How has Wine Club adapted since the onset of covid?

Removing the need for physical space has actually opened up a lot of opportunities for us! We are having virtual happy hours over Zoom, which have replaced our popular Community Nights. Additionally, not being bound by geography means we can partner with companies all over the country. We hosted a virtual cocktail making class with Rhine Hall Distillery (local to Chicago) and ended the quarter with a Q&A session with Maker Wine out of California.

Booth students at a Wine Club event
Booth students at a Wine Club event

What are some of your favorite events?

Community Night was a concept I developed a few quarters back and it's been really amazing to see how popular they've become. The idea was simple: we reserve a spot at an interesting bar or brewery in different neighborhoods around Chicago. You come for an hour or you stay all night. You bring your partner or roommate or fly solo. But no matter what you meet new people and by the end you're a part of our Wine Club Family.

Our fireside chat with The Fat Jewish, Josh Ostrovsky, who is the founder of Babe Wine, was probably the most fun event we've had to date! That event drew alumni and both, part time and full time students out. It's not often you get amazing marketing and business insights while laughing so hard. We can't wait to host Josh again! He was also really excited by our speaker gift because, as he put it, "Harvard didn't give me a branded crop top! No wonder Booth is number one!"

Booth students at a Wine Club event
Wine Club members with The Fat Jewish, founder of Babe Wine

How have you shifted to continue supporting students virtually?

Digital engagement is a lot harder for a club like ours, but we're making it work! We have a Slack channel and an Instagram account where we try to post regular articles and pictures. Our members drive a lot of content for us, because it's really fun to share what wine you're drinking and have a dialog about it!

Do you have any tips for current and prospective MBA students in this virtual world?

You never have to feel alone, even though we're all apart. The Booth community is so strong! I see it over Slack as we all share recommendations about which local wine shops are offering curbside pick up. Or on Instagram I'm fortunate to run two Booth accounts (one for SAC and one for Wine Club) so I get to see all the tags and DMs with questions and stories about life in quarantine. We are here for each other! I know that I can reach out to anyone in this amazing community and they will help me or find someone else who can.

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