Fermentation’s Top Online Wine Influencers
What is "Influence" and what makes an individual "Influential". Let's not over think this. Isn't "Influence" the power to make other people act and think differently…or at least to act and think? And isn't one MORE influential if they can provoke MORE people to act and think?
So, if we ask the question, "who are the most influential people affecting the Online Wine World", we are looking for people who, through their actions (online or otherwise), cause larger numbers of people to act, or change the way they act, in relation to wine online. So, utilizing this theory...
FERMENTATION'S TOP ONLINE WINE INFLUENCERS
Cyril Penn, Editor, Wine Business Monthly
Wine Business Monthly is the best read wine trade site on the Internet. They send out a daily list of top wine stories that LOTS of people read early in the day and then react to, if only by them reading the stories or being introduced to them. The fact that there are so many folks in the wine industry get their daily Top Wine Stories and, hence, their daily perspective on the wine industry from Wine Business Online makes Cyril, the editor of the organization, among the top Online Wine Influencers
Jeremy Benson, President, Benson Marketing
Jeremy's company does the same thing that Wine Business does with their daily Enews Monitor. Their list is very big and the people that get this list of top wine stories on the Internet read it closely to see what's new in the wine world. This is influence for the same reason that Wine Business Monthly has influence: They use the Internet to help determine what stories and issues are at top-of-mind of thousands of wine industry insiders.
Gary Vaynerchuk, WineLibrary.TV
Gary has harnessed online communications to build a significant audience of wine lovers via his WineLibrary TV, his twittering, and through garyvaynerchuk.com. They buy wine he recommends. And though I don't have hard data on this, I think Gary provokes them to think differently about wine. At the very least, Vaynerchuk has prompted people to think differently about what a wine critic is. That's influence.
Rich Bergsund, CEO, Wine.com
Despite its somewhat checkered business history, Wine.com is among the largest if not the largest wine retailer on the Internet. This means that Rich Burgsund and the folks at Wine.com do the most to introduce people to online wine sales. This is critical work. For many people, Wine.com is the first place wine is ever purchased on the net and that first impression means a lot to the rest of the industry.
Craig Wolf, CEO, Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association
Over the past few years, few people have done more to slow commerce in wine on the Internet than WSWA and its head Craig Wolf. By using its resources to spread unwarranted fear among legislators and releasing misleading information to the public, many states have had second thoughts about opening their borders to well regulated commerce that makes sense in the 21st century.
The Inertia Beverage Group Team
Inertia Beverage Group (a client of Wark Communications) has been instrumental in evangelizing to wineries where direct sales are concerned. Between their direct sales and Direct To Trade Platform, their free compliance service and their constant involvement in the technological and marketplace development for direct sales, far more wineries have taken the leap into the online world.
The ShipCompliant TeaShipCompliant is the company that has worked harder than any to blunt the efforts of uninformed legislators and self-indulgent wholesalers who have done as much as possible to make complying with state laws difficult. ShipCompliant has given wineries and retailers the means of navigating the countless regulations that govern direct shipment of wine so that more consumers can enjoy the continually increasing diversity of wines in the American marketplace.
Tracy Genesen, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis
No single person has done more to lay the ground work for consumer access to wine than Tracy. This is the woman who devised the overall legal strategy that brought the Granholm v. Heald case to the Supreme Court, who was the first person to get a judge to rule that retailers are covered by the Granholm ruling and who most recently convinced a court to shoot down "capacity caps" on who can ship wine while working on behalf of Family Winemakers of California in a Massechussetts-based lawsuit. Tracy is the legal guru behind the rise of online wine sales.
Joel Vincent
Joel strikes me as the "Braintrust of Wine Social Media". Business focused, savvy, and industry-centered, Joel nearly singlehandedly runs the OpenWine Consortium, the most important development in wine trade networking to emerge in a decade. Through OWC, Joel played the key role in creating the first North American Wine Bloggers Conference that brought the continent's wine bloggers into the same room, face to face, for the first time. He is omnipresent in all forms of wine-related social media and commands respect for his ideas and opinions.
I suspect there are other suggestions on who I might want to include on this list and I welcome those suggestions. But if you suggest some one for this list of Top Online Wine Influencers, please explain why they belong on the list and please note if their inclusion is based on a different criteria than mentioned above for what "Influence" means
Thanks for the suggestions! I just signed up for the Benson newsletters.
What have you found other wine bloggers reading for inspiration and potential material? I am guessing most prolific bloggers read lots of other blogs (not just wine-related), as well as dead tree publications.
I couldn’t agree more about Cyril and Joel (while not diminishing the others on your list).
Several months ago, I had a conversation with Steve Heimoff in which the idea of an “information gatekeeper” came up. An “information gatekeeper” is someone who operates a high-profile media platform and can 1) give greater exposure to a writer and 2) bring ideas and information into the spotlight.
Because of a clear editorial direction, landing your story or blog post on WB’s daily summary is an indirect endorsement of the author and does much to bolster credibility.
As for Joel: I’ve had the pleasure of working with him on the OWC in the past – until I stepped down as an admin. When it comes to social media prowess and savvy, Joel speaks softly and carries a very big stick. As of this morning, there are 2,415 people on the OWC – a powerful testimony of the power of Joel’s vision.
I couldn’t agree more about Cyril and Joel (while not diminishing the others on your list).
Several months ago, I had a conversation with Steve Heimoff in which the idea of an “information gatekeeper” came up. An “information gatekeeper” is someone who operates a high-profile media platform and can 1) give greater exposure to a writer and 2) bring ideas and information into the spotlight.
Because of a clear editorial direction, landing your story or blog post on WB’s daily summary is an indirect endorsement of the author and does much to bolster credibility.
As for Joel: I’ve had the pleasure of working with him on the OWC in the past – until I stepped down as an admin. When it comes to social media prowess and savvy, Joel speaks softly and carries a very big stick. As of this morning, there are 2,415 people on the OWC – a powerful testimony of the power of Joel’s vision.
I nominate Paul Mabray, founder of Inertia Beverage and the visionary who saw the need for a company that led wineries by the hand in to the world of direct to consumer and direct to trade channels.
I wonder if Amazon will replace Wine.com next year as most influential online retailer?
Mutineer Magazine! I think Mutineer Magazine belongs on this list because it has created another channel of communication in the world of fine beverage, and beyond being an influence itself, it has given exposure to other voices on the internet. For instance, Issue 3 features write-ups on twelve blogs that were at the Wine Bloggers Conference, and full interviews with these bloggers will be posted periodically on the Mutineer Magazine blog throughout December and January.
I still think that Robin Garr has had a huge amount of influence on the wine world through his http://www.wineloverspage.com forum and network. OK, he’s not Web 2.0, but he meets your criterion.
Joel is certainly to be commended. But now it remains to figure out–I’m sure Joel will agree–how OWC can function as an ongoing clearinghouse and portal. After the initial burst of enthusiam and participation it strikes me that “members” are too immersed, understandably given the times, in their own biz (plus twittering) and don’t check in as much anymore. Worth debating, I suppose, is whether online communities have the potential we hope they have.
I think Gary, although over-enthused at times, is a great speaker and practices what he preaches. That has been the most important piece of his success. I grew up just a few streets away from the Wine Library back when it was a tiny corner store directly across from a Burger King (at the time). The store has come so far since then, and it’s in major part to the influence of Gary Vaynerchuk.
Congratulations to all of the Influencers. Indeed, some of you have touched my wine-life and have inspired me to turn thought into action. Through the inspiration of your example, maybe we’ll make the list next year.
I think it will be interesting to revisit this list in 2009 . . . As it becomes more difficult and costly to sell and market wines through ‘traditional channels’, more and more wineries, and traditional print publications, will reach out to people in all sorts of ways, including via blogs on the net . . .
Watch for wine writers to leverage their print following with more substantial ‘blog’ followings – following Eric Asimov, Steve Heimoff, etc down this path . . .
Cheers!
I submit Doug Cook, who will in 2009 change the way we use the web when searching for wine. Great guy who will end up helping us all to use the internet in new wine related ways.
I think Tom Wark should clearly be on this list. Tom wears many hats in this industry – public relations expert, influential blogger, and outspoken proponent of retailer to consumer shipments. How many times did a quote from Tom appeared in an article or blog post about direct shipping in 2008? It would be very hard to count. Tom has a unique voice that people in this industry listen to and respect.
Your post has on internet marketing is definitely true. Internet marketing has opened new ways of attracting visitors to the website giving the webmasters a way of earning cash as well as web status. Let’s see what the future holds for internet marketing.
I definitely agree with Jeff Carroll! The internet has opened impossible gateways to other sources of wine products.
– Semie Lee
Professional Wine Packaging
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Great. Now i can say thank you!
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Jeff Carrol gets my vote as well