The Beginning Of The End?

When I heard about the First Wine Bloggers Conference from Open Wine Consortium I was so excited I signed up immediately. A few days later , the second thoughts started to creep in. Was this the beginning of the end? I remember back in the '60s when the Transactional Analysis Journal was about to be published, I new it was the beginning of the end, kinda like when Steve Balmer took over Microsoft, you know, like the start-up becomes establishment, like when Robert Parker goes from Wine Maverick to Chief Wine Guru, like when Bambi becomes Godzilla. So it was with Fear & Trepidation that I drove to Santa Rosa. Would I be the oldest wine blogger there? Omigod would they all be 20-something? Uh oh, oh no, oh man! All those sponsors - Vineyard Walks, New Zealand, Sebastiani, Snooth, Twitter. Were wine bloggers selling out en masse? After all $59.63 from Adsense isn't going to support your habit, let alone your art. You have to have a day job, man. Now you can learn to drive subscribers to your blog, monetize your blog, accept advertising and free samples from wineries. It turned out to be fabulous, fun and educational. The group bonded fast! More so than, say a bunch of tax agents or psychoanalysts or even wine educators. I learned a lot, tasted a lot of wine, and made a lot of new friends - Kaz, Joel, Tom, Doug, Larry, Lori and Gabe to name just a few. The highlight for me was the real time live blogging while tasting wine.The only thing missing was Catie-the Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman. Is it the beginning of the end? I don't think so! Maybe the end of the beginning.