Well… this is… interesting.
Fellow wine fanatic and blogger Robbin Gheesling passed this tidbit onto me earlier this week:
Remember Anthony dias Blue? He’s the guy who just this past summer had this to say about wine bloggers:
“…bitter, carping gadflies who, as they stare into their computer screens and contemplate their dreary day jobs, let their resentment and sense of personal failure take shape as vicious attacks on the established critical media.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Seems he might have changed his mind – dias Blue is currently scheduled to give a talk on wine blogging at the upcoming VINO 2010 Italian Wine Week in New York.
Here’s the skinny from the program:
Seminar # 7
Room: Louis XIV Suite (4th Floor)
Presentation: “Blogging on Wine and Social Networking: New Tools in reaching
Consumers of Italian Wine ”
Moderated by: Anthony Dias Blue , WCBS Radio, journalist and author, Los
Angeles, California
WTF?!??
I don’t want to disparage the guy the possibility that his tune on wine blogging has changed – and I sincerely hope that it has. I just really, really, really hope that dias Blue has had a bit of self-revelation and has seen a turn-around in his thinking since July, or this might get really ugly, really fast.
Because the last thing that wineries, PR, and media need to hear is that blogging and social media aren’t important or are somehow full of “barbarian… militant bloggers” (his words, from July), because both are patently false.
Cheers!
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Comments
@dirtysouthwine
I think this is awesome in so many ridiculous ways.
I may be in the minority (and it is early in the am), but I think wine blogging doesn't have enough enemies.
1WineDude
Nah, we just need *cooler* enemies, like a Destro or Cobra Commander!
@dirtysouthwine
Destro would be an awesome enemy!
I think if we aren't rattlin' the cage, then all of this is just the same sausage on a different roll…
@amaynard6
This is quite interesting, to say the very least. I hope someone records the whole talk and they really grill him in the Q&A. It would be extremely entertaining to watch.
1WineDude
I am praying someone from the blogosphere is going to cover it…
rj's wine blog
what i find so interesting about the blogger / "established media" showdown is that the emotions can run so deep. in one sense, i just want to shake people and say "can't we all just get along?" can't we just find a way to understand that we're all here to stay and no matter what distribution method or form we use, behind it is a passion for wine and wine writing that surpasses the egos at the keyboards? on the other hand, it does provide good fodder for content and shows that even us wine geeks can come up with drama sometimes. sure, it's no us weekly cover story, but we all need our drama to some degree.
and then if i really dig deep, i think – you know, for some reason, life has made me a wine geek and there's something about it that compels me to write. it just so happens that technology then allows me to share that with the world (and let's not kid ourselves, it's not a big world, just a tiny fraction of it). i used to keep wine journals on my own, reminding me of the wines i liked and why. i used to even peel labels with those awful label peelers that have only one upside – they mutilate the label so badly that all the wine labels i kept looked like they were from old and rare bottles. now, i use cellartracker and i document my notes for others to see. some call that narcissistic, but i just enjoy doing it. if anthony dias blue finds that to be offensive, then so be it…
1WineDude
What you say is true, the thing for me is this: if the gatekeepers would welcome bloggers (instead of trashing them in print), then I'll be the first person to sign up for their fan clubs.
rj's wine blog
whoa good call on destro. i was thinking more along the lines of the brown hornet but destro could take him in a grudge match
1WineDude
Brown Hornet is cool but we need something more… EVIL!!!!
1WineDude
This just in:
Alfonso Cevola told me that he was originally asked to moderate the panel and was bumped when someone
higher up than the person coordinating the panel apparently decided that AdB was a bigger 'name' and put him on it instead – check out the details here:
http://acevola.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-hot-streak…
Unbelievable – and NOT a good sign for VINO 2010 in my opinion…
Alfonso
Alder will be on the panel as will blogger Susannah Gold – the bloggy-blog world will be ok. All we need is a jacuzzi and white frocks- we can do us some blog-baptising on the spot!
1WineDude
With sparkling wine, right? ;-)
James McCann
Obviously a bad choice… HOWEVER, in regards to the ongoing battle between bloggers and print critics / journalists, I believe that the score is (approximately):
Blogger negative comments about print critics: 4,389
Print critic negative comments about bloggers: 11
Why do bloggers want "acceptance"? Isn't the point of blogging to be outside of the mainstream? And does acceptance come with additional baggage that bloggers might not want to bear?
1WineDude
I can't speak for all 1000+ wine bloggers, but for me it has nothing to do with acceptance. It has to do with people making sweeping negative generalizations in print as the first exposure that they offer their readers to wine blogging.
Lyle Fass
What a hypocrite! In line with most Americans!
1WineDude
Hey! I resemble that remark!
James McCann
What's the impression that a wine newbie would get of a wine print journalist if they only read blogs?
Probably lots of generalizations about advertisers buying ratings, the flaws of the 100 point system, they're dinosaurs, etc…
1WineDude
Maybe – but I never said that those blogs are being fair, or are right. In fact, if they're not taking a specific stance on a specific issue with a specific article, etc., then I'd say they're in the same boat as AdB in this case.
1WineDude
Maybe – but I never said that those blogs are being fair, or are right. In fact, if they're not taking a specific stance on a specific issue with a specific article, etc., then I'd say they're in the same boat as AdB in this case.
James McCann
Maybe? These things do not occur in a vacuum, and while both Parker's and Blue's rants were ridiculus, they were in response to the many bloggers who post inaccurate information and/or spend much more time attacking people than actually contributing something to the wine community.
And, (my apologies in advance) you simply cannot cut out the first 8 words of Mr. Blue's sentence that you quoted, which puts the words in a different context. That's beneath any writer, print or blogger. It does not look like you were pressed for space.
Steve Heimoff
I would guess (with all due respect to the Italians) that they don't have the perspective or historical understanding of the issue in quite the same way as we do, Dude. They may have no idea what he wrote about blogging. They know that Andy is a very famous American writer/critic/personality and they are hopeful he'll have something interesting to say. Which he might.
1WineDude
Steve, I understand what you're saying, however it's troubling to me that someone who has publicly expressed such a bias would moderate a discussion on the topic. If AdB had released a clarification or had stated the specific target of his missives (which was likely Tyler at drvino.com) then I'd be singing a different tune here.
@mondosapore
Having a moderator who hasn't drunk the blogging Kool-Aid (no offense
Galen Struwe
AdB, not to be confused with KSM, is a lightning rod, a provocateur, who seems to enjoy shaking it up. And why not? It's good entertainment for everyone. Who knows, he may end up relevant again.
D Grimes
I'm cynically thinking: Ridiculous + Controversial = Some Free Media coverage for Vino 2010
…After all 1WineDude is talking about it… ;)
Nathan E. Rodakirk
HOLD THE PRESSES! Andy Blue has a blog – The Daily Andy
http://www.bluelifestyle.com/blog/2009_12_25_arch…
not to be confused with The "Other" Daily Andy
http://bit.ly/the_other_daily_andy
OK. so he is now a bonafide blogger. Now let's go make us some pancakes 'n eggs!
Kimberly
Yowsa, WTF indeed! It reminds me of an opinion piece in the New York Times when Gourmet magazine folded — I forget the writer's name — but essentially, if I remember his point correctly, he took pains to excoriate food bloggers and lumped them all into the lazy, untalented, unprofessional category, and lamented the fact that "real" food writing was going by the wayside, hence the demise of Gourmet. Because, you know, if you're not part of the established media elite, your opinion, no matter how eloquently expressed, does not matter. The Dias quote above could have come directly from this guy's mouth, just substitute "food bloggers" for "wine bloggers," and the sentiment is the same. Maybe he's changed his tune, though. Or not. Sounds to me like he feels threatened by the changing of the guard, or something. Poor guy. Would love to see him go one-on-one with Gary Vaynerchuk! : )
1WineDude
Great discussion going on here – thanks, all!
A couple of quick points:
My understanding, totally through the grapevine, is that AdB did want to go on record with some sort of retraction about his remarks, and was going to do this via an interview on one of the bigger wine blogs, but that blogger eventually decide to withdraw the invitation. Might be interesting to see if we get the full story behind that eventually.
I haven't purposely quoted AdB out of context as another commenter suggested, I was just trying to paraphrase the longer take on AdB's article that I wrote about in the past (see links in the above post to get the full piece) – sorry if I gave the impression that I was deliberately withholding something, that was certainly not the intention.
Cheers!
george
What we have in this instance, in my opinion, is that a paycheck to speak on any issue, makes mr. blue change his tune about a subject matter that is crowding his status and style.
A barbarian? ok I fit that bill occasionally. A militant? never had an appetite for "vino jihad." what is apparent though is that fear will drive many to condemn that which they do not understand and now we get to hear him pontificate on these same virtues.
@suburbanwino
folks fear what they don't understand. AdB seemed threatened by the potential threat of competition when he made his comments, but perhaps he's realized that some bloggers aren't all that bad (some even quite informed and relevant). I'm approaching this with the glass half-full…otherwise, it reeks of 'publicity stunt', as D Grimes suggested.
@suburbanwino
I'd like to retract "threatened by the potential threat" and replace it with something with less poorly-constructed. Damn you, "submit comment" button!
1WineDude
Duly noted! We will strike the previous sentence fragment from the record. :-)
Jo Diaz
Two words: Growing pains…
houstonwino
That quote of his should be printed on t-shirts worn to his talk.
1winedude5036
:-)