Alpha Eta Alumnus Competes for Prestigious Job

May 27, 2009
Healdsburg, Calif.

Ed Thralls, Florida ’90, has applied as one of hundreds of contestants for the Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent, a competition seeking a “social media whiz” to help promote Murphy-Goode wines. The company, based in Healdsburg, Calif., is offering a six-month paid position to help spread the word about Sonoma County wine country and its winemaking tradition.

The application process includes a written form, but focuses primarily on the creation of a 60-second video demonstrating storytelling ability, personal presentation, video-production skills, creativity, enthusiasm and knowledge of Murphy-Goode wines. The competition officially opened on April 28 and will close on June 19, 2009. Final interviews will end July 1, and the winery will announce its candidate selection eight days later. The videos with the most votes from people around the country will have a better chance of making it the farthest in the competition.

Thralls entered the contest as the 400th applicant and his video is currently one of the top 10 most popular on Murphy-Goode’s website. A current director in product development for Fiserv—a technology solutions provider to the financial world, this position is ideal for Thralls who is a wine enthusiast, co-founder of Pelly Circle Wine Club, host of the blog winetonite.com, student in the UC-Davis Winemakers Certificate Program and certified wine specialist via the Atlanta Wine School.

After the application process closes, Murphy-Goode will narrow the field of contestants to 50 on June 15 and then again to 10 on June 23. The company will make its final selection on July 9 and the winner will begin work on Aug. 1. To vote for Thralls’ video, visit http://www.areallygoodejob.com and click on “Most Popular” or “Most Viewed.”