wine bloggers conference. one year ago.

It is one year ago that I embarked on a journey to the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa (from my old office in Northern Santa Rosa).

One year ago today, when I was known as the girl who had the chocolate, I came to the Wine Bloggers Conference with Scharffen Berger chocolate in tow and a list of Twitter friends I wanted to meet in real life.

One year ago today, I had no idea what I was getting into or where this crazy world of Twitter and wine would take me….

Okay, I thought about taking the “one year ago today” to a whole ‘nother level by starting each sentence with it, but I will spare you the irritation.

When I look back on the difference between the original Wine Bloggers Conference and now I think about how much my life has changed because of the people I met there.  The real friendships I made because of it, the wine that has been drank and the bacon (real or made with tofu) that has been eaten – this has all happened because of this change in the way people connect online.

I can say that the reason I am doing what I love FOR A LIVING – social media and traditional marketing consulting with wineries and local businesses – is because of the people that I met there.

I am so thankful to Joel Vincent and the Zephyr Adventure people for coming up with the idea.

The wine blogging community isn’t a bunch of wannabe writers who are looking for a free bottle of wine.  We are a close knit group of people, all with at least two things in common – wine and our love for Twitter.  Twitter has drastically changed the way conferences and everyday activities are done.

I wasn’t called Shana at the conference, I was @Sharayray, just as I am today and any time I think about changing my Twitter handle, I think to myself about the story behind the name and how I never realized that a simple tool such as Twitter has transformed my life.

As fellow wine blogger and one of the many awesome people I met last year, Lenn Thompson (aka @LENNDEVOURS) tweeted to me today: @sharayray Wow….seems like a lot longer, doesn’t it? #WBC08.  It really does seem like it has been years since I met everyone, but then again, a year in new media is a lifetime.

I leave you with THE picture of #WBC08, taken “one year ago today” with Brittney Dean (aka @WineQT’s) phone by Lenn.

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