[Press release] The DWCC (Digital Wine Communications Conference, formerly known as the EWBC) will be held in Logroño (Spain) from October 25-27. It welcomes speakers Andrew Quady, Txaber Allué, Judith Lewis, Tyler Colman and David White.
The only international event dedicated to the convergence of wine and the web, the annual, three-day DWCC provides a platform for the global wine community to address today’s online communications opportunities.
Each year the conference brings in internationally-renowned experts to educate and debate with an audience of some 250 wine communicators from around the world. Joining previously-announced participants Julia Harding MW, Dr. José Vouillamoz, Doug Frost MS MW, Tim Hanni MW, Robert Joseph and Jesús Barquín will be Andrew Quady, Txaber Allué, Judith Lewis, Tyler Colman and David White.
Conference highlights and content
DWCC 2013 delegates will attend a wide range of educational wine tastings as well as experience Riojan wine and food culture and hospitality in events, tastings, winery visits and tourism opportunities. They will also be able to taste a wide range of wines from other countries via sponsored tastings held during the event.
As well as discussion topics inspired by the ‘Flavour’ theme, the conference will look at developments in the years since the first event. The event will feature, as always, a number of communications and technical workshops on the skills needed by wine communicators in the 21st century.
A highlight of the conference will be Saturday October 26th’s Wine Mosaic: Grand Terroir tasting, led by Julia Harding MW and Dr. José Vouillamoz. Others include workshops and panel discussions led by the following speakers:
Andrew Quady: Co-owner of Quady winery in Madera (California), Andrew specialises in dessert and aperitif wines, experimenting with grapes, spirits and flavours to produce some highly original concoctions. He will be sharing some of his more unusual aromatic creations with DWCC delegates.
Txaber Allué: Spanish chef, blogger and TV personality Txaber took Spain by storm with his engaging and informal use of social media. With a Masters degree in Marketing and Communication, he owned two communication companies before becoming associate professor at the University of Tarragona, a consultant at the University of Catalunya and the face behind El Cocinero Fiel (the Faithful Cook) website. He will be conducting a workshop on wine and food pairings focused exclusively on the flavour. By using sferifications (foam), participants will smell, taste, and finally, chose which wine from the two available goes better with each flavour.
Judith Lewis: UK-based Judith is a specialist online marketer with skills in SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing and other digital marketing techniques. Her clients include Google, Virgin, Slendertone, Guggenheim, SAP, Amadeus, & ShareThis. Judith writes regularly for SEO Chicks and Mostly About Chocolate as well as the Huffington Post’s Technology and Lifestyle sections and will be sharing her knowledge with DWCC attendees.
Tyler Colman: US-based Tyler Colman writes, talks and teaches about wine, and is the face behind the wine blog DrVino.com. Colman teaches wine classes at New York University and the University of Chicago, and his wine writing has appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Wine & Spirits, Forbes.com and the Journal of Wine Research. Tyler will be participating on a roundtable debating the future of wine communications and the individuals to keep your eye on in 2014.
David White: Washington DC-based David White is the founder of Terroirist.com (named Best Overall Wine Blog at the 2013 Wine Blog Awards in the US). He writes a nationally-syndicated wine column hosted by Palate Press and has been published in The World of Fine Wine, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post.
Conference sponsors: The 2013 conference is sponsored be the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja, and organized by Ryan and Gabriella Opaz and Robert McIntosh of social media company Vrazon in partnership with Catavino.net, a site dedicated to Iberian food and wine culture.
2013 sees the DWCC celebrating its sixth anniversary (previous events have been run in Spain, Portugal, Austria, Italy and Turkey) and an enthusiastic return to Rioja, scene of the very first conference, held in 2008. The conference will take place in and around the northern Spanish city of Logroño, and in other towns of the wine regions of La Rioja and Alava, within easy travelling distance of many European locations.