GOODNESS this was a rough one – a weeklong trip to Joburg - the BIG SMOKE! Unfortunately I cannot write a detailed week report this time round due to meetings with the management of new highly confidential ventures I am involved with.
ANYHOW, Woolworths invited me to join them at their stall at the Johannesburg WINEX as one of the representatives to their new wine section called HANDS ON WINE (which BLANKbottle forms part of). Attending the WINEX is one of those things that I said I’ll never do, as I saw no benefit in me hanging with the competition. I would much rather spend time with the consumer. I subsequently avoided all wine shows. But you can’t hide forever. I arrived Tuesday and headed for Sandton Convention Centre. After a long night I arrived back at my Brother-in-law’s place, where I stayed. At 5 am the next morning, Nika, their 3 year old woke me up and asked me to read her some books! At 7 am I headed out to Sandton for breakfast with the Woolworths and Hands on Wine team. We then went to Sandton City Woolworths to meet up with management and to learn a bit on how the retail trade works. I left at 11 am and headed to a location in Sandton to present my business to a large initiative. Finished at 3 pm and rushed off to Melrose Arch to meet up with the team at Melrose Arch Woolworths. Then back to the convention centre for the WINEX. The next morning I had to be in Sandton at 8:30. I did another confidential presentation till 11 am and then another one from 12 to 3pm. Thereafter I went to another location where I presented a wine tasting – food and wine pairing at a restaurant in Sandton. We had 50 people, a 4 course meal and plenty of wine. I sold more than 600 bottles of wine on the night. Can you believe it! The most successful wine tasting I’ve ever presented!
Got in bed late that evening and back to Sandton at 8:30 the next morning for another confidential presentation till 10am. Then an extremely interesting meeting from 11 to 12 and then the last confidential presentation from 12 to 3pm. Had lunch with the team and then off to the last WINEX evening... Celebrated my birthday after the WINEX and woke up at 5 the next morning, headed for the Silver bird back to Cape Town after an immense intense super exciting trip to the BIG SMOKE. What a week!
