“Un año sabático en la Rioja”. My conclusions.
A few days have passed since the naming of the winner of “Un año sabático en la Rioja.”
I really enjoyed the action. So far I have enjoyed being acquainted with one of the participants, Pak Muñoz, seeing his drive, enthusiasm, empathy and professionalism and I decided to support his candidacy for the gap during one year in La Rioja.
We dicided to make a party one week left to the end of the contest. We did it in a very charming store (Arteaske). The party was great, and Pak got many votes. Although he didn’t pass the 6th position.
I do not know if this frantic week made things happened as they did (I want to think so), but the jury’s decision was that the quota of finalists was extended from 5 to 8. Pak failed to be among the top five, but reached the end (we say in Spanish that God writes straight with crooked lines).
The final was celebrated and Nere Ariztoy won. I do not know Nere in person. But from here, I send my congratulations to her. I believe that she has all the characteristics to be a good representative of the Rioja in the blogosphere.
The action was a complete success. There were 1600 people who wanted to participate in the contest. Hence 15 finalists were down to the bone, they set up many kinds of events and parties to archive more votes. They made videos, writings, labels which spread the name of La Rioja with huge enthusiasm. A total success. But this is nothing. But nothing. If compared to what it can be if they have made the right choice in the selection of the Community Manager and give her tools to work.
What qualities must a Community Manager have?
A Community Manager should be able to moderate and facilitate discussion, to define the communication strategy and action lines, to have knowledge about the industry, Marketing and Advertising. He has to be good at writing, friendly to new technologies, creative, empathetic. He should manage Social Media, and also be good at a face-to-face interaction. He should give a good image to the brand he represents.
To be fair, I find Nere the correct winner. But I still consider that there are some other candidates who reached the final who were also extremely profitable. Are there other designations of origin DOs or large wineries that have followed the contest? Do they realize the importance of having someone carrying communication in Social Media? Do they see any good professionals to provide the best CM capabilities? Because they already have made the selection process in part if they asre interested in other candidates.
Every time I lose my way on the Web 2.0, I review this phrase that appears in a great book of 2006 “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. To remember myself that everything is going very quickly.
“Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. I doesn´t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle… when the sun comes up, you´d better start running.”
I take the compass, try to straighten the course… And I start to run.
Related posts:
Today I vote for Pak Muñoz at the “A Sabbatical Year in Rioja” Contest
Winner of the Draw for Tasting and Tapas in a Winery. Vota Pak a la Rioja.
This post in Spanish: Concurso de “Un año sabático en la Rioja”. Mis conclusiones.
