Constructing an international event in the wine industry: an investigation of Emails in English and Italian

This chapter examines emails and letters involved in organizing an international wine industry event held in Italy. The texts were sent or received by an association of wine producers organizing a three-day convention, the first of its kind on the Nebbiolo grape, mainly grown in northern Italian regions and relatively little known in ‘New World’ wine producing nations. The chapter first aims to characterize the emails in the overall data set in terms of the language used (English, Italian), main purposes of the messages, and the organizational and/or professional roles of senders. It then focuses on letters and email exchanges involving producers located abroad who were contacted about participating in the convention or who expressed interest in participating. The chapter also discusses some of the emails and letters in Italian to provide further insights. Finally, the chapter considers the professional communities involved in the communications and the event and, more generally, issues arising when individuals from different cultural, linguistic and professional backgrounds exchange written communication with others outside of their own organizations.