The world has strange karma.
It wasn’t more than 24 hours after I published this rant about public wine events and compared them to rock concerts that Colleen from Rock and Roll Wine invited us to their big event of the year – Wine Amplified.
We attended one RnR Wine event before and really had a great time. They’ve invited us back a few other times but we just could not fit it in our schedule. With harvest looking like it’s running late this year though, the last weekend in September opened up for us. Part of why I really like this event is that Chris Hammond, the promoter, does treat the wineries like we’re an attraction. He only asks that we bring enough wine to be able to pour through the event, no fees. He puts together great shows, great venues and does an awesome job.
The wine industry is struggling so hard to figure out how to market to people under 35. People in the industry ask me a lot on my ideas and how we’ve been successful at it and my answer is always the same: “You should talk to Chris Hammond, he’s the freaking genius of wine marketing to people under 35.”
I also really enjoy working with Colleen La Prade. She handles all the winery coordination and is about 50 times more organzied and professional than any other organizer we’ve ever worked with. “Colleen I need someone to ship too, Colleen can I get help pouring, Colleen we need a room?” – The answer is always either, “No problem I’ve already got that set up , or give me 24 hours and I’ll get that set up”.
The headline act this year is Third Eye Blind and the concert will be on the beach at Mandalay Bay. We will be in the main beach area pouring, and Colleen has set up some help for us so we can visit more with people at the table. There are special room rates at Mandalay Bay and the Luxor.
Please let us know if you’re coming! It will be a great party!