The WMTC is a unique conference in which we bring in only four top speakers and give each of them more time with you in what is more an intensive seminar than a conference. All four of them have spoken at the WMTC before and three of them were the top-rated speakers of their year (in 2015 2016, and 2020). Our goal is to arm you with the crucial information you need to go home and succeed in the wine industry. Our instructors:
Eric Guerra
Owner, Reserve Tastings Wine Club
Author of the highly acclaimed “When Great Wine Is Not Enough – A Wine Sales & Marketing Guide For Wineries, Négociants & Wine Brand Owners”, named the 2018 North Bay Business Journal Winery Sales & Marketing Officer Of The Year, with over 17 years of wine experience, having managed or sold over 20 million cases of wine and developed over 500+ wine brands while receiving 14 packaging awards… author, wine executive, label designer, wine blogger, fine wine investor and wine public speaker Eric Guerra has led some of the industries’ most iconic wineries and wine brands, including his recent wine venture Reserve Tastings Wine Club, a direct-to-consumer private Wine + Music club that offers high-end wines that are paired with musically inspired label artwork and playlists. Eric was the highest rated speaker at our 2020 conference.
Ryan Neergard
Director of Business Development, Astra Digital
Ryan is co-founder and Director of Business Development at Astra Digital, a marketing agency focused on the wine industry. Astra is a Napa-based firm that helps wineries with social media marketing, email marketing, digital advertising, content marketing, Google Analytics, search engine optimization, website development, and more. Ryan has 15 years of marketing experience in the wine industry including stints at Domaine Chandon, the Napa Valley Wine Train, VinoVisit.com, Chatterbox Wine Marketing Services, and now Astra Digital. Ryan was the highest rated speaker at our 2015 conference.
Janiene Ullrich
Direct to Consumer Executive Vice President, The Family Coppola
Janiene Ullrich is the Direct to Consumer Executive Vice President of The Family Coppola. She has over ten years of wine industry experience growing eCommerce sales, launching new tasting rooms, developing tasting rooms with innovation, and evolving Wine Clubs. She also guides with strategic management of restaurants, merchandising and a distribution center. With consumer interaction in mind, and a respect for the Coppola family’s theatrical perspective, Ullrich can capture the right balance of authenticity while keeping in line with business goals and budgetary projections. Janiene was the second highest rated speaker at our 2020 conference and has a wealth of information about both wine marketing and wine tourism.
Paul Wagner
Founder and President Emeritus, Balzac Communications
Paul has been an instructor for Napa Valley College’s Viticulture and Enology department for the past twenty-five years. He is also a guest lecturer at many universities, including the Wine Tourism MBA program through the universities of Bordeaux, Porto, and Rovira Virgili, and has spoken at more than eighty conferences throughout the world on wine, wine tourism, wine education, public affairs, and wine marketing. With Liz Thach and Janeen Olsen, he authored a book: Wine Marketing & Sales, Strategies for a Saturated Market by The Wine Appreciation Guild, which won the Gourmand International Award in 2008 for the best wine book of the year for professionals. A second edition of that work was published in 2011, and a third edition will appear this year. His second book: Artisan Public Relations, is due to be published in 2019, and a third book, Wine Sales and Distribution, with John Crotts and Byron Marlowe, was published in 2019 by Rowman and Littlefield. He was a columnist for Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine for ten years, and served on the board of directors of the Society of Wine Educators for many years. With Rick Kushman of Capital Public Radio, he hosts “Bottle Talk” at http://www.rickandpaulwine.com/ a weekly conversation about wine. Paul was the highest rated speaker at our 2016 conference.