funny by accident.

social media, tech, food and wine in a world that takes itself too seriously.

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  • @Sharayray tweets, a lot.
  • wifi still hates me. #WBC09

    • 24 Jul 2009
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    Just doing the live wine blogging event and no wifi. Though, the River of Skulls from Twisted Oak and the Bella Zin thus far have both been delis.
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  • live blogging from #WBC09

    • 24 Jul 2009
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    It is insanity here at the Flamingo Hotel.  Two hours in and all of the wine bloggers are meeting and greeting each other for the first or second time (for the most part) and eating some lunch.  Rick Bakas (the new Director of Marketing at St. Supery) is passing out a St. Supery Cab and his business cards, directly from the printers.
     
    The Sonoma County Tourism Bureau has a real life voting booth so that the bloggers can vote for their favorite Food and Wine tattoos for the infamous Tattoo Contest (i.e., where I got a tattoo on camera).

    In between meeting new people, drinking and running around like the crazy person I am, I decided to take some time to prove my wine blogger status by actually "blogging"

    So, cheers to good people, good wine and being shushed....

    *shana.

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    live_blogging_from_WBC09.zip (148 KB)

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  • yet another 3rd party twitter app.

    • 19 Jul 2009
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    • Cause Marketing Social Media Twitter Wine Blog
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    twibbon.com is a site where anyone can create a cause worthy Twitter image overlay.  A great idea for people to show their support for an organization, or an awesome wine conference coming up.  So, Wine Blogger Conference attendees, please add this image to your Twitter profile by clicking on the widget (okay widget failed, please click on the link) below and adding your Twitter info!

    http://twibbon.com/join/WBC09


    My only problem with it is that it makes the image smaller, but even so, I see potential in organizing the masses behind one cause (i.e., LIVESTRONG)

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  • goode tasting room employees.

    • 19 Jul 2009
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    • Healdsburg Murphy Goode Wine Blog
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    I never realized how many stupid puns one could use with the word "good"  but I am sure we will hear all of them by the time this is all over. 

    I just left the Murphy-Goode tasting room after an hour of wine tasting and talking to most of the top ten finalists.  Below are some pictures I took with the iphone, but if you really want to see some amazing shots take a look at http://www.areallygoodetrip.com/index.php/photos/ where Adam has posted his images of his "Really Goode Trip" to Healdsburg.  It is great to see my little town through his eyes, and through the eyes of all the other tweets and Facebook updates from almost all of the candidates.

    It is funny, when I posted a Facebook status update today mentioning the free tasting, I had a few comments asking if I had won the "contest."

    Shana Ray will be visiting the Murphy Goode tasting room this afternoon to drink some wine and hang out with the top 10 finalists.... You should come too!! FREE TASTING and entertainment from 3-5.

    Well, first off everyone and their mother would have already known if I had 'won."  I would be screaming all over town about my goode fortune.  Second, I would have had to enter to win.... Damn pesky rules.

    The reasoning I never entered the job search was because I already live here in Healdsburg. My guess is that the Murphy Goode team was looking for someone who could come into the area and into the wine world and see it all from a fresh perspective and tell the world about how amazing it is here.  I already do that everyday.

    The tweets and images from yesterday reaffirmed my guess.   All ten candidates were so excited to see vineyards, their hotel rooms and the Healdsburg square.... I don't have the same "new" excitement about all of it as I did when I first moved here, but I do get excited to see others reaction to my home town.

    I am sure there will be more tweets and pictures to come because I hope to be able to see these awesome individuals again before they leave (as Adam told my mom in the tasting room, "we have been friends for about two weeks now").

    For now, here are some images I took from today's goode tasting.

    Cheers.

    *shana.

    (p.s. that blond lady with me is my mom, she came to harrass the candiates too).

    (download)
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    goode_tasting_room_employees..zip (5.39 MB)

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  • facebook search.

    • 17 Jul 2009
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    • Facebook SEO Search Shana Ray
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    Just woke up this morning here at the Napa Valley Marriott, still excited about what I had learned from the Facebook guys yesterday (look back for an actual post on this later).  I am refreshed and ready to speak at our panel on a Prescriptive Approach to Media Success for Wineries. 

    So right in the middle of my morning routinue of checking Twitter, email and Facebook for what's going on, I noticed something new at Facebook ---  Microsoft Bing search results are on the right side of the page when I did a search for Lynn Woolsey to see what was happening on her Page.   The boys were talking about this yesterday, but they said it was coming soon.

    I am very happy to announce that soon is now.  And even though I only come up once when searching "Shana Ray," I am first.

    I am also happy to announce that I am a geek and get excited about this kinda stuff!

    *shana.

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  • some goode controversy.

    • 15 Jul 2009
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    • Diggnation Murphy Goode Social Media Wine Blog
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    I just got done watching Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht's latest Diggnation video on the Murphy Goode Dream Job and the fact that the MG team decided to NOT place the top vote getter, Martin Sargent, into the top 50 finalists. 

    As a wine snob, yes, I was totally insulted by the white zinfandel drinking in his video (update - the Boone's Farm Watermelon), but that was kinda the point.  He used his social media skills and humorous non-stuffy wino approach to get his friends and followers to vote for his video, thus proving his popularity and obvious need to learn more about wine.  Alex had a great point that even if MG didn't think that he was right for the job that they should have looked at what the "people" wanted and put him into the top 50 anyways.

    "It is all about the power of people when you want to do anything."

    Okay, so Martin didn't make it into the top 50.... Instead a seemingly wine-knowledgeable selection of people made it into the semi-finals and then an even further selection of social media "gurus" and people who already know about wine made it into the finals.  I am not here to debate their choices or what I think about the top 10 (yes, I do have some reservations about some of them, but thankfully I will get to meet all of them this weekend to really form my opinion on who I personally think would be best suited for the job -- because we all judge... Don't pretend you won't be either).

    The thing is that it just shows that MG doesn't really "get" social media, thus, as Alex pointed out, they really need this correspondent to help them into the Web 2.0 world.  But not even acknowledging the top vote getter until the black-lash started, and then to almost insult people who really felt their votes mattered, is just so "anti" social media, that it almost bothers me.  Though, I am happy that in the beginning, MG stated that they didn't know anything about social media and that is why they started this job search in the first place. 

    Now, what I think MG needs to do to smooth over all of this is to apologize.  By simply saying that they messed up, (IMHO) everything will go away and everyone can go back to concentrating on what really matters --- The top 10 candidates and how this job search has helped bring wine social media marketing to the minds of the "everyday" consumer and not just to the wine bloggers.

    These are just some of my thoughts.  This will be a subject of debate during the next few weeks (especially during the Wine Blogging Conference), so I am curious to hear your thoughts....


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  • social media awareness.

    • 13 Jul 2009
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    The Razorfish Social Media White Paper recently came out, and it has been all over Twitter this morning.  Reading different article and posts on the subject has brought on a range of emotions of the state of Social Media Marketing for me.

    First - Media Post wrote about how "marketers must still try to reach consumers through social media since that's where conversations about brands are increasingly taking place."   They had an optimistic outlook on social media and just wanted brands to know that more could be done, that social media shouldn't be a marketing afterthought, as it has been in the past.

    Another post from Marketing Pilgrim shows a much more grim and pessimistic outlook on social media marketing and the concept of online friends.   "It’s somewhat encouraging to see that we’re not collectively being duped into believing that when we add someone as a "friend" we’re instantly BFFs."  

    Since my first encounter with Thea and Alexandra when they came to visit me at Kokomo Winery last summer, my personal objective for social media has been to meet my online friends.  I knew that I wanted to learn more about wine and the way to do this wasn't to do online tastings and discussions, that this was all an excuse to make "real life" or "3D" friends.  Thus far, I think I am doing a good job and I look forward to meeting more online friends offline and debunk the idea of online only friends.

    Now it is time for me to read the actual White Paper to make a honest assessment for myself.  I encourage you to read it as well and let me know what you think!

    *shana.

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  • live strong.

    • 9 Jul 2009
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    • Cause Marketing LiveStrong Social Media
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    Hud-live

    Wow.  Such a simple thing as a one click button to change my Twitter avatar has caused me to go back over nine years ago to when my friend Hudson lost his battle with Cancer.   It was just a year after he was supposed to walk across the stage with us at graduation (yes, my 10 year reunion is coming up in August) and he was my first true experience dealing with death.

    Anyone who knows me, knows that my sarcasm is a bit over abundant (that is me putting it nicely) and his wit and sarcasm could beat me every time.  Below is an image that made it to our High School yearbook when we together won the title as biggest flirts, i.e., MOST LIKELY TO BE SUED FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT. :)

    The Livestrong Organization has been a big part of Cause Marketing via social networking and they just started a campaign where Twitter members can overlay their avatars with one click on  http://livestrongaction.org/avatar.  What an amazingly simplistic and powerful symbol to show your support for those living with Cancer and bring the issue to the fore-front.  

    Here's to the Livestrong team, Lance Armstrong, the 28 million living with Cancer and anyone that enjoys sarcasm!

    *shana.

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  • wineries are finally getting the hint

    • 9 Jul 2009
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    • Rick Bakas Social Media St. Supery Wine Blog
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    That they need a dedicated social media director (or whatever nifty new title you want to call it) to help out with making sure social media is an overall part of the winery's culture. Congrats to St. Supery for leading the way by hiring bacon loving Rick Bakas as their social media rockstar... I look forward to seeing more wineries follow in their delicious footsteps (and by delicious I mean their Sauvignon Blanc not the bacon).


    via rickbakas.com

     

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  • healdsburg of the now.

    • 7 Jul 2009
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    • Farmers Market Healdsburg Steve Pile
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    Just some pictures I just took today while waiting for Steve Pile to start singing.... oh, and my friends to get here with the wine and cheese!

    More on Healdsburg: http://bit.ly/12Z9Db

     

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  • About

    Hello! My name is Shana Ray, a Digital (Social Media) Marketing Director, working with wineries, restaurants & tech.

    My main website can be found at http://shanaray.com but I use this one as my social media/wine/food/music/llama blog and my way to get out my frustrations with the stuffiness that sometimes comes with wine.

    ...and I have red hair and can usually be heard before I am seen.

    I am a partner at Two Five Media and a Digital Media + PR Manager for Collaborize Classroom http://CollaborizeClassroom.com/blog

    .... yup, llamas.

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