Happy 5th Blogiversary, The Academic Wino!

On June 8th, 2011, The Academic Wino was born!

Time certainly flies when you’re having fun!  I can’t believe it’s already been 5 years.  Sometimes I feel like I just started the blog yesterday.  So much in both my personal and professional lives have changed in these 5 short years–it’s all a bit of a blur!

academicwino_logo TwitterFirst, some quick social media stats:

  • 1 Year Blogiversary: About 1000 Twitter followers, and unsure of the number of Facebook “likes”.
  • 2 Year Blogiversary: 2,738 Twitter followers and 488 “likes” on Facebook.
  • 3 Year Blogiversary: 5,556 Twitter followers and 1304 Facebook “likes”.
  • 4 Year Blogiversary: 9,767 Twitter followers and 1742 Facebook “likes”.
  • 5 Year Blogiversary: 15,403 Twitter followers and 1945 Facebook “likes”.

Great work on the social media, folks!  Let’s try to keep the momentum going!  Find The Academic Wino on various social media platforms here:

Professional Highlights During the Past Year

I am still working as Editor for Wine Industry Insight News Fetch, and have taken on the Editor position for the new (Oct 2015) sister publication, Craft Beverage Insights.  I am responsible for updating the website as well as curating the news links for the daily News Fetch.  Both the Wine Industry Insight News Fetch and Craft Beverage Insights News Fetch are free to subscribe, so if you’re not already getting these daily news briefs, sign up by clicking the respective links above.

badge_bdwaI also continued my journey as a freelance writer by contributing to various publications, including SOMM Journal, The Tasting Panel, Clever Root. I am currently accepting new assignments, so if you’re interested in working with me, please check out my LinkedIn profile and send me a message (or email me).

During the past year, I have also been honored with a couple of awards for both the blog and for my writing in general.  First, The Academic Wino was selected as The Best Overall Wine Blog in the 2015 Wine Blog Awards.  Read my acceptance speech here.

Additionally, one of my pieces in particular (The Effect of Climate Change on the Global Wine Industry) received 3rd place honors in the 2015 Born Digital Wine Awards Best Investigative/Journalistic Wine Story.

I am humbled and honored by all of my professional successes this year and am looking forward to the next year to come.

Personal Highlights During the Past Year

While I have had a great year professionally, my greatest accomplishment in the past year by far was the birth of my first born child.  I had a son in early January, which many of you may remember since I had been on maternity leave for 2 months after that.  While I was away on maternity leave, I had several guest writers present on the blog.  Here’s a quick recap of those pieces:

Many of you may have noticed that since I returned from maternity leave, that I have only been posted every 2 weeks instead of once per week as I had previously.  Since I am a Work At Home Mom, I have significantly less time for research and writing on the blog as I

On our first vacation as a family of 3! Copyright R. Yeamans-Irwin

On our first vacation as a family of 3! Copyright R. Yeamans-Irwin

 

had previously.  At the moment, when I am not taking care of my son, any free time is spent on paid assignments and sleep, so I decided to cut myself a little slack and back off from more frequent posting on the blog.  Once my son becomes more independent and less reliant on me to survive, I’ll be able to increase my posting frequency again, but for now, please enjoy new posts every 2 weeks.

Speaking of sleep, it’s about that time again…If I learned anything since having a baby it’s that I do not do well with sleep deprivation and really do need to get some shut eye before doing it all over again in the morning.

…….

Thank you again to every single one of you who have supported me in one way or another as without you, The Academic Wino is just another blip in the matrix.

Never stop asking questions. 

Never stop learning.

Be kind.  Be happy.  Drink wine. 

Thank you….