When, where and why did you begin blogging?

I’m fairly new to blogging; I started in early 2008. My blog began as a means of communicating about my larger endeavor (Able Grape), putting a “human” face on what would otherwise be a banal research tool. But even at the beginning I was hoping that it would grow into something of its own. I love writing, I love wine, and I love to learn things. The blog combines all those. Bit by bit it’s starting to take on its own life separate from Able Grape, and that’s exciting.

In a few short sentences, summarize your intention with your wine blog.

I’m all over the map. Its first purpose is to communicate about what’s new on Able Grape. But I also want to share things that I’ve learned while building Able Grape, such as little-known but useful web resources, tricks for finding good information on the ‘net, or how to design wine websites so that they play well with search engines. And finally, I want to share my own love for wine, in whatever way seems right on a given day.

How would you describe your readers?

Very, very nice, very smart people

Is blogging a professional endeavor for you or more of a personal outlet?

It started as the former; it’s developing into the latter.

What tools or resources have you found to be successful in marketing your blog?

Right now I’ve just been focused on writing it. Most of my traffic comes from Able Grape.

How would you describe wine blogging to be different than print media?

Speed. Connection with your readers. Instant feedback on how people respond. They allow you to fix things (not always a good thing for the perfectionist; I keep noodling).

Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?

I think they are starting to. I still see the wine industry dominated by traditional media, but that may be changing. Just as thousands of small producers are trying to bypass large distributors to directly reach customers, blogging has the potential to eliminate the “distribution bottleneck” of traditional media, and connect “small writers” (who may even be small producers!) directly with their readers.

Where do you see wine blogging in 10 years?

When I joined one of the Internet’s first search engine companies 10 years ago, I couldn’t have predicted where things are now. I wouldn’t have a clue where they’ll be in another 10!

What do you hope to gain from this conference?

I’m looking forward to meeting many of the people whose fine blogs I’ve been enjoying, and to learn from them, about wine, about blogging, and also about how I can make Able Grape a more useful tool for the blogging community. Oh yeah, and I’d like to drink some great wine.