I am but a simple wine peddler, spreading a little bit of public relations love to all of the bloggers I know on the Internet. Or at least that is my modus operandi.
I really love bloggers. There are so few people in the world that truly appreciate the work you do and bloggers not only give you thanks, but then shout it from on top of their soapboxes about how you helped them.
Maybe I skipped ahead a little too far, so I will backtrack a little bit. I do PR work in the wine world. I also blog (if you have not figured that out, please stop reading and smack yourself in the head, twice). However, I will never write about any wine or winery that I currently work for in any way. For instance, I work for Wines of Chile. You will never see me review any Chilean wines here on this blog. I am just not a credible source and I do not blog to please my clients.
In my job I send out samples to journalists, charities, art shows, embassies, government agencies, restaurant owners, retailers, party organizers, theater producers, fish wranglers, snozzberry lickers, horn wagglers, and bloggers. And the most appreciative group of all of those by far is the bloggers (the snozzberry lickers just can’t get their faces off the wall paper…). The bloggers say thank you, and they say it with such feeling and poetry that I just cannot help but feel good about myself.
For instance, one of my bloggy friends sent this to me:
“It's just like Christmas here! The wine arrived today, and all of Cratchits - er... I mean [editorial deletion] are beside themselves with joy. Thanks so much! I can't wait to try it.
Thanks again Santa - I mean Rob.”
How could you not love that? And that was yesterday!
However, I am certainly not the only PR person that has learned the art of putting wine into a box and putting it in the mail. Many PR companies are now scouring the Internet, looking for a blogger to send wine to in hopes of a favorable review. Some expect a review, and here is where things get sticky and really the reason I wanted to write this post.
I will never expect a review to come out of a wine I send to a blogger. My job is to make suggestions, supply information, and help all types of media (blog or print) form stories about the wines (or country) I represent.
I do not think bloggers are under any obligation to do anything with the wine I send them. If they want to drink it, give it away, or toss it out without posting on their blog about it I would understand. If they think the wine sucks and they want to write about that, I would understand. If they think I am a horrible PR flack (the term my friend at the New York Times gives PR people who bug her with stories that are completely irrelevant to the topics she covers) and want to write about that, I would understand.
However, I hope that most of the bloggers I have created relationships with do not feel that way. In fact, I hope they find me as a useful part of their society (and even a member of the blogosphere). There is definitely no greater feeling than having sent a sample to someone who then writes about how that wine changed his or her view about a certain variety or perhaps even the country where it came from.
Since I know that my blog is mostly read by other wine bloggers, I wonder how you feel about PR people? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
Cheers!
You’re friendly neighborhood Chilean Wine Peddler…
