And just like that… it was all over.

What was arguably the largest publicity-minded event in the history of U.S. winemaking is over, as the reality-TV-inspired A Really Goode Job contest thrown by Murphy-Goode winery has finally come to an end.

I’m extremely pleased to report that 1WineDude.com friend Hardy Wallace of DirtySouthWine.com has been named the winner, and will begin his 6-month post as Murphy-Goode main media man on August 15th.

Frequent 1WineDude.com readers will recall that Hardy was my pick back in May when the contest first started taking off.  Personally, I’m pleased as sangria-punch to see Hardy get the attention, accolades, and the job of his dreams. You can view the entire press release on the winning announcement here.

The entire event garnered a massive amount of publicity (both positive and negative), and saw job opportunities open up to several of the participants as wineries were exposed to the increasing power of social media and Internet-based marketing as a result of the campaign.

What does it mean for the world of wine? It’s good news for Hardy, great news for Murphy-Goode, and even better news for wine and social media as a whole…

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In a stunningly brilliant example of shameless promotion on multiple levels, Murphy-Goode winery is hosting a competition to hire a Web 2.0 –savvy wine-lover to become their on-line marketing mouthpiece for 6 months, making around $60 Gs.  The job will entail promoting Sonoma County wine country, while also working with Murphy-Goode winemaker David Ready, Jr. to create a new wine.

They’re calling the the competition “A Really Goode Job” and it’s understandably gaining quite a lot of buzz on-line.  In fact, Murphy-Goode is already sitting pretty on this deal, as they’ve probably scored way over $60K in media exposure over this and the competition is just now picking up steam.

I’m excited to report that a friend of 1WineDude, Hardy Wallace of Atlanta’s excellent Dirty South Wine blog, is in the running for the Job – and he needs your vote!

I’d be hard-pressed to think of someone better qualified (not to mention better suited) to the job than Hardy.  To get the scoop on Hardy’s story and why he’s applying, check out goodetobefirst.com

Hardy’s application vid below, and it’s a classic.  Check it out and then head on over to areallygoodejob.com and Vote Dirty!

Cheers!