First off, I wanted to take a second to thank everyone that helped me achieve this, and for those of you who attended — I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to share this information with. To me, a presentation, regardless of the topic, is only as good as the discussion it evokes, and our presentation was so successful with this that we were only able to get through about three quarters of the material we wanted to cover.

Following the seminar, I promised a posting of my presentation to Slideshare, but beyond that, I wanted to go into more detail and provide a proper recap of the presentation, and hope that we’ll generate enough interest to do a follow up seminar next year — I can only imagine where tools like Foursquare and SCVNGR will be by then. For now, I wanted to elaborate a little more on them, an include a few noteworthy examples of video sharing within the bar and beverage industry.

If you just want to grab the copy of the material off of Slideshare, feel free to here. As for the follow-up information, to properly articulate some of the points below, I opted to split the material in two rather than bore you to death with a ton of text. The next post will follow shortly.

Bacardi Goes Viral
If you haven’t seen the rest of the series of Bacardi “True Originals” videos yet, please make sure you visit here. I love these videos, and I’m not the only one. Within days of the videos hitting the internet, they had spread through the cocktail world, though they were only made available through a small Facebook Fan Page, and channel on Youtube. These videos weren’t spread via traditional marketers, and there was little, if any, formal acknowledgement of them from Bacardi.

So how did they become so popular? They resonated with their intended audience, and the bartenders became Bacardi’s advocate. What’s interesting about the videos is that the goal was never to generate sales from new customers. Instead, the Bacardi True Originals series strove to re-align the brand within the quality mixology world. After years of success worldwide, Bacardi had become weary of the perception of the mass-produced brand among some of the world’s finest bartenders. We’re not that big of a market though, and the creation of this series represented a huge cost and risk to the brand.

Nevertheless, did it work? Probably. Either way, it showed that Bacardi cared, and wanted to become a part of this community. It doesn’t get much more social than that. Building on this, Bacardi released their fourth video in the series, entitled “The Outsider” on Thursday night at Tales in the Bacardi Hospitality Suite. Here it is:

Foursquare & SCVNGR
In the early 2000′s, Apple changed the way we do business with the release of their first version of the iPhone. With the iPhone, Apple allowed third party developers to tap into the GPS location functionality that had been present in phones for some time, and that has recently become one of the most unique, and exciting features that social media has begun to include.

About a year ago, the biggest game-changer was introduced; a geo-location application and game called Foursquare that allowed users to “Check In” to different locations and businesses as they travelled around town. As users checked into more and more locations, different badge icons would be unlocked on their profiles, and users would collect these little badges of honour for bragging rights with their friends.

On the business end of things, Check-Ins to businesses could be tracked by owners, telling them their most frequent customers (referred to as the “Mayor” of that location), and at any given time, they can see who is there and posting about it at any given time. A few months ago, along came Starbucks, who introduced the “Barista” badge that users could unlock after visiting five different Starbucks locations. Expanding on that, Starbucks has begun to offer discounts on beverages to Mayors of each of their locations.

Following the success of Starbucks, Foursquare recently unveiled the functionality for businesses to offer specials to customers who check in, based on a number of different criteria (mayors, every x # of visits, randomly assigned specials, and wildcard specials – always available, so long as the user meets certain criteria). Building on this, recently we saw the launch of SCVNGR.com, another location-based game which built on the idea of checking in, and then giving users specific tasks to do while in a particular business. While few bars and restaurants have yet harnessed the opportunities of this, can you imagine how this will evolve in the future?

Gary Vaynerchuck and Wine Library TV
Lastly, I wanted to take a few moments to talk about Gary Vaynerchuk and Wine Library TV. By no means is Gary the first video blogger, not even within this industry. A few years back, Anthony Caporale made waves with his “Art of the Drink” series, but the difference is, he was never able to connect with his audience. Hell, that was one of the initial reasons for starting Cocktails and Cordials — we were going to be a Cocktail Video Blog, because I hated the attention he was receiving for something that was so mediocre.

In February of 2006, Gary Vaynerchuk changed the face of the wine expert and brought to life Wine Library TV, an unconventional approach to tasting wine, that he paired with his family’s liquor store. Gary’s series quickly caught on, and his videos continue to resonate with viewers. I read a great blog post a few weeks back which compares the business impact of traditional leader Robert Parker, with that of Gary Vee’s webcasts.

Domaine547 talks about a particular winery that had received attention from both Parker and Vaynerchuk; “…the winery had received accolades from Robert Parker, scoring a 91 and a 93 for two of its offerings. Subsequently, over the course of a few weeks, the winery received approximately fourteen orders that it could directly attribute to the Wine Advocate scores. Within 24 hours of the Vaynerchuk vlogcast, in which Gary scored one of their wines a 93, they received more than 400 phone calls and orders.” Not bad for just a little series of web videos… Within a five year time period, according to Gary, Wine Library grew from a $4 million dollar business to a $45 million business. It’s easy to attribute the majority of that success to the videos.

For now, I leave you with one of the most recent videos from Wine Library TV:

Stay tuned for our follow up, “5 Tips for Success in Social Media”, which I will post in the morning. More than anything, what resonated with me on how to succeed in social media, came from Jennifer English: “Be HIP – Be Honest, Be Immediate, Be Passionate”. What do you think?

Today’s bars and bartenders are no exception, and as the use of these social tools grows throughout the world, so too does their growth surge within the bar and beverage circles. That’s why at this summer’s Tales of the Cocktail, I will be proudly presenting “Social Media: Creating Cocktail Legends”, to speak on how the role of these tools is evolving within our industry.

So how can I best illustrate this? Seems like a no brainer, but the easiest way is to look at the already established celebrity. A while back, I spent some time speaking with Cheryl Charming about the generation gaps between today’s professional bartenders, and the different roles each group was playing on shaping the industry. Lets take a second and haphazardly group these pseudo celebrities into a few tiers.

• At the top, you have legends like Brian Rea, Dale Degroff, and Tony Abou-Ganim. This group in many respects is responsible for the rebirth of the cocktail. They pushed fresh juices, quality spirits, and a return to the classic recipes of old, and through the process, their own rise to fame ensued. However, very little technology was involved in this, so what’s the X Factor that this generation brings to the world of Cocktail Legends?
• The middle tier of bartenders contains the Philip Duffs, Angus Winchesters, Gaz Regans and Cheryl Charmings of the World. These guys are some of the best-travelled, most well-recognized and biggest “brands” of bartenders currently out there. These guys (and girls) have successfully bridged the gap from the word-of-mouth marketing of old, to incorporate some of the new, technology-driven tools of late, to support their rise to cocktail fame.. even if my generation had to teach them how to use that technology. (Kidding!)
• The final tier is our newest group of cocktail celebrity, and includes the likes of Darcy O’Neil, Lindsey Johnson, Josh Durr, and many, many more. This group has enoyed the rise to notoriety based almost exclusively on their successful use of social tools like blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. What’s unique about this group of rising cocktail legends, though, is that it no longer contains just bartenders. The use of technology has opened the doors to Cocktail Enthusiasts (Camper English, Jay Hepburn), spirit brands (G’Vine Gin), and more to enjoy their spot in the cocktail limelight.

The fact is, the role of marketing is changing dramatically, and at a pretty rapid pace. The use of social media has risen quickly, and this year some pretty important milestones have been reached within the bar and beverage industry, and throughout the rest of the online world.

How can you utilize your own social media tools in your rise to cocktail fame? What lessons can be learned from what’s already happened? Join me at Social Media: Creating Cocktail Legends to find out. I will be joined by Brian Rea, Camper English, and Jennifer English for some discussion on all of the above.

Social Media: Creating Cocktail Legends
Fri, 23 July 2010 ~ 10:00 AM – 11:30 PM
The Riverview Room, Hotel Monteleone
$40 (advance), $45 (door)
Register Now!

“Bars, bartenders, spirit makers, and cocktail enthusiasts are using the unique opportunities social media provides to leverage their business. As personal blogs, coupled with applications like Facebook and Twitter enjoy a huge surge in popularity among the world, so too has their growth surged within the cocktail community. The success of the next generation of cocktail legends may well rest on how well new technologies are embraced and used as a complement to their tenure behind the bar.”

A while back, I compiled a list of 25 of the top Bar “Tweeters” you should be following through your twitter account. As a follow up, here’s a few of the top spirits companies using twitter as a means of social marketing. Most of the below accounts are updated fairly frequently, with some certainly more often than others. Did I miss anyone? Follow the whole list here, or by brand below.

Curious to learn more? On Friday, July 23, at this summer’s Tales of the Cocktail, I will be leading a seminar entitled “Social Media: Creating Cocktail Legends”, talking about the role that applications like twitter and facebook play in the success for the contemporary bartender and spirit company. Helping me out will be Camper English of Alcademics.com fame, and Brian Rea, a bar legend with more than 60 years of experience behind the bar.

Get your ticket before this event sells out.

March 10, 2010 – Alcademics.com (Camper English)
Camper English got the chance to sit in on a Molecular food & cocktail presentation, organized by Alinea Restaurant and Absolut Vodka at the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art. Alinea’s Chef, Grant Achatz, has begun work on a molecular bar to compliment his restaurant in Chicago. Could this be a preview of things to come?

March 11, 2010 – SpiritsAndCocktails.com (Jamie Boudreau)
A while back, I posted about The Balvenie Madeira Cask, which still remains one of my favourite finished whiskeys. It appears that Jamie Boudreau, over at Spirits and Cocktails, shares my same love of the spirit, and he’s put together some thoughts, and a rather tasty cocktail he calls the Borden Chase.

March 12, 2010 – Spirit of Grape (G’Vine Gin)
EuroWineGate Spirits and Wine, aka the guys who make G’Vine Gin just launched their own blog devoted to the product, so expect to see more frequent posts online other than Cocktails & Cordials talking about the new gin. Check out the view of the vineyards where the unique Ugni Blanc vine flower (G’vine’s signature botanical) is harvested in the middle of France’s winter. Reminds me of back in the day when I’d pick grapes for Icewine here in Niagara.

March 16, 2010 – Slow Cocktails (Wayne Curtis)
One of the funniest regular series’ of posts to hit the cocktail blog world would have to be “Press Releases I Didn’t Finish Reading” by Wayne Curtis over at Slow Cocktails. This week’s post is Irish-themed, featuring a particular drink called the Corned Beef Collins…

March 17, 2010 – Behind My Mahogany (H. Joseph Ehrmann)
Running one of the most popular cocktail bars in the world is more than a full time job. As such, H Joseph Ehrmann, owner of Elixir Saloon in San Fransisco, doesn’t get too much spare time to update his blog. When he does, though, I take notice, and this week he just happened to be talking about a product I’ve begun working with at Johnny Rocco’s as well – Perfect Puree. Head over to H’s blog to check out some pretty damn tasty cocktails using the purees.

Camper English and Alcademics
My first intention was to write about jealousy of Camper English and the extensive traveling he is privileged to as he updates his posts. If you’re a follower of Camper’s blog, Alcademics, you’ll be all too familiar with his recent trip to Cognac, France, and the different Cognac houses he visited, including Courvoisier, Pierre Ferrand, Remy Martin, and many more.

The Beefeater 24 Bitters Competition encourages bar bloggers to give a "shout out" to those their envious of.

Frustration with the LCBO
But today, I’m bitter about something else. Here’s how the plan for today was supposed to go down. I went to bed last night, reveling in discovering the last remaining bottle of Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Sweet Mash (I know, quite a mouthful) for sale in Ontario. The drive would take about an hour and a half.. but it would be worth it.

I woke up early, around 9AM, and got ready for the drive.. an hour and a half, and $130CDN away, this bottle of bourbon was about to be mine.

But alas, it wasn’t meant to be – before I had a chance to leave, the trip was over. The last bottle has disappeared from Ontario, and short of a trip to the United States (which will involve smuggling it through US Customs), I won’t get a chance to taste it, and display proudly on my home liquor cabinet.

Darcy O’Neil and Art of Drink
So in the spirit of the competition, I turn to fellow (Canadian) blogger Darcy O’Neil in envy. If you haven’t read Art of Drink yet, get on it.

A former chemist turned bartender, Darcy often (but not exclusively) takes a scientific approach to dissecting spirits and cocktails in a refreshing blog that’s updated frequently. I attended his seminar “Sugar: The Science of Sweet” this year at Tales, and believe me, Darcy brings a unique, and educated voice to the world of bartender education and communication. As a fellow resident of Ontario, I’m sure he can share in the often resentment of our liquor practices and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).

Why so bitter with him? You might want to read this post of his here. As for now – Cheers, Darcy on raising the bar for bartending blogs worldwide.

For more information on the “Don’t be Bitter!” competition, visit A Dash of Bitters