{"id":4363,"date":"2014-07-28T13:48:04","date_gmt":"2014-07-28T20:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hootnannieblog.com\/?p=4363"},"modified":"2014-07-28T13:48:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-28T20:48:04","slug":"interview-prwcas-jennifer-porter-wine-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threeadventure.com\/hootnannie\/2014\/07\/28\/interview-prwcas-jennifer-porter-wine-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with PRWCA's Jennifer Porter"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a blog post I did a few weeks back I asked the question: Are wine groups\/ associations worth it<\/a>? For the technical response, and in much greater detail than I could ever do, Jason Haas of Tablas Creek Vineyard not only answered that a bit on our blog post in the comments but also on his blog in a two part series. You can read part 1 here<\/a> and part 2 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Porter, Executive Director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance (PRWCA), reached out to me through that blog post and asked if I would want to come into the office to see the numbers and discuss the role of the PRWCA. She ended up showing me what I thought was a very informative slideshow on what the PRWCA has done, what they are doing, and the data behind much of that.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, I was impressed. You will always have people that don\u2019t think it\u2019s worth the price of membership or think they can do better with that money\u2026and maybe that\u2019s true in some cases. However, after talking with Jennifer (PRWCA), reading the blog posts of Jason Haas (Tablas Creek), reading Gary Eberle\u2019s\u00a0 (Eberle Winery) comment on our original blog post, and chatting with Maggie Tillman (Alta Colina Winery); I believe membership in a group like the PRWCA is good for the businesses (wineries, restaurants, hotels, etc.) and the community as a whole\u2026with few exceptions.<\/p>\n

All that said, below you will find an email interview I did with Jennifer Porter in order for you to get to know her better as well as her express some thoughts.<\/p>\n

What about this work would you like to get across, something that means a lot to you or something you feel people don’t know or understand?<\/h4>\n

The main point I would love to get across is our mission: \u201cTo promote and protect the Paso Robles AVA to meet the diverse needs of members.\u201d\u00a0 Our marketing, including advertising, events, media tours, etc., are tactics to achieve that mission with the goal of expanding awareness of Paso Robles Wine Country to potential buyers and visitors. \u00a0If they haven\u2019t heard of Paso, it is going to be awfully hard for them to plan their trip and make it less likely they will select our wine from a list or store shelf.<\/p>\n

What do you love most about your job?<\/h4>\n

I love making a difference in member\u2019s businesses through our efforts, introducing new customers to our winery, restaurant, hotel and transportation partners. The more we can expand awareness of Paso Robles through our programs, the more visitors we can get in Paso Robles which helps the entire community, not just the wine industry; the Tourism Occupancy Tax the city collects helps fund city services which benefit us all. In terms of a specific highlight- during the first few months of the Grow Wild ad campaign I reviewed our Google Analytics and discovered web traffic was up 118% versus year ago— far exceeding our expectations (and under budget).<\/p>\n

What do you like the least?<\/h4>\n

Members that don\u2019t feel they are receiving benefit or value from their membership with the PRWCA. The PRWCA has many programs aimed at accomplishing our mission and we have had great success in gaining recognition for the region, including the recent Wine Enthusiast honor as Wine Region of the Year.\u00a0 In addition, there have been great results from Wine Festival and other events, and huge web traffic and social media gains due to advertising. My brain knows it is nearly impossible to make 450+ members happy, but that doesn\u2019t mean the team and I don\u2019t try really hard to do just that. It is always disappointing when a member isn\u2019t happy.<\/p>\n

In a few words what would you say is the number one goal for you at PRWCA?<\/h4>\n

To have every wine drinker know of Paso Robles as a producer of premium wine and a pretty great place to visit.<\/p>\n

It’s summer in Paso, what does the Exec. Dir. of the PRWCA drink most this time of year (wine variety or something non-wine)?<\/h4>\n

Rose- yummy!<\/p>\n

What’s something about you that locals may not know?<\/h4>\n

Hum, I am not sure what they know.\u00a0 I will toss a few odd ones:<\/p>\n

1) Before moving to Paso Robles I did a 15 mos. trip around the world, spending a couple weeks volunteering in a Tuscan vineyard and visiting many wine regions in South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Italy, Peru, Myanmar (aka Burma), Slovenia, Croatia, Australia, New Zealand, etc.<\/p>\n

2) I went to college at Providence College on a swimming scholarship<\/p>\n

3) I am a leo<\/p>\n

4) I worked on the marketing programs for two Spider-Man and two James Bond movies while at Sony, including developing the prizes and approving fry cartons for a Burger King promotion.<\/p>\n

5) I got my driver\u2019s license at age 30 and this is the first car I\u2019ve ever owned<\/p>\n

6) When I applied for this job I had never heard of Paso Robles<\/p>\n

7) I\u2019ve hiked to Mt. Everest Base Camp<\/p>\n

What is the biggest current project you are working on at PRWCA?<\/h4>\n

There are not really \u201cbig\u201d projects exactly, more several projects that are all important pieces in the overall PRWCA puzzle- consumer advertising, media trips\/outreach, buyers retreat, membership, events, gov\u2019t affairs, etc.\u00a0 At the moment I have been thinking a lot about all the puzzle pieces for 2015, including several new consumer focused initiatives.<\/p>\n

What’s your favorite PRWCA project or campaign thus far?<\/h4>\n

My favorite project was strategizing, hiring two agency partners, developing and executing the Grow Wild consumer advertising plan to great success, incorporating the spirit of the campaign across our digital assets, social media, Paso Wine Man videos, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a blog post I did a few weeks back I asked the question: Are wine groups\/ associations worth it? 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