American Wine Consumer Coalition

With hope this post here is not inappropriate…

I’ve watched over the past few years as state legislatures and the federal government have taken up issues of great concern to wine lovers without ever consulting wine consumers.

HR 5034 in Washington, D.C. would severely impact wine consumers…YET, no consumers were consulted, nor asked to testify at hearings.

Michigan and Illinois have stripped wine consumers of their rights to have wine shipped to them from out of state wine stores. YET, they never consulted with wine consumers.

Wine lovers have seen strange and odd burdens placed in front of them when trying to buy wine from out of state wineries. YET, when these rules and regulations are debated, consumers are not consulted.

Consumers are never consulted because they don’t have any formal voice. Ive been thinking for a long time that a national organization of wine consumers is necessary. So I’ve taken the first steps:

THE AMERICAN WINE CONSUMER COALITION
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I’ve spoken with marketers, consumers, lawyers, social media experts, publishers and others. They all said the same thing: “Gauge interest first on a platform like facebook where support can easily be gauged.”

That’s what I’ve done by starting the American Wine Consumer Coalition Facebook Page.

If there is significant interest in an organization that can represent the interests of wine consumers, I will go forward with:
-plans to legally formalize the organization

-Creation of a board of advisors

-seek sponsorship funding

-seek significant member benefits from wineries, wine retailers, wine accessory sellers, food and travel vendors

-heavily promoting the organization through events, advertising and sponsor partnerships

-eventually create a paid membership program

-eventually create a paid business membership program

-raise funds to lobby and advocate on behalf of consumers

It seems a daunting task, but if the benefits to members are substantial, if the mission is serious and if the administration is efficient, I believe their is opportunity here.

Would love your support by joining the facebook page and promoting the page to your friends. I would love your input and experience and suggestions. I have a certain amount of experience in marketing and promotion and running an organization. I’ve made a career in wine marketing and been the executive director of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association (The AWCC has no connection to the SWRA). Still, all the input I can get will be crucial to this effort’s success.

Tom Wark
tom@warkcommunications.com
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Great idea Tom.

To the Mods,
please DO NOT MERGE THIS WITH THE HR 5034 thread, this is so much more . This is for you, the consumers, with many benefits, it will be your chance to speak out, get involved.

A brilliant idea whose time has come. Wine consumers unite! [thankyou.gif] [welldone.gif]

Pin to the top of the threads.

You’ll have to ask one of the mods to sticky it.

Signed up on FB

Thank you, Tim. Spread the word.

Tom…

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Great idea Tom. I’m trying to understand how to sign up via Facebook ? I’m not very FB savvy …

Reese.

Done. Liked and suggested to friends.

This needs to be done. Count me in as a contributer.

bravo.

pm sent

Great idea Tom. I’m very interested in this coalition, but unfortunately I have no interest in Facebook. Is that wrong?

What a fantastic idea - thank you for taking the initiative and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
However, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the almost charming naivete of this line…

I think most of us just assume that our government does ten thousand things every day before breakfast without consulting any of the people who would be severely impacted!

Thank you, Errol. It’s all about spreading the word right now.

Tom…

Keith:

I see your point. However, I need to point out that the Judiciary Committee was on numerous occasions asked to invite witnesses to testify that would represent all sectors of the wine industry, including consumers. They failed to do this.

Had there been an active and robust consumer organization in place 10 years ago representing the interests of wine consumers, I suspect many of the anti-consumer laws now in place would be tempered.

I say much better late than never.

Thanks for your support.

Tom…

+1

I would support this. I don’t do FB.

Tom Wark’s blog again brings this up - http://fermentation.typepad.com/fermentation/2011/07/creating-a-real-voice-for-american-wine-consumers.html

It sounds as if further steps have been taken in AWCC’s formation. It only makes sense that we, as consumers, should have a group representing our interests. I’m willing to be involved. I’m curious how others feel about this group.