Wine on Wednesday February 2016

“People wanting to grow
their network with Seoul’s
international and Korean
business community come
to our event.”
with travelers and business people who visited
the hotel from every corner of the globe. When
serving as public relations manager at the Grand
Intercontinental Hotel, I had the opportunity to
plan a variety of wine events and gallery parties.
It was at this time that I recognized the
importance of networking events, as well as how
much fun I had attending them. From this
experience, I started organizing parties
beginning with <strong>Wine</strong> Down Wednesday in 2013,
an event which became <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday in
February of 2015, when Todd Sample joined me
as co-founder.
What is your best memory of <strong>Wine</strong> on
Wednesday? Are there Any aspects you
would like to improve?
I was really happy last February when we
successfully relaunched <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday
following the slump of <strong>Wine</strong> Down Wednesday.
With the first event’s success, I became
reassured that through <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday, we
could develop a wide variety of business models.
I also felt great as I gained a lot of inspiration
from meeting such a broad cross-section of
business people in Seoul.
As to the specific parts of <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday
that I wish I could improve, it isn’t easy
sometimes to free myself of the myriad
responsibilities involved with being the
organizer of the event to meet many of the
attendees. Furthermore, as the party host, I find
it difficult at times to develop deeper
relationships with some of our foreign attendees.
That said, I know Todd is well able to handle
that part of the event.
How has networking benefited you?
I have to let many international people, both in
Korea and abroad, know about my business. In
fact, many Koreans also need to broaden the
scope of their international relationships. I must
inform people about what I do in order to help
develop Korean food culture and provide accurate
information about Korea food. In this light,
networking to me is incredibly important.
Furthermore, through <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday,
people can get to know a lot of talented
professionals and discover many good companies.
More than anything else, however, this
networking event gives me tremendous amount
of pleasure as I watch the attendees enjoy
meeting and getting to know each other.
What kind of people attend <strong>Wine</strong> on
Wednesday?
People wanting to grow their network with
Seoul’s international and Korean business
community come to our event. It is exactly the
type of person I am targeting for my business.
For me, it is of the utmost importance to take
care of our attendees.
What are your hopes for 2016?
In the coming year, I hope to improve <strong>Wine</strong> on
Wednesday in many ways together with Todd. In
order to enable more people to enjoy this event,
we need to identify attractive venues while also
identifying good wines to serve. We must also
find good partners who can help us take this
event forward. To this end, Todd and I are
investing a lot of our time as we look to improve
<strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday even more.
In regard to Plan EL, it is my hope to merge it
with Gastro Tour Seoul so I can focus more on
the latter. First of all, I hope to hold social
dining events. Secondly, I also plan to launch
Gastro Tour Jeju in 2016, as well as publish a
book on the food and culture of Jeju. In short, it
is my goal to cement Gastro Tour Seoul’s
position as Korea’s representative food tour
company. WoW
10 <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday February 2016