There’s a week to go until American social media guru Rick Bakas arrives in Australia for Wine Communicators of Australia Annual Lecture Series and Regional Tweet Ups and there’s much excitement gathering around the opportunity to learn more about social media and tell the message about great Australian wines.

Rick’s not just another social media academic – he’s a certified Sommelier, Wine lover, foodie and has a real passion for helping brands spread the word and connecting with consumers through mediums. As the first director of Social Media at St Supery in the Napa, he has first-hand experience of how to build a brand through these platforms and engage directly with consumers. His global reach will mean this is one of Australia’s most significant tours by a social media influencer and strategist.

I’ve paid over $1,000 a day to attend similar social media sessions without a specific wine industry focus so this really is an amazing opportunity to learn from one of the leading global experts in the field. Yes there’s a cost involved, but as a non for profit Wine Communicators needs to fund the trip and I am 100% certain you’ll find it the most valuable investment you’ve made in your marketing/ communications in a long time!

Addressing the topic of “Not in new media in 2011?  Then not in business by 2016” Rick will share relevant case studies and insights into how to build a brand with modern communication mediums looking at case studies from within the industry and talking importantly about that much asked question “what is the return on my investment.”

Regardless of where you are in your social media journey, there will be some amazing insights and practical advice for you to take away as well as the opportunity to engage directly and ask Rick questions.  Attendees will receive a copy of the white paper written by Rick as well as an electronic copy of his social media book “Quick Bites.”

YOU CAN ALL GET INVOLVED – SHARE YOUR STORIES WITH #WCATT TWEET UPS FOLLOWING THE LECTURES

As a community of Australian wine lovers there’s also a chance for us to tell the stories about great Australian wines and spread the word about the regions and producers. The four capital city tweet up sessions following the lectures have been deliberately designed to allow everyone to get involved so even if you can’t get to the sessions following the lecture, you can grab your favourite bottle of Australian wine and get involved on twitter using #WCATT.

Collectively as an Australian wine community we can get the message out to our customers, consumers, retailers, stockists about products we make and help them understand more about our brands. The last #WCATT session we held trended in Australia, and we now have learnings from a number of other Australian wine tweet ups on how to maximise impact. Globally we can all make a difference by getting involve dand sharing our stories.

Think about your message in advance, load up some content, get your consumers involved via cellar doors by having sample packs on same, take some pictures and post on the night and share with the twitter audience using hashtag #WCATT. To follow the conversations search for #WCATT on tweetdeck, hootsuite or other social media platforms or just type in the term to a website like www.kurrently.com or www.twitterfall.com.

Wine Communicators of Australia are giving you a platform to start a conversation and have invested a lot to connect you with the right people, how you leverage and get the word out is entirely up to you.

HOW TO BOOK

Details about the lectures and tweet ups can be find on the Wine Communicators of Australia Blog  or via website links below

I’ll be at the Sydney and Melbourne Lectures and Yarra and Hunter Tweet Ups so hope to see many of you there.