ViniSud’s first steps into the web 2.0

At the beginning of next week Montpellier will be awash with several tens of thousands of Mediterranean wine lovers who will flock to the Parc des Expositions to attend the 10th edition of Vinisud.

Vinisud has become the leading wine fair for the world’s largest wine region – currently 1 out of 2 bottles comes from a Mediterranean country. It brings together around 1600 winemakers from from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Macedonia. Since it’s start the fair has grown significantly and at it’s last edition in 2010 it registered more than 33,000 trade visitors.

This year Vinisud celebrates it’s 10th anniversary and to mark the occasion they are following in the steps of the Salon des Vins de la Loire, VinExpo and the London International Wine Fair and are introducing a web 2.0 area (Hall 6 Stand 90B). Winemakers and wine professionals are invited to visit the stand to find out more about the latest trends in digital communications or just share their experiences of the fair online – free wi-fi is provided:-)

Alternatively they can join into the big debate which is held just before and after lunch. Topics are the following:

• Monday 20 February 2012 – 11.30 am and 2.30 pm
  The role of joint trades organisations in export markets: Focus on the USA
• Tuesday 21 February 2012 – 11.30 am and 2.30 pm
  Asia Special: A producer’s experience compared to that of an Asian buyer
• Wednesday 22 February 2012 – 11.30 and 2.30 pm
  Media Communication: The challenges of Web 2.0 communications
  Digital communications v. Traditional communications: what is the right balance?

Furthermore wine bloggers and web2.0 specialists will host several workshops elaborating the opportunities of web tools, mobile applications, and digital communication.
The proposed workshops include:

• What use is digital in the development of “wine and wine tourism” business for vineyards (Costs / Practices / Contents / Tools / Targets) by Mon Vigneron
• Mobility, QR Code, social networks, hosting on the cloud: meet Internet new uses with Vincod by Vinternet
• What are the social media customs in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan? by Charles Perez (Mas Becha)
• Presentation of the Ipad application WINE LR by Balthazar Matita (Michel Redon)
• How will social networks be used in the wines and spirits industry? By Marie Soubirac (Exclusive Global Wines & Spirits survey)
• Les Outsiders: Another way of tasting, by Louise Hurren and Ryan O’Connell
• Introduction to the use of social networks for wine growers: Focus on Facebook and Twitter, by Audrey Domenach and Vincent Pétré
• Presentation of the “Feuille de Vigne”, the new digital weekly, and the QBQM wine pairing app
• Presentation of the “Le Petit Ballon” wine selection concept, by Martin Ohannessian
• Setting up a 5-stage mobile marketing plan by Tanguy Robet (Sésame & Azur Consulting)

Most workshops will be repeated more than once, please check the Vinisud activities section for an exact schedule of the events organised in the Web 2.0 Pavillion.

It is wonderful to see more and more major wine events embrace web technologies and include them as an essential part of the event activities. I hope that the ones that are lagging behind are paying close attention – I feel they will have to if they do not want to miss the boat…

More information on Vinisud and other prominent wine fairs can be found in our events section.