I went to my first WBC in the US this year, in California.
I had attended EWBC a couple of times and is quite difficult not to compare the two conferences in style.
EWBC is the European Wine Blog Conference that no long exist.
WBC stands for the american Wine Blog Conference and goes strong every year.
Well.. you can argue that WBC is the original one but for me is still the american version of the european one.
I know I’m wrong with that, but that’s my perception as I’m new in the US.

The first think that came to my mind was: “is it worth?”
I spent more money with Hotels and flight tickets.. away more than the european one.
Flight tickets in the US is not as affordable as Ryanair, not to mention Hilton’s room fees.
But that’s how it goes in America, wine is a luxurious product not an everyday part of your meal. And so is everything around wine, expensive comparing to european standards.
But is ok. I’m not complaining.
Or maybe I am.. but that the way it is..
I sucked it up..

I can tell you that everything at WBC2017 was very organized, on time and scheduled for maximum efficiency.
Even the waiting list worked fine tuned, I liked that very much.

• There was educational sessions, with some good topics to follow up.*
  Learning about blogging legal issues and regulations was the cherry of the cocktail.

• 
  * El Dourado, the Californian wine region, was a great positive surprise for me. It sparkled my guts to go visit the wineries.

• There was Winery Dinner Trips, with some great food experiences and fine Wine&Food pairing. Discovering that not all of its wines is for on the spot drinking, some can show age potential.
• There was pre-trips and pos-trips, just as in EWBC, that really upgrade the whole WBC experience.
  * Lodi opened my mind to California’s Wines, showed me good quality and winemakers to respect. And since then I’m telling people about Lodi Wines and to go visit.
  * Livermore showed me the a wine region is much more than just wines to taste. Loved!
• There was THE Bloggers!
  The best part of the Conference for any WBC or/and EWBC!
  Meet old friends once again, get to meet new ones.
  People from everywhere, with so many different styles..
  Great collection of people..

EWBC was smaller, or looks like to my eyes, and meeting people was always great fun.
Always was the Wine in the center of all conversations.
I have good friends till this day that I had met then.
Classic wines (to dye for..) to share at the BYOB dinner and after-party.
Epic after-parties.

WBC was more business oriented, networking as only americans can build.
And that could be new to some european bloggers without a business background.
Don’t be shocked.. It’s good.. Go for it!
Numbers are the center of most talks.
Followers numbers..
Sales numbers..
ROI numbers..
PR numbers..
Wine sales numbers..
Numbers and more numbers..
Be prepared..

It worth it!

I’ll publish some posts about what I tasted, what I saw and what I experienced at WBC2017.
But first I’m enjoying the holidays, some bubbly wines, in the Brazilian NorthEast Summer weather.. hehehe
My luggage was quite heavy with wines I bought during WBC2017 #justsaying 🙂

Happy Holidays eveyone !!