I have just had the pleasure of finishing the book entitled “Unearthing – a social media journey through the history of the Dead Reds wine group”.  The pleasure was in the reading not in the finishing.  Until quite recently, I have been watching the Dead Reds group and their activities through social media from a distance.  As the Lonely Grape blog and now the Taste McLaren Vale web sites have been my musings – with using social media as a way of getting known into that big world out there, I thought this was going to be an interesting read.

Interesting it was as the book outlines the use of social media standards of Twitter and Facebook to get conversations going about the group and thus interest being raised in their functions.  What i was not expecting was outlining the use of Skype to have a social event compared in Adelaide by somebody in Darwin.  Spreading the word about their cause was also conducted by a number of bloggers – the same as I am doing here.

The charm of the book really lies in the mastery that is Charlie – Helen Robinson who has the ability to turn all these social media efforts into a number of gatherings where like minded people get together.  She shows that just having a Facebook account and a Twitter account with blogs etc, does not mean that people will break down your door to be involved with or purchase your product.  No, it is more about the conversations and how you engage people.  This simple yet key element makes all the difference – the difference between just another Facebook page, as Charlie says “to have the ability to fill a room”.

I take my hat off to Charlie, she has a spark that has taken a social media experiment to a working group of people that not only gets together on a semi regular basis but also raises money for charity.

The book is for sale for $35 and message me if you are interested in a copy and I will direct you to Charlie.