Dr. Damien Wilson Invited to Provide Global Thought Leadership on Recent Movements in $400 Billion U.S. Adult Beverage Industry
Rohnert Park, California – The Wine Business Institute (WBI) at Sonoma State University (SSU) today announced that its Hamel Family Chair of Wine Business, Dr. Damien Wilson, will address the inaugural U.S. Beverage Industry Expo (USBevX) in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, February 18 from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Dr. Wilson will join the event’s culminating session, The Future is the New Normal, a debate-style panel designed to explore the “convergence, consolidation, and competition” among beer, cider, wine, and spirits categories. The national conference and trade show convenes producers and professionals from the adult beverage industry February 16 – 18 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel for dialogue and insights on recent consumer and business trends, and beverage industry innovations.
“There’s a dynamic future ahead for the beverage industry and for wine business, in particular. This conference allows the Wine Business Institute to both demonstrate its leadership in research and education, and represent Sonoma State University and the California wine industry at the national level among experts and policymakers,” Dr. Damien Wilson, Hamel Family Chair and Associate Professor of Wine Business said. “While the European wine sector is eager to ingest criticism of business practices connected to the wine sector, the North American interest is more akin to discovering what works and developing best practices. Competing beverages need to recognize and respect each other’s strategic advantages in a changing market, so our discussion will focus on the takeaways and outlook for wine in relation to other industry players.”
Dr. Wilson has 20 years of international wine industry experience in Australia, France, and the U.S. He is former Director of Wine Business programs at Burgundy School of Business in Dijon, France, and widely known for expertise in wine production, distribution, sales, and service. His research specialties include wine consumer behavior, tourism, technology, and crowdfunding. In 2015, he was appointed as the Hamel Family Faculty Chair in Wine Business, a five-year renewable term based in the future Wine Spectator Learning Center, an education and industry hub designed around advanced technology classrooms, a student commons and gardens, and a collaborative space for faculty and business leaders.
Attendees to USBevX include cider makers, distillers, brewers, winemakers, general managers, hopyard managers, vineyard managers, sales and marketing professionals, chief financial officers, and brewery, cidery, meadery, distillery, and winery owners. Representatives of WBI will be in attendance both days to engage conference participants regarding wine business education seminars, certificate programs, and degree programs at SSU.
The WBI is an education and research institute of the School of Business and Economics (SBE). WBI programs are administered in partnership between SBE and the School of Extended and International Education. For more information about the upcoming USBevX event, Wine Business Institute, or Hamel Family Chair in Wine Business, please call 707-664-3235 or visit www.sonoma.edu/winebiz.
