MWGblog

It has certainly been a busy week for award related announcements at GrapeRadio. This morning it was revealed that GrapeRadio is a recipient of the 2008 American Wine Blog Award in the best podcast or videoblog category.

Just as with last week’s announcement of nomination for the James Beard Foundation Award, my congratulations once again go out to my hard working partners at GrapeRadio. Great work guys!

For the second year in a row GrapeRadio.com has been named as a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award. To put it in perspective, this is kind of like finding out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences likes your “little” movie. We have been selected this year in the category of Video and Webcasting for our short documentary: Stewards of the Land.

The credit for recognition such as this belongs to my partners in the enterprise: Brian, Jay and Eric who do the day to day heavy lifting that makes GrapeRadio what it is.

My partners at Grape Radio have put together their first short form documentary. They chose to focus on the Russian River Valley wine region and so far, everyone I have shown it to has been blown away. Podcasting has certainly evolved. One friend commented that content like this is proof that independent “new media” can compete with anything on traditional TV. Even if you are not an oenophile (wine lover) take a look and let me know what you think. (Just click the image below.)

A recent TV news story on counterfeit wines integrated some video from our Grape Radio video podcasts. All with proper credit of course. We are the media…

WIne Counterfeiting Costing Thousands

One of my partners in Grape Radio, Brian Clark, and I are joining our local county sheriff’s Search and Rescue team. Yesterday we were at the local fire training facility working on basic rappelling from a 5 story tower. This is a video of Brian’s first time on a rope. For a total rookie he looks like a pro.

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I just got word that one of my podcasts, Grape Radio, has been nominated for a 2007 James Beard Award. I have often heard of these awards referred to as the Oscars of Food and Wine. The James Beard Foundation Awards are the nation’s preeminent honors for culinary professionals. Congratulations to my partners at Grape Radio, and thank you to all who have supported us.

My partners at Grape Radio have been nominated for Fermentation’s - “American Wine Blog Awards” in the category of Best Wine Related Podcast. If you enjoy Grape Radio your support is appreciated. Vote here.

Congratulations to my partners in Grape Radio for making #11 in Food & Wine magazine’s “Become a WIne Expert in 28 Days.”

While at PodCamp West I was asked by JD Lasica to do an interview for New Media Musings. A good deal of Grape Radio stuff and some general state of podcasting discussion. It was a fun interview. If you are curious, you can find it here.

Here is a picture right after Grape Radio was awarded the 2006 Podcast of The Year award at the Podcast and Portable Media Expo. From the left is Brian Clark, Jay Selman, Eric Anderson and myself. Brian, Jay, Eric and all the other contributers really deserve the credit. I got the idea off the ground and co-founded the company, but these are the guys who make it happen every day. I am constantly impressed by their vision, enthusiasm and “chutzpah!” Congratulations to my friends, the Grape Radio team.

Grape Radio got some nice local Los Angeles television coverage today.

I am always surprised that one of the most common questions I get is about mic flags. This is probably because I have described the “magical” power of the mic flag in a number of presentations I have given. It is amazing how a square cube with a logo on it will open doors. People who might never take you seriously see that flag and suddenly gravitate towards you. I suggest them to all podcasters who are serious about their efforts. It is a great way to get your brand and name into the media as well as just creating general awareness and a professional appearance. We have used mic flags with great effect at Grape Radio. Up until now though, the question was always where to get a professional looking one. I never had an answer. The truth was I got spoiled early on when doing work for Disney, their Broadcast Services always supplied me with the appropriate custom made flag. For the Grape Radio flags we were left to making them ourselves using peel and stick labels placed on a mic flag “blank”.

I have found the solution. When looking for some new mic flags for GigaVox, Paul Figgiani pointed me to Impact PBS. All I can say is wow! These are nicer than the ones I get at Disney. Best of all for podcasters, there is no minimum order. You can get them one at a time if need be. As you can see from the pictures, they have a wide assortment to choose from including a unique flag made for the RE-20 shock mount. The graphics are sharp and clearly visible, all sides of the flags are finished and they use nice foam in the center to accommodate any microphone. I am really impressed. If you are looking to make a statement with your microphone, check them out. In fact, I like these so much I have asked Glenn who runs Impact PBS to be on Behind The Mic. [link]

I wanted to send out a big congratulations to my partners at Grape Radio. It was announced today that Grape Radio is the recipient of the Podcast and Portable Media Expo’s 2006 “Podcast of the Year”. I know the whole team works hard to produce a quality podcast and is honored with this recognition for their efforts. The award is to be presented at an event on Friday evening at the Expo. Congratulations also to Leo Laporte for being chosen as “Person of the Year in Podcasting.” Great job guys! Why not make it a Grape Day?

It is no secret I am on the side of the podcaster when it comes to monetization. One of the most common opportunities that presents itself for podcasters is an offer from a manufacturer or marketer/wholesaler to give away some of their product for free to listeners of your show. Now at first blush, this sounds like a great idea right? Your audience will love you for giving away free product. Hold on and think it through. It is always a good idea to do something for you audience, but if you want to charge $500 or $1000 to sponsor your show, should you forgo that to give away a $50 product for free? Your listeners benefit, your sponsor gets what they want and you are left in the contest fulfillment business with no revenue. Doesn’t sound all that great to me. Your audience is worth something, whether it is a sponsor message or a giveaway. (My partners and I at Grape Radio have a set price for a giveaway on the show: $500. We consider it separate from the main sponsor rate: $1300.) Consider setting a give-a-way or contest rate, otherwise you are working for free. For more thoughts take a listen to this week’s Podcast Brothers.

The entire Grape Radio crew had an amazing time at the Napa Valley Wine Auction. We got great interviews and content for upcoming episodes. We met interesting people, terrific winemakers and the auction raised millions of dollars for worthy charities. As an added bonus, I was fortunate enough to win the raffle’s grand prize: pictured above is the newest addition to my wine collection, a 3L 1997 Screaming Eagle signed by the wine maker, Heidi Barrett. If you are a wine person, you understand.