social media, tech, food and wine in a world that takes itself too seriously.
As you can tell... I ate... A lot.
What is your fav movie scene of people rocking out in the car? Ashley and I just hit mile 1,500 on our trip, offically hitting our driving half way point in the trip. We have been on the road for over 20 hours and still like each other. Part of that is because we both love music and rocking out in the car. Our tastes may differ, but the one thing we share is a love for cheesy pop, 80's and any song that pumps us up on this long drive (doesn't help that we are in the middle of NOWHERE in Texas). A song that just came on, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, reminded us both of Wayne's World when they are rocking out in the car... A classic scene that has caused us both to think of that movie anytime we hear that song. The same goes for Tiny Dancer by Elton John (my favorite scene in Almost Famous). Now I sit here in the passenger seat trying to figure out what other movies have classic Rockin' Car Scenes. Let me know if you know of any.....
ProjectYine knew that if we were going to be in Austin, Texas that we needed to visit the Whole Foods flagship store.
Our host and Twitter friend, @Baconator took Ashley (aka @TheBeerWench) and myself there today.It was a three hour marathon of wine, beer and food sampling, followed by a feast inside their cafeteria upstairs. Needless to say, it was one of the highlights of the trip. The wine section alone is reason to go there and Ashley, of course, squealed from joy a few times in the "Beer Alley."
Then there was the food.... Oh, the food! This particular Whole Foods is a meca of yummy treats for everyone, a place where vegans and carnivores can co-exsist.
Here are just some of the pictures I took with my iphone.
Anyone else getting several spam comments on their blogs that say:
You Made Some Good Points There. I Did a Search on the Topic and Found Most People Will Agree with You.The first time I read this comment I was flattered and thought to myself, yes, I did make some good points... But of course there is always a link to their page and of course, I always hit the "spam" button. Now weeks later, having to read this specific comment everyday really makes me wonder what the hell people are thinking?!?
Do people knowingly get into the "spam" business when they make their career choice? I know old ladies still seem to fall for these scams, but really?? Are people still falling for all of this?Discliamer - I got this rubber chicken as a gift from @eljefetwisted from Twisted Oak Winery.
I woke up this morning to a DM saying to take a look at Steve Heimoff's latest blog post titled When blogs go bad. Little did I know that this post was on a comment I wrote on one of his other posts Holier than thou? When it comes to pay to play, blogging is looking a lot like print.
Startled and humbled as I was to read my name in his blog, I was also a bit confused at the correlation of my comment and the meat of his blog post. I talked about how this is a new world where everyone has a voice and he choice to write about one specific instance about a blog reciting a press release, a very good point yes. But they seem to be two different thoughts, at least IMHO.
While I am still new to the wine world and corporate America, I have worked with wineries for a few years and loved the marketing industry and diving into consumers psyches for even longer. I have only been a part of the social media aspect of marketing for a little over a year, but so much has changed within that year and brands are just now figuring out that they have to be online. By no means would I ever call myself an expert on anything and my wine blog itself is just me writing about my life in Sonoma County and since wine was/is a huge part of my life, Shana the wine blogger was born. For some reason (I do like to think it is my sense of humor and that I know about all the cool events) people read and even enjoy my blog. I am not a wine critic, though I definitely do have an opinion about everything. My response to Steve's post on my comment is below and I think it is just as valid as my original comment, both points being that there is room for all of us in this crazy online world. This post really got me thinking about the changing environment and the idea that social media (blogging, Twitter, Facebook, ect.) is still in its infancy.
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As both a PR “flack” and a “wine blogger” who writes simply because I love wine, I agree that there is a difference between rewriting a press release and doing your homework, but press releases has been regurgitated for years. This is not a new phenomenon to the wine blogging world, nor is free gifts to the mommy bloggers.
The news (speaking generally) has always had a bias and used scare tactics or fluff stories for the sake of entertainment. I learned at a young age to take the news with a grain of salt… Same goes with anything I read online through a blog, a tweet, a review on Yelp, or even an article in a magazine.
Granted, I am much younger than you and many of your readers, but the youth are the wine buyers and drinkers of the future and the Internet has allowed us to personalize the way we get information and given us more choices of what we read. And that is the way we like it.
You stated that you were going to explain the difference of good and bad blogs “for some of us.” My case was that for the rest of us, we read what we like. I personally do not like reading a rewritten press release just as much as I dislike reading them as is, but with the adaptation of the social media press release, consumers now have easy access to press releases anyways.
If someone reads a blog post/press release written by a “useful idiot” on Lodi wines and decides to try it based on the blog post, so be it. That is their problem. Hell, people still drink Franzia and swear by it. This does not discredit true wine critics like you, but I think people should be allowed to write their opinions and make up their own minds about what makes a good blog or a bad blog.
I am not sure why you have complex, confused emotions about where the Internet is taking us, but to not think you have to adapt to this new way of communication is absurd (in a later comment I stated I wasn't just talking about him, but talking about the industry as a whole). In your previous post, the wine magazines are not going anywhere and they still can be relevant. I simply think there is room for both.
As you stated in Tom Wark’s post -- "Can't we all just get along?"
This was posted on my friend Rose's Facebook page and I had to share it with you all.