Following the discussion started in the #winelover group on Facebook, I want to set the record straight on where #ewbcoff comes from.
Yesterday evening I had a meeting in the Vinogusto office with a few Belgian #winelovers I first met on Twitter and later met in person during winefairs and great events such as Vinocamps or European Wine Bloggers Conference ( hashtag #ewbc on Twitter). We were holding a brainstorming session about the “Wine Business Innovation Summit” we want to hold in Brussels this year but that’s another story….
So last night I saw a tweet from my friend Caroline Henry saying she hadn’t yet registered for EWBC in Izmir as she’s just started working freelance and isn’t sure she can afford it. I personally haven’t registered yet because my time is spent running the Vinogusto start-up which makes it’s kind of difficult to plan things in the long-term (especially when you have a family life too). Then suddenly, a funny concept came to mind : if we don’t manage to register in time for EWBC we could still join the group in Izmir to make sure we see all of our friends again – at least before or after the official EWBC. With this idea in mind, I tweeted about a #ewbcoff. This was mainly inspired by an invitation I got recently for a so called “off” event which is happening during Les Grands Jours de Bourgogne starting on the 18th of March… hence, it was nothing other than an off-the-cuff “Belgian” idea which I didn’t think anyone would pay any attention to.
But a few tweets later, I realised that this funny concept had been grasped by a few Twitter friends wishing to visit the Georgian wine regions and the idea of a “post post EWBC trip” had been launched. I’d never thought of visiting Georgia myself but I started reading about it last night and I have to say it looks really great and makes me hope I’ll have the chance to visit it sooner or later.
So, let’s say it went like this : my Belgian sense of humor generated the #ewbcoff hashtag on twitter and this gave the chance to some friends to express their interest in a trip to the Georgian wine regions. If the wine-makers of Georgia were wondering if any #winelovers would be interested in discovering their product, well, the answer is obviously YES. And that’s that – nothing else should be seen into this little buzz
So, just to put the record straight, there is no such thing as an #ewbcoff organization, a revolution or anything which goes against what EWBC are aiming at. It’s just a few passionate #winelovers using social media to share their ideas and dreams hoping they can go on sharing great wines and building friendship online & offline…
PS : I wanna thank Luiz (thewinehub) and Caroline (missinwine) for making me a president, and I really hope we are going to have the chance to learn more about the wines of Georgia very soon 
Marc, I’m glad that there’s such a strong community spirit demonstrated by this activity. The #EWBCOFF concept is fun (must be the great Belgian humour), and it is wonderful to see so much enthusiasm for visits to Georgia and Turkey. We aren’t ready for announcements yet, but you should know that there are already plans for EWBC related trips to Georgia and some other places but we are still working on all the details!
Hey winelovers,
My reaction on the #EWBCOFF tweet was one of the last things i did last night on my mac, it started of as a joke from Marc Roisin and RT by Carolyn Henry because we had a dicussion about the raise of the EWBC price a couple of weeks ago.
Today I received a stream of reactions, the one more positive than the other, which shows there is a strong community spirit and a good interest for a Georgian post trip. Let’s wait a bit for the official announcements of the post trips.
If there is no Georgian posttrip the freeloaders can buy a hippie bus and organise the trip themselves.
ward