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Three Intriguing TED Talks That Relate To Wine

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The following three short video talks found on the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) website are intriguing, and not necessarily only because they relate to wine.

Gary Vaynerchuk—'Do What You Love (No Excuses)’ [March, 2010; 15 minutes long]

Filmed at a Web 2.0 Expo 2008, Vaynerchuk mentions how he developed his work ethic at his family owned liquor store, which provided him with the discipline to turn his Wine Library TV videos into a huge success. That, in turn, provided him with the ability to build a business advising others on building platforms and brand identity.

Humorous, energetic and insightful, Vaynerchuk offers valuable advice about life and work in this talk. His words include:

“Listen to your users, but care about your user base. You have to look in the mirror and say, what do I want to do every day for the rest of my life? Do that! I promise you can monetize that…Hustle is the most important word. Ever.”

He also speaks about how it is easier today to build brand identity than ever before, because we are no longer constrained by large media outlets.

“We are sitting where the gatekeepers are no longer in control…You need to build brand equity. You have to do what you love…The only way to succeed now is to be completely transparent. Everything is exposed.”

“How do you get money to do what you love? You don’t. You position yourself to succeed. You start to build your equity and your brand after hours. Everyone has time. Stop watching [TV]!”

Joseph Pine—'What Customers Want’ [2004; 14 minutes]

Pine, an author and business coach, mentions wine tangentially in this talk as being ‘an experience,’ or a memorable event people enjoy, just as they might enjoy the experience of going to Disneyland, or visiting a theme restaurant, or a boutique hotel, or taking a journey.

Pine describes how economies changed during the past millennia, from being based on commodities (natural resources bought and sold), to goods and then to services. It is time, he explains, to move onto another level of economic value—the experience economy, where ‘experiences are becoming the dominant economic offering.’ The experience economy is about ‘rendering authenticity’ and ‘authenticity’ is becoming the ‘new business sensibility.’ The remainder of the talk delves into an intriguing discussion of just what ‘authenticity’ is.

Benjamin Wallace— 'The Price of Happiness' [2008; 14 minutes]

This talk was given by the author of The Billionaire’s Vinegar, a true story of an expensive, and likely phony bottle of wine (vintage 1787, and supposedly from a collection owned by Thomas Jefferson) that was sold in 1985 for 105,000 pounds sterling.

Wallace (and his editors) decided he would sample some of the most expensive foods, wine and experiences in the world before he remarked about their possible value. These included eating an 8 ounce Kobe rib eye steak (for $160; ten years ago) and (later) white truffles, visiting a $30,000/night hotel room suite in Manhattan (he visited, but did not stay), trying a $125 bar of soap made from silver nano particles, owning and wearing an $800 pair of Japanese jeans (made from handpicked organic Zimbabwean cotton hand dipped 24 times in indigo), finding the merits of a set of Honma Japanese golf clubs costing $57,000, drinking coffee that retails for $600 a pound, using a $5,980 toilet, sleeping in a $64,000 Swedish bed, test driving a $1.5 million Italian Bugatti vehicle and sampling 1947 Cheval Blanc wine (‘linseed oil aromas,’ he said, followed by a taste with port richness. Overall—he was not impressed).

Wallace appeared most impressed by the bed, toilet and vehicle. He ends his talk by telling of published results of research showing MRI scans of people drinking wine. They actually enjoy wine more once they are told it is expensive (even if it is not).



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