When you launch an idea like the European Wine Bloggers’ Conference, everyone gets excited. It is new concept that is innovative and full of potential. Clearly, the future looks bright.

But with nothing to show for it but a brilliant ‘pitch’, potential sponsors will justifiably be somewhat skeptical investing their money. What if it never happens? What if no-one wants to write about it? What if bloggers move on to other, newer schemes, allowing the conference energy to fizzle into cyberspace?

It takes a brave and committed company to sponsor a launch event, and for this, we are grateful to those who are investing so much of their money, time and brand, in the first ever international conference for wine bloggers.

So, who are these sponsors, and why are they doing it?

We have decided to let each of our major sponsors answer this question through this blog, so over the next week or two, you will get a chance to hear from them directly.

We should start, however, by thanking:

• Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco for providing the conference venue and facilities, as well as a lunch and tour for all the participants
• Amorim, for funding the transport we will use around Rioja
• Codorniu, for sponsoring our delegate bags as well as a lunch on Sunday
• La Rioja Turismo, for their general support and for sponsoring the main keynote dinner
• Vinus TV for using their great skills and knowledge to create a high quality video record of this event
• And all of the many wineries supplying wines for our keynote tasting.

One interesting point about this list of sponsors is that even though it has been a little complicated to find the kind of forward-thinking marketers that are willing to invest in this conference, it has been achievable. It shows that it is possible to convince major companies, that have a message to share with others, that blogs are one way to achieve this. They really want to reach bloggers!

Ryan, Gabriella and I have spent many (many, many, many) hours getting this conference organized, which has included phone call after phone call to potential sponsors. Now imagine a single blogger spending the same amount of time and effort for their own blog?! Impossible. However, if we could do this collectively, then the future of blogging could look very different.

Fortunately, we’ll be able to explore this topic in more depth during the roundtable session on Monetisation and Advertising.

Thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters. Thank you for your help with this event, and for giving us hope for the future.