“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”
… Jack Kerouac
Hey,Who Knew?
As technology continues to be woven into the fabric of our everyday lives, every now and then you see a new way of doing things, a new way of thinking, and maybe, just maybe, you experience a 
moment of spontaneous intellectual combustion. These moments of discovery can light up your cerebral synapses like the Seabstiani Theater marquee at dusk, and you think and say “Hey, who knew?” My most recent ‘hey, who knew’ discovery happened when I came across the WinePad at a local Napa Valley tasting room. It wasn’t so much that it was a simple, ingenious use of technology, but that it married the idea of the capture-card, a searchable CRM database and social media with the very cool iPad, allowing customers, at the point-of-purchase, to opt in and share their tasting experience, provide their contact information and their specific wine preferences. This tends to enrich the visitor experience, helping the winery, in real-time, take that loose-tie experience and form a deeper connection. A connection that is more likely to lead to commerce: visitors + technology + connection = commerce.
I had one of these Kerouacian ‘Satori in Paris‘ moments, at the Gary Vaynerchuk ‘The Thank You Economy‘ book tour stop at Sonoma’s Reader’s Books, when just by chance Thomas Hansen, CEO of WinergyInc and the co-founder of the WinePad, sat next to me. His impression on me was immediate. I wanted to know more about the ‘BIG IDEA’ behind the WinePad.
The Big Idea (please click on the above video to view)
Time for Change
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” … Mahatma Gandhi
Many of our wine industry friends and fellow travelers are far removed from the bleeding edge of wine marketing innovation. Hopefully, by now most wine marketers would have progressed past the 1,000 yard stare stage when discussing 
adopting workable, pragmatic technological solutions. It really’s just a matter of being relevant, and gaining an advantage in the highly competitive wine business. As we progress through the normal course of stasis in our daily wine business lives, I wonder which way the karmic inflection point will tip. Will it tip towards the world of reverse social Darwinism forecasted by Mike Judge in ‘Idiocracy,’ or will it tip towards a new age of enlightenment envisioned and enabled by ‘techies’ like Thomas Hansen? Well, since the directional nature, the thrivability of your wine business is within your sphere of influence, it’s likely that through the addition of the best available tools you’ll be able to, in this collective dig out of the Great Recession, change your karma.
The Players:
Techie: Thomas Hansen, CEO at WinegyInc and co-founder of the WinePad
Interviewer: Suzanne Sandberg, Director of Sales at WinergyInc
Tasting Room Liaison: Jake Podesta, The Room, Flora Springs Winery
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Agents of Disruption 
With our economy still slow to get moving, many wineries are still having to significantly discount their wines. We at The Veraison Group feel that we have a cost effective solution for wineries to grow their direct-to-consumer sales and cut their marketing budgets at the same time. mCommerce is a way of the future. Mobile devices have taken the place of the PC and wineries need to embrace this technology. I appreciate your blog bringing some attention to ways technology can help the wine industry.