ShanaRay.com

After a very warm and dry January, we finally are getting some rain in Sonoma County.  Usually during this brief rainy season, us Northern Californians tend to hibernate a bit.  So while there have been a few events going on, I haven’t really been to to much of them.  Maybe because of the economy, maybe the rain, maybe nothing has really caught my eye.

Whatever my reasoning, there are a few things I am looking forward to as we move onto early Spring (it always feels as if Spring starts early here).

This past Wednesday I visited  Napa for a presentation given by Paul Mabray of Vintank, a new Wine Marketing Think Tank.  Here he discussed their introductory project, a social media report about the state of the online wine industry.  I am looking forward to seeing the study when it comes out at the end of the month (okay, this may not be a physical event YET, but it is social media — so it is an event in my eyes).

Mr. Healdsburg is one of the best annual events in our little town.  The event is at the Raven Theater on Saturday February 28th (yes, one week from today).

Start Time: 8pm, doors 7pm
Adults: $25 advance, $30 door – 21 and older only!

Guys from all ages, occupations and popularity participate in a beauty pageant to win the title of Mr. Healdsburg.   It is a great event that the whole town gets a little kooky for.   Be warned – the bars tend to have huge crowds of people after the show!  This year will also be the first that my friend, Samantha Vega, DJ at 101.7  The Fox, will be hosting.

Barn Diva, an amazing restaurant and cocktail lounge just started up Healdsburg’s only dance scene.  Every Friday night (if everyone is behaved) they will be pushing back the tables and playing some great music.  Perfect place to dance, eat some late night food and enjoy great drink specials with your friends.  When it gets a bit warmer and dryer,  they have a gorgeous back patio that will provide more room to play.

Here is a shot of the bar taken from last week’s event.  As you can see, my Twisted rubber chicken is always around.

Now onto the event that in my eyes seems to trumpet over all — Yes it is the Annual Barrel Tasting weekend here in Healdsburg.  For two, count them, TWO whole weekends in March, visitor’s and locals alike will be able to visit all the wineries in Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and the Russian River valley and try samples of wine, straight out of the barrels.

This give wineries the advantage of selling their wines before they are even released.  Though the wine fairly ever tastes the same six months later — It is a great way to get to know the people who make the wine and have some fun.

Okay, before this post gets too long and you get bored with me (like that is even a possibility) I will say  that this event is March 7-8 & 14-15 from 11 am – 4 pm each day.  The price is $20 PER weekend.

Online tickets will be sold January 23 through March 1 for $20 per person.  At the door, the price will be $30 per person.

Since this is one of my favorite events — Be on the lookout for a few more postings before, possibly during and definitely after the event.

I will also be visiting San Fransisco for two social media events at the end of March — The Wine 2.0 and Web 2.0 Expo’s are ironically (or intentionally) planned at the same time.

This obsession is actually a relatively new one for me, it started a year ago when my friend LoriAnn and I wanted to get cocktails at Barn Diva in Healdsburg.  We decided to order a cheese plate to soak up the alcohol we were drinking.  The appetizer had the staples that make up the typical cheese plate you see anywhere: blue cheese, a parmesan, another hard cheese and some goat cheese.

After we both realized the other’s passion for a single plate of cheese, we agreed that it was out “thing” to go on our cheese plate and wine dates. For the last year we will go on our “dates” to places around Healdsburg like Scopa, Charcuterie, Palette Art Cafe, Ravenous and Willie’s Seafood.  OK, we haven’t been to that many places but we are both of very different schedules which has not deterred our love for the cheeses.

We are planning on meeting soon to enjoy the cheese plate at Diavola, the new gourmet pizzeria in Geyerville, Ca (amazing beet salad) and then shortly after that we have a scheduled field trip to Pugs Leap Goat Cheese, located right in the middle of Dry Creek.

Watch out for more blogging and pictures on our cheese adventures.

This past week, I wrote an article about my favorite cocktails from my home town of Healdsburg for Healdsburg Magazine.com and I wanted to share a link to it, titled Two-Drink Minimum. I must say, writing about cocktails makes me thirsty.  Cheers!

It has been a little over a week since my life was completely changed. Yes, I got laid-off. It has been a huge blow to my money situation as well as my sometimes overly exaggerated ego, but thanks to the support of friends both at Hamilton Partners and around Healdsburg, I have come to terms with my first (and hopefully only) lay-off.

The reasoning is as straightforward yet complex as it sounds. People don’t print as much as they used to, thus they buy less ink. Yes, many more factors are involved, but it is pretty simple. It is cost effective, sustainable and smart to not print as much no matter who you are or what you print. A simple theory…. The complex part is that this trend has been going on for sometime, yet some have been so obsessed with trying to figure out HOW to get people to print more that they never took the time to look or ask WHY?

Thankfully, this set back has made me realize what is important in life and it isn’t sitting at my desk staring at the computer until I can barley see straight anymore.

Part of my new plan: I already promote different Healdsburg events such as parties, concerts, art openings, wine tastings, etc., so why not try to turn event promotions and planning into a career.

For Healdsburg Magazine, I will be contributing content about local events in and around Healdsburg, populating and promoting the What’s Happening calendar and promoting the site via different social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

As my last post described, Healdsburg Magazine is an Online New Media magazine that discusses real life in Healdsburg, including reviews of local restaurants, retail stores and wineries.

Please take a look, and let me know what you think at: 

http://healdsburgmagazine.com

For the last three days I have made Palette Art Café my latest stomping ground to do my everyday online activities. Today started off dedicated to writing a blog post about my life as of Monday morning (link to post to come) but as I got up to grab my soy mocha, I came across a flyer announcing an event for Healdsburg Magazine.

The event: A Day in the Life of Healdsburg: 19 July 2008

Healdsburg Magazine…. WHAT is this, WHY haven’t I heard about it and WHO came up with such a great idea to capture the beauty and personality that our little town has in one day??

My eyes lit up….. Is this flyer a sign that Healdsburg is where I should stay to pursue my next chapter of my life (once again, link to post to come). I had to check out HealdburgMagazine.com.

The site is a newly created new media magazine dedicated to life, food, wine, events and business in Healdsburg, Ca.

I believe it definitely has the potential to help bring Healdsburg into the new millennium (i.e., creating active participants within an online community). The creator of this site, Jennifer, seems to know about SEO and using social media to market a site.  As some may know, I am just starting to attempt to get Healdsburg online, so news that someone else wants to do the same thing gets me very excited.

The event in more detail: On Saturday July 19^th, 2008 Healdsburg Magazine is asking all locals or visitors in Healdsburg to take a minute of their day to capture their experience.

“Just record being in Healdsburg”

• If you video it, create a short video of your experience and email a link to the video
• If you photograph it, send in the photograph with details about who, where, when, and how
• If you blog it, just blog it and send the link to your blog
• If you use audio, send in your audio clips
• Or, just call and leave a voice mail. 707-477-2528

I will definitely be participating in this event, as well as telling everyone I know in Healdsburg that day to do the same. I also look forward to seeing what Healdsburg Magazine has in store for the future.