My new friend Sharon can give hugs out all day long with open arms and humor. If hugs were acceptable in todays society from a near 40 year old man, without being weird, I would have given them out all day too.

Thank you, danksche, gracias, merci, however you say it, the magnitude or level of thanks is rarely understood in the English language. When someone holds the door for us, most of us say "thanks." When a waiter brings us wine we say "thank you." When I see a man or women dressed in a United States military uniform, I approach them, shake their hand and say "thank you for your service." Do these all carry the same weight of gratitude? 

I was blessed beyond measure to be a recent recipient of the Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship held in Portland Oregon. Personal interest began for me last year when I saw the stream of tweets during the events. After nearly a decade working in the banking industry, life for me had a sudden adjustment, some might call a market correction. 

The first person I owe a big thanks, thank you, gracious, Toda raba, Shnorhagallem,Merci,Danksche,Domo arigato,Dziękujemy to is Bill Eyer AKA @Cuvee_Corner. In conversing about #wbc12 many months ago, Bill told me about the scholarship. A sudden wave of excitement hit me that there is a chance I could go to my very first WBC.

A big thank you to Thea Dwelle AKA @LusciousLushes for helping me with my WBC training wheels. On a personal note, I must thank my amazing and awesome wife who has been the support I need and I could not do any of it without her.  

Admittedly, I was a little slow at the conference to notice the "donor" flags attached to some name tags. When I finally got with the program, I began looking for anyone wearing these and approached them to say "thank you." Knowing I would look like a creepy stalker type if I took too hard a look at others name badges, I tried to play it cool without looking like the weird old old guy at the night club.

I wish I could have the opportunity to thank each and every contributor in person, but this post will have to do for now. Hopefully I will meet more of these people in person and look them in the eye and say "thank you." Going back to the earlier question referencing showing gratitude of thanks: "Do these all carry the same weight of gratitude?" The answer is a resounding no. Gratitude to a military person for sitting in a very hot dirt hole, eating out of a package, showering out of a helmet while getting shot at is not the same as someone holding the door open for me. Despite this disparity, our language only has the words: "thank you." 

With as much sincerity and gratitude I can attempt to place on this blog post, to all that contributed, thank you so very much!

I have returned home with new contacts, business opportunities, an increased education, growth, and some new friends. Blogging may not be considered a profession, however my personal adjunct of photography, videography, freelance writing, amongst a few other things, will help my new business. This was far more than just a few days away of fun in wine country. There are so many aspects I am able to take away from the WBC that will help push me and my business.

The below list of those I am grateful to was lifted, copied, plagiarized, stolen, hijacked from  thefrugalwinesnob.com (Thank you FWS)

SPONSORS AND DONORS

Thanks to a partnership with Enobytes, the Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship Fund is accepting donations as a 501(c) non profit organization.

Oregon Wine Board

Zephyr Adventures

Layer Cake; Winemaker Jayson Woodbridge; $5,000 annual endowment

Cornerstone Cellars

Tom Wark, “Fermentation,” The Daily Wine Blog

Amy Anderson Gross, “Vine Sleuth,” the wine blog for casual wine drinkers

Debbie Gioquindo “The Hudson Valley Wine Goddess”

Amy & Joe Power, “Another Wine Blog”

Megan Kenney, “Wannabe Wino”

Gretchen Neuman, editor at Vino Verve

Mia Malm, PR professional, Mal Communications

Liza Swift, “Brix Chicks”

Lorie Perone, “Wining Ways”

Jason Graham, Cecilia Dominic, “Random Oenophile”

Jason Phelps, “Ancient Fire Wine Blog”

Donors:

Jeff Stai

Leslie Sbrocco

Michaela Rondell

Russ Beebe

Beau Carufel

Denise Medrano

William Allen

Frank Haddad

Caroline Henry

Mary Cressler

Liza Swift

Rachel Voorhees

Jason Graham

Jo Diaz

Committee members:

Thea Dwelle, “Luscious Lushes,” Scholarship Chair

Joe Roberts, “1 Wine Dude”

Megan Kenney, “Wannabe Wino”

Mary Cressler, “Vindulge”

Jason Phelps, “Ancient Fire Wine Blog”

Lorie Perone, “Wining Ways”

Grace Hoffman, “Cellarmistress”