“I learned so much, I can’t wait till the next Harvest”!
“I now have a new family…..Traveling Vineyard! I made so many new friends”.
“I have a suggestion…..don’t change a thing”!
“I can’t wait to see the results in my business from everything I learned at Harvest”!
“Now i know all about the Five F’s”! (Fun, Friendships, Fulfillment, Flexibility & Financial Reward)
“I was at least 100% satisfied”!
Those were a sampling of the comments we received from our Grape Stomping Traveling Vineyard Consultants who joined us in Boston for our first annual Harvest. For 3 fun filled and educational days we learned from one of the top direct selling (we kind of like the description social selling better for our wine enthusiasts) trainers in the business, Belinda Ellsworth. We asked our Traveling Vineyard team what their biggest “takeaway” was from Belinda’s Training….
Traveling Vineyard Steps Into Success with Belinda Ellsworth
Tanya thought….”It is selfish not to share this home based business opportunity with others, don’t prejudge who would and wouldn’t want to be a part of the TTV business.”
Maureen said….”When talking about the business opportunity (perfect for a stay at home mom) at her events she’ll say. “You might discover you like it. You might discover you’re good at it. But you’ll never know unless you try.”
Doug revealed….”The most powerful thing I took from Bellinda’s training is the fact that this business is not about me. It is about those you help along the way. Whether it’s as easy as helping them discover a new taste for wine, or as deep as giving them an opportunity to make a positive change in their lives, it’s ALL about them.”
Opening Night “Shopping Extravaganza”!
Kathleen grabs her wine rack!
Our Thursday night opening reception was a “Shopping Extravaganza.” All of our guests received $5,000 in “funny money” to purchase wine accessory items. We “sold” over 500 items and generated over $162,000 in wine accessory sales (we only wish we could count these as real sales in August!). From wine racks to picnic backpacks from pewter stoppers to organza gift bags, our posse walked away with plenty of hostess gifts, er, Christmas stocking stuffers? Since many of our “crew” flew in from all around the country, our World Headquarters staff was busy packing and shipping for the next few days in order to get our guests “bling” out the door. I wonder what the spouses thought when the packages arrived with all of the gifts? Did they believe it was really free? Will you let us know fellow Grape Stompers?
Witches & Warlocks take over Salem!
On Friday night our brazen group set off for Witch City, Salem, MA for the Witches, Wine and Warlocks Scavenger Hunt. Salem has one of the most active haunted happenings in the country and we believe our capped marauders from The Traveling Vineyard gave the locals a fright. The Merlot Monsters, Zinfandel Zombies and the Vino Vampires descended on downtown Salem for an “adult” no-holes-barred-hunt around the city. Reports were that most of the historical sights were overlooked in favor of a pub crawl in the local Salem nightlife. Hey, we don’t judge…
Master Wine Tasting Class = New Wines!
Francis Sanders, our very own wine director and winemaker taught our Master wine tasting class on Saturday afternoon. This class provided the opportunity for our classmates to taste and learn about two of our newest products. The new blonde sensation (a companion to our Fissata red) is our new Fissata blonde. Everyone loved this new Moscato d’asti and enjoyed the sprightly effervescence and powerful fruity flavors of melon and apricot – we all agreed that this would be a customer favorite for dessert.
Our new Italian Montepluciano “Giovina” (pronounced joe – veenah) was greeted with much fanfare as our consultants commented on its soft texture and mild tannins which would make it immediately accessible and a fine partner for Italian cuisine at anyone’s table. Serve us up some red sauce pasta!
Saturday Night Gala Awards Dinner!
Our Saturday Evening Gala Awards Dinner did not disappoint. Created as a romantic Vineyard dinner, we surveyed all of our wine enthusiasts (or, if you prefer – guests), and this evening received a 100% satisfaction rating. Every year at Harvest we honor the achievements of the top performers for The Traveling Vineyard in a number of important performance categories. Top Sales Producer, Top Team Builder and Top Number of Events for example, are a few of the many categories in a given year. We also have a few subjective awards. Yes, we do look at performance numbers, but these awards go beyond performance and speak to the heart and soul of our business, our Traveling Vineyard Spirit. We like to talk about helpfulness, playing nice in the sand box, supporting and including everyone. The people that typify these behaviors are the recipients of our Rookie of the Year and Spirit of the Vineyard Awards. This year Heather W. and Penny F. were the deserving receivers of these awards (respectively). Congratulations to all of our Grape Stompers – we’re proud of all of you. But for those of you that came to our First Harvest, we admire your courage. Thanks for your support – we love you and we are always here to help.