Speakers

Our current list of speakers for BMTC18 include:

Doug Campbell | Brewery Ommegang

Doug Campbell, a 13-year beer and spirits industry veteran, joined Brewery Ommegang as President on August 1, 2016. A long-time craft beer enthusiast and an even longer follower and fan of Ommegang, in his role Doug oversees the day-to- day operations at the Cooperstown brewery as well as spearheading all marketing initiatives.

Doug will deliver the keynote speech at BMTC18.

Christopher Shepard | Craft Brew News

Christopher Shepard is a Senior Editor of Craft Brew News, the craft-focused newsletter from Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS. He joined BMI in the summer of 2010, when the company launched CBN and has spent much of his time devoted to the publication since day one. A language and semiotics geek and a avid number-cruncher, he’s enjoyed exploring the craft’s evolution and tracking its growth.

Wendy Knight | Vermont Tourism & Marketing

Wendy Knight is the Commissioner for Vermont Tourism & Marketing. Through her own marketing and communications firm, Knight and Day Communications, she developed strategic communications and marketing campaigns for a variety of international clients based in London, New York, Spain, and Italy, as well as Vermont organizations including the Vermont Grape and Wine Council, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Knight is a former New York Times freelance writer who has written two travel books and produced online travel videos for ABC News Now.

Zach Poole | The Maine Brew Bus

Zach is the founder of The Maine Brew Bus, as well as the co-founder of the Mass Brew Bus and owner of The Rhode Island Brew Bus and Maine Beer Tours. These tours are all inclusive and have hosted more than 25,000 guests over the past 5 years, consisting of bus, walking, running and boat tours. The businesses pride themselves on promoting other small local companies including breweries, distilleries, and wineries. Before starting The Maine Brew Bus he worked in Education and was a Manager at a local Brewpub.

Ashley Rose Salvitti | BREWVANA

Ashley Rose Salvitti launched BREWVANA in April of 2011 to showcase the vast selection and as the industry has grown, the company has also grown tremendously over the last 7 years. Today BREWVANA employs 8 beer lovers, runs 4 buses, offering both public and private tours, on foot and by bus, 7 days a week. The company has been featured on Start Up TV, Travel Channel, Delta sky magazine, Oregon Beer Growler and CNN.

Hal Mooney | LA Beer Hop

Hal Mooney started LA Beer Hop in 2012 by selling his car and buying his first bus (“Sue” – named after his grandma). Now, Hal runs the company with his wife Cindy, managing a small team of six Beer Guides and three buses (“Sue”, “Jules”, and “Big Al”). Hal and his wife are both Certified Cicerones® and incredibly passionate about sharing what they love about craft beer with everyone who comes on the LA Beer Hop.

Julia Herz | Conference Welcome

Julia is the Craft Beer Program Director for the Brewers Association, co-author of the free CraftBeer.com Beer & Food Course, as well co-author of Beer Pairing (Voyageur Press). She is a life-long homebrewer, BJCP beer judge and Certified Cicerone®. She is also well-known as the dynamic voice of craft beer.

Don Littlefield | The Maine Brew Bus

Don Littlefield serves as the General Manager of all of the Maine Brew Bus companies. In these roles, he manages new business development efforts, creative tour ideas, and social media content and digital marketing for the companies in three New England states. Don is a lover of craft beer and an expert at telling the stories of the people and the companies behind the products. He provides training and evaluation for the Brew Bus drivers and tour guides that are charged with creating an amazing experience for several thousand thirsty visitors annually.

Jessica Lukas | BDS Analytics, INC.

Prior to joining BDS Analytics, Jessica Lukas spent ~10 years working with top global CPG and BevAl companies at Nielsen Innovation (BASES) and at Dr Pepper Snapple Group. After taking a short break, Jessica returned to data analytics—but this time for weed. BDS Analytics is now her home, and she helps clients (inside and outside the industry) pull it all together to understand the evolution of the cannabis market and cannabis consumer in order to assess the opportunity and/or threat and drive strategic decisions. AND given her many years spent working within BevAl, the interaction, overlap, substitutability, pairing of Cannabis + Alcohol is a particular passion.

Chad Brodsky | City Brew Tours

Dave Grandmaison | The Duluth Experience

David Phillips | David’s Brewery Tours
David is a beer entrepreneur, having switched industries following a successful executive career in the telecommunications sector. He moved into promoting the local beer industry when he started Dave’s Brewery Tours which in four years has grown to become Australia’s leading beer focused travel and events company.  With tours operating in four locations, an international beer event agency and a major Australian beer festival – Sydney Beer Week, Dave has put beer tourism on the map recently being awarded as New South Wales BEST Tour Operator.  He sits on multiple state government food & drink tourism advisory panels and owns The Institute of Beer – Australia’s leading beer trainer and sole agent for the Certified Cicerone accreditation program.

Ruby Benoit | Divergent Group

Ruby Benoit is a veteran marketing, event planning, and project management professional with nearly two decades of experience with global brands in hospitality, tourism, sports, entertainment, fashion, and consumer packaged goods.  She has developed groundbreaking campaigns consisting of advertising, digital marketing, promotions, public relations, social media, and events.  She is particularly effective with translating conceptual business ideas into actionable growth strategies and campaigns that increase awareness and generate revenue.  She has the proven ability to solve complex problems and is particularly skilled in developing the right project management process and leading its implementation. Some of her recent initiatives include a DIY Marketing Plan eCourse and a Global Brewery Tourism Program.

Matt Tanaka | Matt Tanaka Marketing

Matt Tanaka is the founder and creative director of Matt Tanaka Marketing, a design and branding agency built for the beer industry. He leads a team of strategists and creatives as they help beer brands connect with beer drinkers though graphic design, website development, photography, brand strategy, and more.

Nathan Lampson | Fort George Brewery

Nathan Lampson is the Marketing Director of Fort George Brewery, a regional brewery, beer distributor, and campus of brewpub environments. Formerly of the EdTech field, he is still finding time to take photos of burgers every Wednesday. #burgerwednesday

Chris McClellan | The Brew Enthusiast 

Chris was born and raised in Burlington, Vermont. Chris studied at the University of Vermont and currently resides in New York City’s Upper West Side with his wife and dog. His love for great beer started at his first job out of business school, working for his local brewery…a small shop called Magic Hat Brewing Company. After a few years of sales and marketing there, Chris moved to D.C to expand his digital skillset and live the big city life. He has stayed thirsty the whole time, and aside from the website he founded in 2013 called The Brew Enthusiast, he now works as an industry strategist and founding member of the Guinness Brewery Ambassador team here in the states, an educational program focused on great storytelling and the fantastic portfolio of the Guinness Brewery.

Bibi Mukherjee | Curve Trends Marketing | Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations

Bibi Mukherjee is the founder and principal of Curve Trends Marketing (Curvetrends.com), a leading digital marketing agency of Vermont. Curve Trends partners primarily with brands in Retail, Tourism, and Education segments to initiate and expand their digital footprints with cutting-edge competitive and technical strategy. She is also the Vice-President and Co-owner of nationally acclaimed and award-winning Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations (www.gosojourn.com). Bibi was one of the pioneers in introducing a shift in marketing mindset from traditional to digital in this region though Curve Trends and through VT Web Marketing Summit. Started in 2010 with only 80 attendees and a goal to instill a digital mindset to marketing professionals in Vermont & New Hampshire, the VT Web Marketing Summit (www.vtwebmarketingsummit.com) has grown to be recognized as one of the leading annual conferences that delivers some of the boldest, brightest and immersive digital marketing trends, strategies, challenges and success stories.

Karen Nevin | Revitalizing Waterbury
Karen Nevin is the Executive Director of Revitalizing Waterbury, a community development
organization whose mission is to preserve, promote and enhance the economic, historic and
social vitality of Waterbury, Vermont. Previously she was the Executive Director of Valley Arts, a
non-profit organization that supported the arts in Waitsfield, Vermont and produced the annual
Vermont Festival of the Arts, a 30-day, 100-event festival. She is a graduate of the Vermont
Leadership Institute and Middlebury College.

Mark Hegedus | Magic Hat Brewing Co.

Before joining Magic Hat, Hegedus served as president of Blue Point Brewing Company in Long Island, New York. He also led a number of sales and marketing teams for craft brands including Goose Island Beer Company and Deschutes Brewery. Prior to that, Hegedus spent over 10 years with Coors Brewing Company in multiple management and sales positions. Hegedus also worked for a number of top consumer product companies like Red Bull, Seven-Up USA and Procter & Gamble.