A Project, a Process, a Presentation – a PARTY!!!

By Maria Brahme and Sharon Lalla for Linda Polin, EDET 770B

The Community

If communities of practice “develop around things that matter to people” (Wenger, 1998), then wine experts, and wanna-be experts certainly have a CoP.  The world-wide community includes folks who care about cultivating their ability to distinguish tastes and other qualities in wines.  Motivations to join the community may differ (one may wish to please a spouse by pursuing similar interests, or to “become cultured” or “suave.” Wine expertise is often  linked with sophistication and high-society, but the specific reason is irrelevant to the passion of learning; the end result is the same. The individuals wish to learn, become educated, become wine-experts.

The Video

Two old friends from grad school have gotten together.  They are both “coincidentally” expert participants in the wine lover’s community of practice. Here is their story: Back when they were in graduate school (20+ years ago), both Maria and Sharon (Zia) coincidentally chose to learn about the same topic for a learning assignment. They both decided separately to learn about wines and become wine experts. They were motivated by this topic because of their own separate needs to get a break from the pressures of school (and also to fulfill an assignment). They undertook their respective yet similar projects in different states in the US and had very different experiences.  Both learned a great deal and began to become integrated (moving centripetally) into the wine lover’s community of practice.

Setting:
Decades later, Dr. Brahme now a wine expert,world traveller, and author and Madame Lalla-a winemaker in Montalcino Italy-catch up at a hotel in Las Vegas where they are to speak at a Wine Spectator’s annual “Wine Experience” event. The two old friends recall their different experiences as wine novices and reminisce about how the learning experience made them who they are today.

Video Clips