Wine Bloggers Conference 2013 – Here Comes The Academic Wino!: A Gargantuan Thanks!

I am very happy to report to you all that I have been chosen as a recipient for a Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC) Scholarship to this year’s Wine Bloggers Conference in Penticton, BC! Those of you that follow me on Facebook and Twitter may recall my frequent calls for donations to the WBC Scholarship, in hopes that you could help some blogger in need get to the conference. Well, your donations were only part of the puzzle, with the other piece remaining in the hands of the judges who ultimately selected me as one of the individual bloggers receiving this amazing award. I want to personally thank each and every one of you who donated to the WBC Scholarship fund, and a big thank you to those that selected me as a recipient of one of these wonderful scholarships.

Photo By Flickr user vistamommy [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo By Flickr user vistamommy [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Why is the Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship Important to Me?

I think for me, one of the most important things about the Wine Bloggers Conference is getting a chance to interact with and learn from hundreds of other wine bloggers, and to develop cooperative relationships with them in order to continually improve the state of wine blogging in North America and elsewhere in the world, while simultaneously learning how to be a more well-rounded blogger individually.

For me, my style of wine blogging is aimed to promote and increase a healthy amount of wine knowledge and education, in order to give my readers a greater perspective on wine as well as help improve the wine industry as a whole by discussing current research related to wine and wine technology. My style of wine blogging is certainly in its own little niche, though my hope is that my presence at these Wine Bloggers Conferences will open the eyes of others to the possibility of expanding on their own knowledge in order to further improve their own craft.

The Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship was critical for me this year, as I would have not been able to afford to go if it were completely up to me to provide the funds. Coming from Virginia, it’s very expensive to travel to Penticton, British Columbia, so I needed all the help I could get. Without this WBC Scholarship, I would not have been able to go to the conference, thus drastically hampering my ability to spread the knowledge that is all things wine science and wine research.

Without the WBC scholarship, I also wouldn’t be able to absorb as much firsthand knowledge and information about wines in British Columbia, which is something that I don’t normally have much access to. There is always something to learn about wine and grapes, and I am so humbled and thankful to have been chosen for a Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship in order to further my wine education and to educate others in my own way.

Wine Bloggers Conference

 

This year’s Wine Bloggers Conference is extra special for The Academic Wino in particular in that Saturday June 8th, the last day of the conference, is The Academic Wino’s 2nd Birthday (or what I loving call “Blogiversary”)! What better way to celebrate two years of progress in wine education and wine research by being with those that have financially, morally, and professionally supported me along the way! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to kick off the next big chapter of The Academic Wino’s hopefully long life with those sponsors and fellow attendees at the Wine Bloggers Conference!

Once again, thank you to all those that donated to the Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship, the judges who selected me, and to each and every one of my readers, for without my readers, The Academic Wino isn’t much of anything!

Please consider continuing to donate via to the Wine Bloggers Conference, as there were several people that still need assistance! Click here to donate!

Cheers!

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