Brian Baker, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Chateau Montelena Winery
With a background in technology, research and traditional brand marketing, Brian joined the winery as the Director of DTC. Previously he had served as Vice President of Consumer Relationship Management at Jackson Family Wines. During his tenure at JFW, he evolved enterprise wide consumer direct systems for the then 34 JFW wineries. Brian spent 18 years in the travel industry, prior to his wine career, which included posts as VP of Sales and Marketing at the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau and Director of Global Marketing for Dollar Rent-A-Car. He is a past chair of the California Travel Association and served as Chairman of the DTC Wine Symposium from 2009-2012. As a sommelier, he holds the CSW credential.
Jeremy Benson, President, Benson Marketing Group
Jeremy is founder and president of Benson Marketing Group, a leading wine and spirits marketing agency. The company provides brand strategy, PR, digital marketing and advocacy marketing services from offices in Napa Valley, New York and Lyon. He also serves as executive director of Free the Grapes!, the presenting organization of the DTC Wine Symposium.
Tammy Boatright, Founder, VingDirect
Prior to beginning VingDirect in 2009, Tammy served as the head of Foster’s Wine Estates US Direct to Consumer division where she spent 2 years as the acting President of Windsor Vineyards, which is the largest US shipper of wine direct to consumer utilizing outbound telemarketing as the primary sales channel, and 3 years as the President of International Wine Accessories. Beginning with her position at Collin Street Bakery as General Manager of Cryer Creek Kitchens, a producer of specialty baked goods, Tammy has 20+ years direct marketing and general management experience. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and VingDirect is the recipient of the North Bay Business Journal’s 2014 award for direct to consumer in the wine industry.
Barbara Gorder, President/Owner, Undisclosed Location, Inc.
Barbara is a graduate of Northwestern University with extensive senior level corporate, entrepreneurial and advertising agency experience having been an executive creative director, brand strategist, marketer and relationship builder. With broad marketing and advertising expertise across all channels and disciplines with an emphasis in technologies, she has helped to build and design some of the world’s most powerful brands over the past 20 years. She is known as a producer of innovative branding and advertising in wine, beauty, athletics, health and spirits categories, and has received the Coty Award, Clios, Addys, and been a finalist for Cannes Lions. Barbara is the keynote committee chair for the DTC Wine Symposium and serves on the Board of the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County.
Brigid Harris, Senior Director, Direct to Consumer, Constellation Brands, Inc.
As Senior Director of DTC, Brigid Harris leads all aspects of the multi-channel DTC business. Her background includes over 25 years of marketing experience in Brand Management and DTC Retail Marketing; the first 10 years were spent at Disney Consumer Products in Los Angeles. After relocating to the Bay Area, she began her DTC Marketing career by managing the Wedding Registry and Private Label Credit Card programs for Restoration Hardware. She has extensive experience in the eCommerce space where she led online marketing efforts at Gap.com, and she managed marketing for all retail channels including Stores, Catalog, eCommerce and consumer loyalty programs for Smith & Hawken. Brigid and her husband Jeff reside in the Chalk Hill area of Healdsburg with their Boston Terrier, Ellie.
Meredith Hayes, Direct Sales Manager, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards
Meredith leads the strategy and execution for the direct to consumer sales channels managing the delicate balance between creating unforgettable experiences for club members while meeting the sales and business needs of this storied sparkling wine producer. She has gained more than ten years experience in the art and wine industries having worked in marketing and managing member-centric programs and outreach in New Zealand, Arizona and California. Originally from New England, she is a graduate of Northeastern University Boston, and is thrilled to be a part of the food and wine scene in Sonoma County.
Angela Hernandez, Independent DtC Business Operations Consultant
Angela brings a variety of accomplishments to the wine industry. She holds a B.A. in Education from Cal State San Bernardino as well as a M.A. in Organizational Behavior from National University. Still, she willingly admits that she had no idea how much the wine industry had to teach her when she joined Cliff Lede Vineyards in 2010. There she took on various roles for over six years tackling the nuances of DtC business operations before joining Wine Direct as an Account Manager for a year in 2016. She has been a Steering Committee volunteer with the DtC Wine Symposium since 2015.
Laura Larson, Founder, Virtual Vines DTC Sales & Marketing Services Consulting
Virtual Vines specializes in DTC sales and marketing performance based services, staff development and on line sales training. Focused on following the customer journey, Virtual Vines focuses on relationship selling and marketing techniques designed to help businesses build closer connections with customers and strategic business partners.
Since launching Virtual Vines, Laura has developed an extensive client list and is an active member of the DTC Winery Community. She is a contributing writer with Napa Valley Life Magazine and Wine
Industry Advisor, specializing in winery experience best practices.
Laura serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Napa Valley Hospitality Forum and the Sponsor Committee Chair for the DTC Wine Symposium. Laura’s personal passion for wine fueled her extensive studies of wine theory, supported her sommelier accreditation from the Court of Master Sommeliers and ultimately led her to embark on her own wine making journey with the launch of her own label in 2018.
Stacey Lawrence, Direct to Consumer Manager, Sonoma Cutrer
Stacy is a graduate of Sonoma State, and began her career in the wine industry at Virtual Vineyards. Following her time at Virtual Vineyards, she joined Niebaum-Coppola where she worked for both the Rutherford and Geyserville wineries, eventually overseeing wine club, ecommerce, email marketing, phone sales, and fulfillment. The next step in her career took her to Jackson Family Wines where she oversaw DTC Sales for 12 of their brands as well as email marketing. Stacey has enjoyed each step of her journey, and her passion for the wine industry comes from the joy in sharing it with others and the many ways it allows her to be both creative and analytical.
Leah McNally, Senior Manager for DTC Operations, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars & Ste. Michelle Wine Estates California Brands.
As a twelve year veteran of winery DTC sales, Leah oversees the eCommerce, wine club, and customer service operations for Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Conn Creek Winery and Patz and Hall. Her efforts have produced ongoing year over year growth in wine club and ecommerce for the brands. In 2015 Leah received a Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Cheers Award in the Energizing Customers category for her contribution to outstanding results in the DTC channel. She has an MBA in Wine Business from Sonoma State University. Her work in the business community includes three years as co-chair for the Women For Winesense Marketing and DTC Roundtable (2013-2016) and as a volunteer mentor for small businesses focusing on creative and handmade products through Flourish at Artisan Indie.
Ron Scharman, CEO, Astra Digital Marketing Services
Ron has been an instructor for 5 years at Sonoma State’s Wine Business Institute, where he teaches courses in Direct to Consumer Marketing and eCommerce for the Wine Industry. Prior to Astra, he was COO of Chatterbox Wine Marketing and VinoVisit.com. Ron served for 7 years as President of eWinery Solutions, has extensive experience as a COO and CEO outside of the wine industry, and spent time in investment banking in New York City with major financial institutions. Ron received his MBA in Finance from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management, and his B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.
Adrienne Stillman, Director of Marketing, WineDirect
With a passion for wine and technology, and a goal to empower wineries to leverage digital tools for DTC sales success, Adrienne oversees all aspects of marketing and communications for WineDirect.
Prior to joining WineDirect, Adrienne was an Account Executive with Benson Marketing Group where she led digital strategy and community management for wine and spirits clients, and she worked in product marketing for UBS Investment Bank in New York and London. Adrienne is a graduate of Barnard College, has completed the Wine & Beverage program at the Culinary Institute of America and is a Certified Sommelier. She is also the author of Where Bartenders Drink, a global guide to the world’s best bars (Phaidon, 2017).
Stephanie Wycoff, Estate Director, Seghesio Family Vineyards
Stephanie has spent over a decade leading DTC sales, marketing and operations for 3,000 to 130,000 case wineries including: Anaba, Quivira, La Follette, Gary Farrell. She has served on the DTC Wine Symposium steering committee since 2015 and has been a frequent presenter at the conference. She has also been a speaker at the Wine Industry Technology Symposium and Luxury Marketing Council Winery Bootcamp. Stephanie earned her master’s degree in Wine Business from Sonoma State University in 2010, and now serves as an alumni liaison to the Wine Business Institute Board of Directors. Beyond her passion for wine, she is self-proclaimed “business nerd”. Stephanie is a winner of the North Bay Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” award (2016), and resides in Sonoma County with her husband, their black Labrador and two cats.
