Hope to see you there!

Smoke

Three-Tier Trade Sales & Marketing Panels Announced At The Seventh Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium, July 12-13, 2011

June 24, 2011, Napa, CA – The Wine Industry Technology Symposium® WITS®, the premier event showcasing innovation and strategic use of information technology and services for the wine industry, has announced two key panels on three-tier trade sales and marketing discussions this year at the seventh annual conference July 12-13, 2011 at the Marriott Napa Valley.

 

The Trade Sales & Marketing panels begin with a candid overview on how wineries, distributors, and retailers can collaborate better.

 

For the first exciting panel, a representative of each tier plus a moderator will be concentrating on communications between wineries, distributors and retailers that are currently in place. This panel will discuss industry benefits from better information integration and the technical, operational and financial ramifications that result from embracing (or avoiding) standards and how to evolve them.  They will draw from the extensive successes GS1 has experienced working with the largest retailers and manufacturers in the world in consumer product goods. Panelists include: Michael Saitow, CIO & Sales Operations, MS Walker; Ian Griffith, Director, Ecommerce, Beverage Media Group; Tom Hatton, Strategic Account Executive, 1Sync; Joe Gregg, Vice President, IT and Business Process St. Michelle Wine Estates; and

Stephen R. Arens, Director, Industry Engagement, GS1 US. Moderator will be John Collins CEO, Great Vines.

 

The second interactive panel will discuss the use of the latest in market tools, best practices and case stories from the field. It will have an informative overview of iPad use throughout the world of wine as well as an in-depth look at how Jordan uses the iPad in their sales and winery operations. Panelists include: Lisa Mattson, Director of Communications, Jordan Vineyard and Winery and Cathy Huyghe, Founder, Red White Boston with Heather Crawford, Director of IT, Amy’s Kitchen as moderator.

 

Both panels promise to have a lively discussion between retailer, distributor and winery as well as the attendees.  WITS focus on “take home value” will be front and center as these panels include live examples and integration with the attendees.

 

“When I was a distributor and was Chairman of WSWA, we spent many years discussing supply chain integration and industry standards working with the ABI-EC and later GS1.  Later as a technology CEO, I worked hard to bring tools to the industry to accomplish some of the goals we had established.  Today as a supplier to the industry in wine, spirits and beer, I continue to work with all three theirs to encourage adoptions of standards and further collaboration.  These panels are near and dear to my experience and I believe everyone who has an interest in these topics will benefit from them.” said Smoke Wallin, WITS co-chair.

 

For more information on speakers and topics, visit www.WineIndustryTechnologySymposium.com. Registrations are now being accepted online.

About Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS)

The Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) was created in 2005 by a group of wine industry and technology professionals. The purpose of WITS is to address the unique information technology and services needs of the wine industry. WITS is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading wine industry professionals together with some of the world’s leading technology experts to foster learning and discussion. Panels of experts will discuss specific examples and case studies. www.WineIndustryTechnologySymposium.com

 

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Media Contact:

Lesley P. Berglund, co-chair, 707-246-6827