Agenda

Below is the agenda for the 2013 Wine Tourism Conference, which will take place November 13-15 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Portland, Oregon. We will be filling in the content and speakers in the coming months.

Tuesday, November 12

12:30 PM                       Pre-Conference Excursion: Pickup in Eugene for the optional pre-conference excursion. Please see Events tab for details.

Wednesday, November 13

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM  Workshop: Tasting Room Marketing – Increasing Visitation and Improving Sales This optional pre-conference workshop is directed towards winery marketers and tasting room managers. The workshop will be led by Dixie Huey of Trellis Growth Partners; Michael Kelly Brown, Director of Consumer Sales and Marketing at Sokol Blosser; and Andrew Kamphuis, President of Vin65. Learn ways to increase visitation, improve the tasting room experience, and increase sales. Cost is $125 or $200 for both the morning and afternoon workshop. Please see Events page for details.

1:30 – 4:30 PM             Workshop: Social Media for the Wine & Wine Tourism Industries This optional pre-conference workshop is a full three hours dedicated to social media, led by wine industry social media expert Andrew Healy of 3 Rock Marketing. Learn what social media outlets tend to work for the wine industry and which don’t; how to focus your time doing what needs to be done without using up too many resources; and how to use social media both to engage with your audience, build a brand, and increase sales. Cost is $125 or $200 for both the morning and afternoon workshop. Please see Events page for details.

5:00 – 7:30 PM            Conference Registration & Trade Show (trade show ends at 6:30 PM)

5:30 – 7:30PM            Opening Night Regional Wine Reception This event sponsored by Touring & Tasting features wines from across North America and beyond. Last year we had 21 regions represented including Idaho, Virginia, Texas, and New York as well as California, Oregon, and many more. The first 40 winery associations who send a representative to the conference will receive a table to pour their wines during this opening night reception.

Thursday, November 14

8:00 – 9:15 AM            Conference Registration & Trade Show

9:15 – 9:30 A M             Welcome & Opening

9:30 – 10:15 AM            Keynote Speaker Linda Murphy on “American Wine and Wine Tourism Around the World”

10:15 – 11:15 AM           The Current State of Wine & Culinary Tourism in North America: Laura Mandala from Mandala Research will present findings and draw advice from her recent studies on culinary and wine tourism. She will incorporate insights from this study with those from the firm’s recent studies on the international tourism market and cultural/heritage tourism.

11:30 – 12:30 PM           Survey of Wine Tourism in Oregon: Southern Oregon University’s Byron Marlowe, Coordinator of the Hospitality and Tourism Management program, will present the findings of a state-wide survey of Oregon’s wineries, showing the current state of wine tourism in Oregon including what is working and what is not.

12:30 – 2:30 PM           Lunch Break

2:30 – 4:30 PM             Industry Track Sessions: We will break into five groups (Wineries, Wine & Tourism Associations, Tour Operators, University Wine Programs Staff & Students, and Hotels, Restaurants, & Other Wine Tourism Businesses), which will allow you to meet others in your industry and get specific information relative to you. Each group will do introductions, have a general discussion, and share best practices. Please come prepared to present your own successes and challenges to your group!

4:30 – 6:30 PM             Oregon Wine Reception: Taste wines from across the great state of Oregon in this reception sponsored by the Oregon Wine Board.

Friday, November 15

9:30 – 10:20 AM            Breakout Sessions (choose one to attend)

• Live Website Critiques: What makes a great website? Web producer Andy Hayes will review websites from members in the audience, covering various website testing and usability techniques you can use to improve sales and customer engagement on your own website. From simple content changes to more in-depth issues, this session will result in practical takeaways you can put to work right away.
• Virtual Tourism – Promoting Outside Your Region: How do you promote your local wine tourism business outside the region where you operate? The internet has opened up endless possibilities for promoting yourself to those who might not know you. We’ll hear tips on how to do this from Camron King, Executive Director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission and other speakers to be confirmed.

10:30 – 11:20 PM           Breakout Sessions (choose one to attend)

• When Wireless Meets Wine: Learn how tourism is transformed by a visitor’s ability to access a myriad of data prior to choosing a destination, winery, or wine area business as well as how to use sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor. Our presenter is Paul Wilke founder of Upright Position Communications.
• Strategic Partnerships and Why They Are Important: Learn how to identify, cultivate and leverage the right partnership relationships, both within and outside the wine industry, to increase brand recognition, traffic and direct sales. We’ll hear about real success stories from Michele Boyer of M&B Concepts and John Cooper, President & CEO of the Yakima Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau.

11:30 – 12:20 PM           Breakout Sessions (choose one to attend)

• Who Are Wine Bloggers and How Can You Work With Them?: Learn about and from wine bloggers, including overall statistics, takeaways from the Wine Bloggers Conference, and a report on the 2013 State of Wine Blogging survey results. We’ll discuss how you can work with wine bloggers to promote your wine tourism business. Our presenters are Cindy Molchany, Online Community & Social Media Marketing Manager and Thea Dwelle, blogger at Luscious Lushes and founder of the WBC Scholarship Fund.
• Yield More Returns From Wine Tourism: Donna Quadri, Ph.D., who recently completed an extensive study “An Experience Economy Approach to Enhancing Lake Erie Wine Tourism” will offer practical advice on how you can enhance the tourist experience and gain loyal repeat customers resulting in more profits for your company or visitors to your area.

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM    Lunch Sponsored by Oregon Tourism: Enjoy a variety of Oregon food products served in this lunch sponsored by Oregon Tourism.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM        Perspectives on Wine Tourism: We will have two representatives from each of the following groups offer their perspectives on wine tourism, including what works and what they would like to do differently, in 15-minute presentations.

• 2:00 – 2:30 PM Wineries
• 2:30 – 3:00 PM Tour Operator & Travel Agency
• 3:00 – 3:30 PM Hotel & Restaurant
• 3:30 – 4:00 PM Winery and Tourism Associations

4:00- 4:30 PM               Conference Close and Announcement of 2014 Location

6:00 – 10:30 PM           Optional wine-pairing dinner at Willamette Valley Vineyards. See Events tab for details.

Saturday, November 16

3:00 – 8:00 PM            Great American Wine Festival Stay after the conference to attend the first-ever Great American Wine Festival consumer wine tasting event. With so many wineries and winery associations coming to Portland from all over North America, this is a great opportunity to create a unique festival that focuses on wines from many regions. The first 25 winery associations registered to attend the conference can pour at the festival for free.