Sign My Book, Please!

I had the privilege of hosting an exclusive wine tasting and book signing event with the energetic Gary Vaynerchuk at Vin De Syrah Wine Parlor in Downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp district. Gary was in San Diego as part of his multi-city book tour, including 6 airport signings in just 2 days, for his just released book, “Crush It!”, which in a few short chapters covers his entrepreneurial spirit since childhood, how he grew and built upon his passion for wine, and how anyone that has a passion for something in their life can build a following and make money doing what they love.

Syrah Wine Parlor was the perfect venue for someone like Gary, who is not the norm regarding wine connoisseurs, the same way Syrah is not the norm regarding wine bars. Syrah is a unique venue, styling itself after Alice in Wonderland, with a somewhat secret entrance, wine roots on the ceiling, and captivating decor. It’s become one of Downtown’s hot spots, and later in the night has guest DJs playing great music until 2am.

The event was the 1 year anniversary party of the “tWineUp” (Twitter Wine Meetup) group, and brought together many of Gary’s fans to taste wine in his very unique and enthusiastic manner, to meet him in person, and have him personalize and sign a copy of his book. The venue was filled to capacity, and while pouring wine that fast for everyone to be able to taste along was challenging, Syrah had extra servers on hand and did a wonderful job. After the wine tasting, Gary was busy signing books and talking with people one-on-one.

Everyone left with smiles, from not only the wine being tasted, but from meeting Gary and experiencing in person his passion for wine, people, social media, and life.

Featured photo above: Gary had too much wine, and was trying to make a move on Melonie, I had to intervene. 😉