Oregon Wine Symposium

Livermore, CA February 25, 2009 - Tough times require smart decision. That was the message that started the General Session of the 2009 Oregon Wine Industry Symposium. Fear, uncertainty and doubt were communicated in the opening session titled The Dynamics of Change: Making the Right Decisions in a Turbulent Business Climate and no silver lining was mentioned. Attendees said that if they had heard that session before, they may have never gone into the wine industry.

Active Club Management presented a different view of the industry. Indeed shift is occurring. However, industry reports that wine sales are on the rise and people are buying. The wineries just have to understand that the wine sales may not fall into their laps as easily as they did a few years ago.

We see purchases shifting. Instead of purchasing a bottle of wine at a restaurant many tell us that they are buying the wine and starting or ending the evening at home said Theresa Dorr, Active Club Management. People who formerly purchased a $ 50.00 bottle of wine are now looking at the $ 25 - $30 bottles, but they are still buying. Customers are also looking for a good value. Value is not always defined by price. Value is also dependent on service and experience. This is a valuable key in the tasting room as well as it relates to club programs.

People are of members of more than one club. When the time comes and they have to quit a club (or two) having good wine may not be enough to keep their business. There is a lot of good wine out there today and the personal relationship and experience they have received from being club members is essential.

Setting expectations for your winery is also a key factor. If the economy is used as an excuse as to why business is not storming the doors of your tasting room then you can expect and justify why sales are low. Setting and communicating to your team that your winery will be the one that wins and exceeds club and sales goals, monitoring the progress and adjusting as you go will drive better results.

Examples of growth via social networking sites like YouTube and Twitter were shared with mixed results. Blogging seemed to more accepted as a way of sharing what actually goes on behind the scenes of the wineries although a few winery managers left willing to try to "tweet" and see how it goes. Ron Kreutzner from WineWeb said that the evaluation of using social networking tools the winery should consider when NOT to use them. He strongly suggests that if you do not keep information up to date and monitor the interaction, that the social networking tools can work against you. One quick way to learn is to register for being involved in blogging/twittering to see what you like, what you do not like and what may work for you. Take the best, customize it for yourself and go from there.

Oregon Winery Owners responded unanimously that expectations certainly helped to drive success and Active Club Management worked closely with the owners to set goals and strategies to achieve them.

The event was viewed as a success by winery attendees and venders as it was a one-stop-shop to see new technology and services as well as learn new ways to re-charge the over all business from vineyard to the end customer.

About Active Club Management: Active Club Management offers an affordable and powerful solution for wine club management. Serving over 100 clubs in boutique operations and large, multi-locations organizations Active Club Management is customized to the needs of each business. The solution works like a personal club assistant and is specifically built to offer seamless integration with other accounting, POS, Inventory and shopping cart solutions. For more information, visit www.activeclubmanagement.com