Regions (Semillon 2): With consolidation happening around the world in the wine industry, it is important to continue to advocate for the smaller wineries and regions that offer excellent wines and unique experiences for the wine consumer. Learn how to be an advocate for these gems by identifying unique properties and brands and creating a narrative that resonates with your audience. Presented by Devin Parr, Devin Parr & Associates
- Increase Your Online Following (Semillon 3): Looking for the BEST way to grow your audience? We’re all competing for the same things: attention and time. This presentation will hone in on the one change you can make tomorrow to captivate your audience and keep them coming back. Join us as we break down the BS and get to the heart of what your readers want. Presented by Polly Hammon, 5Forests
10:40 – 10:50 AM Break
10:50 – 11:35 AM All Group Session: Entertaining Wine Reviews – James Franco taught me everything I need to know about writing wine reviews (Semillon 2/3): Drew Lambert from the Wine Wankers, and Kristy Johnson from The Daily Mail, will give an entertaining workshop on how to engage your audience with humour and good ol’ fashioned clickbait. Is the traditional wine review dead, and if so, what has taken its place? And with the democratisation of wine writing, where anybody with a smartphone can become an influential wine scribe, we get the top tips from one of Australia’s most prolific journalists on how to create compelling wine articles that will hook your audience from the very first sentence.
11:35 AM – 1:35 PM Lunch Sponsored by Pernod Ricard (Merlot): Join Pernod Ricard in the hotel restaurant for a buffet lunch featuring four heritage wines from their Jacob’s Creek line.
1:35 – 2:20 PM Closing Keynote: Where Does Wine Writing Go From Here? (Semillon 2 & 3): Wine writing has changed vastly over the last 10 to 20 years, especially with the advent of digital platforms. Max will explore how the industry has changed since they began and how it will continue to evolve. Presented by Max Allen
2:20 – 3:20 PM Live Wine Social – White/Rosé (Semillon 2 & 3): Live Wine Social (previously Live Wine Blogging) is the signature event of the conference, in which wineries each have five minutes to pour one wine for a table of attendees. Bloggers, writers, and influencers taste, analyze, and write about the wine or winery on the spot. Wineries then move to a new table in a speed-dating format. Participating wineries so far:
- Brokenwood Wines | @brokenwoodwines
- De Iuliis Wines | @deiuliiswine
- Degen Wines | @degenwines
- First Creek Wines | @firstcreekwines
- Glandore Wines | @Glandorewines
- Misty Glen Wines | @mistyglenhv
- Mt. Pleasant Wines | @mountpleasantwines
- Oakvale Wines | @oakvalewines
- Peter Drayton Wines
- Peterson House Pty Ltd | @petersonhouse
- Scarborough Wine Co. | @scarboroughwines
- Tamburlaine Organic Wines
- Taylors Wines | @taylorswines
- Thomas Wines | @thomaswines
- Tulloch Wines | @tullochwines
- Tyrrell’s | @tyrrellswines
3:20 – 3:50 PM Live Wine Social Follow-up – Meet the Winemakers (Ballroom Lobby): Take a few minutes to ask additional questions or try the wines of winemakers who did not reach your table.
3:50 – 4:40 PM Lightning Talks (Semillon 2 & 3): This is the opportunity to hear from your fellow attendees. We will have eight speakers, each of whom will have five minutes to present on a subject that is near to his or her heart. The catch is each speaker has to use 20 slides that are set to auto-rotate every 15 seconds, which keeps the talks fast and fun. 2019 presenters:
- Richard Baxter | Age Gets Better With Wine | The Legacy of Australia’s Wine Doctors
- Steve Noel | Children of the Grape | Tasting Terroir
- Diane Letulle | Wine Dine Go | Hook em with Great Content
- Luciana Braz | WineTalkGroup | Voice Assistants & Wines
- Marcell Kustos | Penfolds Magill Estate Restaurant | The Wine Tasting ‘Experience’
- Thomas Girgensohn | Thomas Girgensohn’s Australian Wine Reviews – and beyond | 9 Smart Wine Purchasing Strategies
4:40 – 5:00 PM Announcement of 2020 Location & Conference Close (Semillon 2 & 3)
Sunday – Tuesday, October 13 – 15
Post-Conference Excursions: We are offering three post-conference excursions to wine regions inside New South Wales but outside the Hunter Valley.