Conference Hound-Up March 2, 2012: So Much Wine, So Little Cheese

Welcome to the Wag, where Hounds find conferences and conferences find Hounds.  We’re like a dating service for people who are married to their job.

Apparently it’s a weekend for wine lovers, and I’ve got your whole weekend planned out:

Get your sample on down South at the French Quarter Wine Festival in New Orleans which sparks off your wine bender with a reception this evening.  Move on up to Minnesota for the Minnesota Monthly Food & Wine Experience, which is an annual event despite the misleading nomenclature.  Then swing over to California for the Santa Rosa Barrel Tasting Weekend followed up by the Santa Clarita Wine Fest  which can fill your belly with fermented grape juice starting tomorrow.  While you’re here, stop in beautiful Berkeley  to continue your sampling at the the Berkeley Wine Festival.  If you’ve had enough tasting and you’re ready to buy, continue your trip up north at the Classic Wines Auction in Portland.  You should still have time to get over to the New York Wine Expo which runs through Sunday, and if you’re really ambitious you can hop a jet out to Australia for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.

Whew, that was exhausting.  If all that wine doesn’t have you ready for a nap, try checking out some of these great events:

The St. Louis Cloud Intelligence Conference is another important learning event for those seeking to master the cloud.

Honolulu Festival honors and celebrates the art, culture and history of Hawaii with all the fun and fanfare you would expect from the lovely vacation destination.

The Miami Film Festival gets you out of the heat and into a comfy, air-conditioned movie theater to enjoy the work of new and veteran filmmakers alike, with a bit of a bend towards Florida-centric content.

Just because nothing in the world sounds better, I’d recommend checking out the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ event down in Georgia.  There’s an “all-you-can-sample” policy that applies to the Bourbon as well as the BBQ.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.  If you didn’t find the perfect plans for your weekend above, you’ve got a pretty good chance at finding them here.

Yelp is on the NYSE and doing pretty darn well.  It follows Facebook and Zynga as yet another company to go public in a crazy few months of trading.

I guess the Air Force developed a giant spy blimp and now they aren’t event going to use it.  Sounds like something from a cartoon, but I assure you it’s real.  This is where our tax dollars are going: making our Government seem like Wile E. Coyote.  How about exploring the infinite expanse of the universe?  Can we get back on that wagon anytime soon?

Don’t forget to check out Conversion Conference if you’re anywhere in the digital marketing spectrum.  This event kicks off next week and gives a long, hard look at essential and overlooked topics like Landing Page Optimization and Conversion Rate Optimization from leading experts like Tim Ash, Steve Krug and BJ Fogg.  Use this link to score $100 off the already-discounted web price.