I’m out in San Francisco this weekend, prepping to deliver the Digital in Action program to colleagues on Monday and Tuesday. Today is a work day, but yesterday I took a day off and headed to Napa Valley with a colleague (Kevin Haythe from Exetor Group) to indulge in one of my passions, wine tastings. We visited four wineries, and had four different experiences that each led us to have a different perception and thus interaction with the winery. Here’s how it went down.

First, we visited Rubicon Estates. It is a huge winery with the focal point of the experience being a beautifully renovated chateau. As you pull in the driveway signs direct you to “drive to the red carpet.” Your car is valeted, and you are told to go inside to pay the $25 tasting fee. The experience inside is overwhelming. You can taste five wines, buy all kinds of stuff (some actually related to wine), and view exhibits, again, some actually related to wine. We thought the wines were okay, but left feeling a little taken advantage of by the winery and disappointed that they seemed to make enjoying wine more complex than it needs to be. We didn’t buy a thing.

Next we visited Whitehall Lane Winery. The experience was still formal, but it was much more approachable. We were given a choice of two tasting options, both for $25 per person. We went with a vertical tasting of three reserve cabs. The host respectfully paid attention to our conversation, and offered us a fourth reserve cab to taste when she heard us talking about only really liking one of the three wines. At that point the tasting room got very crowded and she had less time to interact with us. When we were ready to square up, we bought one bottle of wine, and she kindly comped us one tasting due to the crowd. We left feeling positive about Whitehall, and more disenfranchised with Rubicon.

The next stop was Heitz Cellars. The tasting room was a little smaller and was run almost like an invitation into someone’s home. Hosts poured wines and engaged in lively dialogue with visitors. As we debated what to purchase, one of the hosts invited us to try to other wines that they don’t offer as part of the formal tasting, but he thought we might enjoy. He answered a lot of questions about unique characteristics of Heitz cabernets, and even let me take a picture of his dog. There was no charge for the tasting, and the hosts truly tried to create an experience around the wine and winery with guests. We left with 6 bottles to ship, and 1 to take for dinner. We started to see a pattern about the interactions we had with the people and the brand and the opinion we had of the wines.

At this point we decided to go off the beaten track and visit a winery that neither of us had ever heard of. We ended up at Burgess Cellars, a winery on the side of Howell Mountain that offers tastings by appointment only. We walked in to a room full of people who had an appointment, but were warmly welcomed by the host, Michael. We then enjoyed a complimentary tasting of five different Burgess wines, with lively conversation, questions and answers, fun banter with lots of laughs, and photo opps. We bought 33 bottles to shop between the two of us, and then Michael gave us a complimentary bottle to enjoy during our trip. It was clear that Michael was selfless in his creating an experience, which made us want to repay his kindness with a purchase. We were so pleased with the warmth of the Burgess experience that we decided to call it a day and head back to the city.

Why am I writing all of this on a blog about digital perspective? We talk about how marketers need to build trust with consumers online to truly be successful in reaching business objectives, but the reality is that they need to do it in all of their business interactions. We felt that the Rubicon experience spoke at us and even potentially looked down on visitors as they tried to impress us with the majesty of wine. I’d liken it to a big fancy website that has lots of bells and whistles and shouts, “look at me, look at me” but then doesn’t really have anything to say and isn’t open to hearing from visitors. Whitehall and Heitz were much more accessible - as websites they would have been providing the functionality I’d expect, but also been listening to my needs and flexing to meet them. They created a relevant experience for us in real time based on how we interacted with them. And Burgess would be a social media website, co-creating an experience based on shared interests and open dialogue. Our spending tracked against our experience and the level of trust we had in each winery, ranging from no purchase at Rubicon to 33 bottles at Burgess. The challenge and opportunity for marketers is to recreate these types of interactions online, and to flex to consumers so that a relevant, self-directed experience is had by all.

NBC News is getting into the education business, the digital education business to be exact, reports the New York Times. In conjunction with the New York Film Academy, NBC News is offering a four-week, eight-week and one-year digital journalism program for interested students. According to the Times, “a crying need for digital technologies” is one of many driving forces behind the new venture.

Although the article cites references regarding push-back in the academic world, specifically the fact that having “digital” tools doesn’t necessarily equate to journalism success, I believe NBC News and the NY Film Academy should be applauded for their endeavor. As a recent graduate and digital native, I know the impetus of understanding and applying digital in today’s world. Part of my job as Global Digital Coordinator is not only tracking current online trends but also evaluating these trends in terms of relevancy for our worldwide clients and Digital team.

Digital is all around us, ranging from websites to mobile phones; from broadcast TV to radio; from blog posts to blog comments…however the question remains: “What do I do with it?” Although the obvious answer (”a lot”) may appear simple, there should be a significant amount of thought and planning before one engages within this medium.

This idea of digital as omnipresent, and more importantly, actionable is present in Burson-Marsteller’s training program, Digital in Action, already in its six month throughout the company. Similar to the actions of NBC News and the New York Film Academy, an organization that values continuous learning and training via solid strategies, best practices and tools around new technology/communication channels serves as the ultimate destination for knowledge sharing, for company, employee and student.

Do you see value in the partnership between NBC News and the New York Film Academy?

After launching Digital in Action in New York last November, the Digital team headed to Chicago this past week for the next phase of Burson-Marsteller’s internal training initiative. Needless to say, it was a great two-day event that helped shed even more light on the importance and applicability of digital in the public relations/communications landscape. (Photos will be uploaded to our Flickr page in the coming days).

As I begin my next leg of travel tonight from the San Francisco bay area to San Diego for the Graphing Social Patterns conference, I wanted to share some interesting take-aways I noted during this weekend:

• Thought sharing: No matter where you are, whether in the Valley, on the US East coast or around the world, having a place (either physical or virtual) to share your thoughts about a certain subject can only advance your knowledge/awareness of a familiar/new area. In my case, I had some great conversations with software developers, marketers and venture capitalists at…of all places…a community car show on Saturday morning in San Jose. By not only actively listening to various stories among professionals about the technology space, but also asserting your point of a view, a deep dialogue emerged where passion and creativity were of utmost importance.
• Collaboration: Even though this was my first visit to Silicon Valley, it became obvious that collaboration among all disciplines and professions acts as a glue that ignites innovation. One startup founder I met makes sure that his house in San Francisco also acts as a co-working space for interested members and employees. People efficiently work together to produce a point of view that is clear and powerful.

So what does this have to do with Digital in Action? A lot, actually. From the two programs launched thus far in New York and Chicago (and one coming up in Miami this week), thought sharing and collaboration among participants helped drive a powerful business and communications point of view before their clients. Digital in Action offers a place for participants to share and create compelling digital programs.

Where do you see the bulk of your innovation and collaboration take place?