Gary Vaynerchuk Visits Virginia Tech

It’s not every day that a wine connoisseur and entrepreneur doles out money and jobs to a crowd of unsuspecting college students.

Gary Vaynerchuk made his first-ever college appearence at Virginia Tech on April 27 in front of a packed Burruss Auditorium.

Vaynerchuk, a New York Times best-selling author, came to speak to students and faculty at the school after seeing a YouTube video created by John Boyer’s Geography of Wine class.

“I think it’s one of those things that you don’t pick, it picks you,” Vaynerchuk said. “They made a YouTube video that inspired me and I said ‘I have got to go see those kids and that professor’ and it just felt extremely right.”

Vaynerchuk made a name for himself in the wine world by creating Wine Library TV, an Internet show that makes wine accessible to wine novices.

“There are a lot of good wine magazines and wine literature, but it’s hard to access for new drinkers,” Boyer said. “You want to talk in vernacular, a language that people get and understand. He’s really excited and passionate and all that comes through.”

Boyer uses Vaynerchuk’s Internet shows as a supplementary class material and students find it to be a helpful tool for learning about wine.

“It’s definitely something that you can take something away from, especially in the work world when you’re socializing,” Virginia Tech senior Brooke Veoni said.

Vaynerchuk recorded an episode of his new show, Daily Grape, during the event. His speech about entrepreneurship and wine turned into a prize giveaway extravaganza as he gave away an estimated $60,000 in prizes to those in attendance.

“I think that Oprah shouldn’t have all the fun,” Vaynerchuk said. “I’m a storyteller. I think it made for a special night. I think that’s something people will talk about for a while.

“I don’t know what happened. We were giving out a couple of books and then I started to want to give away things and it started getting crazy and I couldn’t stop because I was just feeding off the energy of the crowd.”

Vaynerchuk’s enthusiasm and liveliness struck a chord with those in attendance.

“I honestly haven’t heard a speech like that at Tech, ever,” Veoni said. “I’m a business major so entrepreneurial stuff is definitely relevant to me. He was very motivational and very inspirational and I definitely took away a lot of things that I can learn from him.”

In terms of a future college tour, Vaynerchuk says that the event at Virginia Tech would serve as a “blueprint” for that tour.

“I’m just grateful,” Vaynerchuk said. “That’s what makes me sit until midnight and just sign and take pictures. Kids’ enthusiasm really resonates with me.”