It has been a long and arduous journey, but chasing your passion is never easy.  With 16 days still left in the application period as of this writing, I have learned quite a lot, “met” a lot of great and interesting people and have never felt more driven to do something I really love: Work at a winery in the wine country.

For those of you who don’t know about the Murphy Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent competition, go here to learn about it:  http://www.areallygoodejob.com/.  If you’d like to view my video application, click on the video graphic in the right sidebar and vote if you think I deserve it.

As with everything in a social networking community, I have had help along the way and I’d like to acknowledge some institutions that have given me their support in this endeavor:

VinTank is an industry leader in wine, technology and Web 2.0 strategies and have put their full support and endorsement behind the Murphy Goode – A Really Goode Job campaign as well as the VinTank 4+, who are specific individuals who have demonstrated exceptional Social Networking skills.  Fortunately, I was selected as one of those candidates, so I am grateful and pleased to have VinTank support my work and look forward to working with them in the future.  Please visit the sites of the VinTank 4+ in the right sidebar under the HOTLIST.

Michael Bryan, Executive Director of the Atlanta Wine School was my instructor for the Certified Specialist of Wine (CWS) program I completed.  He was the first to see the value I could bring to the Murphy Goode position and quickly offered his support, which includes a feature story in the June newsletter due out this week.  AWS host tastings, wine courses and are part of the Society of Wine Educators.  Thanks, Michael for your support and I hope to continue growing in the ways of wine following your lead in the community.

Me and my wife met Bob, the owner of d’Vine Wine Bar & Shop, a few years back and really loved his quaint wine bar with a great selection, menu, music and overall ambiance.  He is an avid wine collector who opened his wine bar after a successful career with IBM/Peoplesoft.  With backgrounds in technology and a passion for wine, it was easy for all of us to get along and strike up a conversation over a glass.  By the way, d’Vine has been voted the #1 Wine Bar in Atlanta 5 years straight by CitySearch and was the 2008 Best Neighborhood Bar in Dunwoody by Atlanta Magazine.  Thanks, Bob!

Being a Phi Kappa Tau fraternity man is a mark of distinction in which I take just pride.  The organization helped chisel me into the person I am today during those developing college years, building character, a sense of self, a focus on community and service, as well as humility.  They have supported me in many ways and here is a feature article on my quest in The Link.

 Montaluce Winery & Estates is a Tuscany dream-come-true right in the foothills of North Georgia, just 60 miles north of Atlanta.  Many thanks to Rob Beecham and the entire Montaluce family for providing many picturesque weekends at the blossoming community and now many more with wine produced from their very own state-of-the-art winery, which just produced their 1st release.  They support my cause in the world of wine.  Please visit them here.

And, of course, I thank all my family, friends, colleagues and connections on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. who have supported me throughout this effort.  I owe a lot to everyone.  I will be updating this page as more endorsements are forthcoming, so until then.  Cheers!