funny by accident.

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

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  • in response to "when blogs go bad"

    • 30 Jul 2009
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    • Blogging Shana Ray Wine Blog
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    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.


    ----

    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?"

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  • my new job, courtesy of @winetwo

    • 24 Jun 2009
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    • Blogging Gov 2.0 Lynn Woolsey Shana Ray Social Media Wine 2.0
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    I am now helping out with Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey's online presence.  You may be thinking, "What? When did Shana get into politics?"  I can tell you it was a very welcomed shock to me as well and if you want to hear more, please visit here to read all about what I have been up to over the last few months and why I have been so secretive!

    p.s.  This wouldn't all be possible without meeting Amy, the daughter to the Congresswoman at the Wine 2.0 event in SF a few months ago!  Thank you to Cornelius Geary and Smoke Wallin for hosting such a great event... You never know who you will meet while wine tasting!

     

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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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