Peter Allen

Senior Director of Client Services & Business Development / Affinity Creative Group

Session: Brand Evolution vs. Brand Revolution?

Peter Allen serves as Senior Director of Client Services & Business Development for Affinity Creative Group. This San Francisco Bay Area creative agency helps clients build exceptional brand experiences through integrated branding, packaging design, digital marketing, and retail activation programs. Peter's 20+ years experience in brand consulting includes executive leadership roles at such global branding and design agencies as Landor Associates, Siegel+Gale, Turner Duckworth, and Sterling Brands. In addition to wine, beer, and spirits, he's partnered with clients across a broad range of categories, including food and beverage, personal care, pet, retail, hospitality, healthcare, technology, financial services, education, and nonprofits.

 Hilary Berkey

Marketing Director / Raventós Codorníu

Session: Brand Evolution vs. Revolution?

Hilary Berkey is the North American Marketing Director for Raventós Codorníu, based at Artesa Vineyard & Winery. Born in the Willamette Valley, Hilary fell in love with wine in the sundrenched vineyards of South Africa, which led her to an MBA and MS in Viticulture at CalPoly San Luis Obispo. With over sixteen years in consumer packaged goods, primarily in beverage alcohol, Hilary has experience in portfolio management, brand marketing, shopper marketing, and market research and analytics. Hilary’s certifications include both WSET Diploma and Certified Sommelier, and she is currently Chair of the Carneros Wine Alliance. Pinot Noir is her favorite varietal which makes working at Artesa a passionate pleasure.

 Shana Bull

Owner / Shana Bull Digital Marketing

Session: The Connection Between Social Media & Wine Packaging

Shana Bull, is a Digital Marketing Educator, Best-Selling Children’s Book Author, and Freelance Writer. She has been in wine marketing for over 13 years now.

Shana has worked with big brands like Kendall Jackson, Ménage à Trois Winery, Rodney Strong, as well as lots of small producers all over California. She has also worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies, such as: HP, Xbox Media, L'Oréal and Union Bank. Her true passion is helping small business owners and marketers feel confident with creating social media content, telling their stories, and connecting with their audience, online.

She is a published writer on wine, food, social media, parenting, mental health, and travel, as well as teaches classes on social media marketing.

Shana was named one of the top ‘40 under 40’ Young Professionals by the North Bay Business Journal in 2017, and was recently featured by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions as a ‘Marketer You Should Know: 16 Brilliant Thinkers to Follow’ on LinkedIn, in 2021.

She can be found on Instagram/Twitter at @sharayray, and LinkedIn at Shana Bull, or you can download her *free* Social Media Marketer’s Checklist at ShanaBull.com/daily-checklist.

 George Christie

President & CEO / Wine Industry Network

Symposium Moderator

George Christie, a New Jersey native, settled in Sonoma County after college in 1991 where he quickly realized that the wine industry was where he wanted to concentrate his efforts. Since that time, he has been involved in nearly every aspect of the wine industry, from vineyard operations and grower relations to distributor realignments and national marketing campaigns. Always an active member in the wine community, Christie has also held board positions with the Russian River Wine Road, Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley and the Sonoma County Vintners. In 2008, George and his wife Tami, along with the Saini Family, partnered to create Saini Vineyards, a winery specializing on Old Vine Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley.

In 2009, with Elizabeth 'E' Slater, George launched the Wine Industry Network (WIN). What began as an online directory has evolved over the years into one the leading B2B marketing and media companies serving the wine industry. WIN works with over 600 industry product and service providers and produces the Wine Industry Expo (WIN Expo), the 2nd largest trade show for the wine industry, along with the packXplore Conference, the Wine Industry Advisor news site and the Afternoon Brief daily news email with over 35,000 industry subscribers.

 Brooke Crane

Graphic Designer / Affinity Creative Group

Session: Brand Evolution vs. Revolution?

Brooke is a strategy-minded graphic designer with 10+ years of experience in the alcohol beverage category. With a strong foundation in multimedia, marketing, and print design, she thrives on finding cohesive and impactful ways to help brands communicate their message to consumers. Because of her background in print production, she has a deep understanding of the nuances in package design and how digital designs translate into physical pieces.

 Peggy Gsell

Client Business Partner / NielsenIQ

Session: Performance by Package Type; Emerging Trends in the Marketplace

For the last 25 years, Peggy has worked across a variety of different functions and departments within the wine industry. She is currently employed at NielsenIQ, a leading supplier of sales data, analytics, and consumer insight. As a Client Business Partner, she has worked closely with wine clients over the last eight years to better understand industry trends and uncover opportunities for growth. Prior to NielsenIQ, Peggy worked at Boisset Family Estates, Treasury Wine Estates, and Sebastiani Vineyards in Brand Management, Sales Reporting, and Market Research roles. She has her B.S. in Business Administration from U.C. Berkeley and her M.B.A. from Boston University.

 Meghan Sheldon

Innovative Director / BASES BevAl Team, NielsenIQ

Session: Performance by Package Type; Emerging Trends in the Marketplace

... bio coming soon.

 Jon Potts

Graphic Designer / Affinity Creative group

Session: Brand Evolution vs. Revolution?

"I love to make it, design it, and drink it." - Jon Potts, Affinity Creative Group. Jon Potts is a graphic designer and illustrator with 15 + years of experience designing for the wine and spirits industry. Jon started his career in New York City, focusing on advertising for spirits brands. After a few years of developing major ad campaigns, he took a full dive into package design and has loved it ever since. Jon is a self-proclaimed nerd when it comes to all things wine, craft beer, and cocktails–– he even brews his own unique beers at home!

 Ed Rice

Executive Director / Affinity Creative Group

Session: Brand Evolution vs. Brand Revolution?

Ed Rice is the Executive Director at Affinity Creative Group, Mare Island, CA. With over two decades in agency management, Ed has extensive experience in account supervision, brand strategy, identity, design, and client development. From Wharton undergrad to U.S. Naval Officer, to Lucas' THX technology marketer, to Landor Associates Managing Director and more, Ed has enjoyed a great ride. Ed says his current time at Affinity Creative Group is particularly gratifying, as the agency and its multi-discipline team members offer clients the best of all worlds—experience, talent, and passionate, entrepreneurial drive.

 Meghan Sheldon

Innovative Director / BASES BevAl Team, NielsenIQ

Session: Performance by Package Type; Emerging Trends in the Marketplace

... bio coming soon.

 Dennis Sones

Vice President of Sales & Marketing / ByQuest

Session: Breaking Glass Norms in Wine

As Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ByQuest since 2016, Dennis works with some of the biggest Wine and Spirits brands such as Constellation, Treasury Wine Estates, Trinchero, Delicato, Don & Sons, 3 Badge Beverage, Gallo, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, Beam-Suntory, Diageo, Heaven Hill, Campari, etc., as well as innovative start-ups. This broad customer base is enabled by the company having two significant production facilities: one in Northern California Wine Country and the other along the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. ByQuest does a lot of work in new product development and is unique in its market offering as the Brand Package Realization® company, which means connecting the right package profile with the most powerful creative expression, to help Brands stand out. ByQuest is the only company that provides glass, stoppers, decoration, cartons together with an ability to translate a brand-idea into innovative, tangible, physical packages.

Recognizing the importance of sustainable packaging, ByQuest has developed two new glass product lines: Wildly Crafted® spirits and wine bottle collections and Vintage Forward™ bottle collections. Each has glass made with Infinite Way® branded, 100% recycled beverage bottles that makes sense for the environment and can be a valuable marketing claim for brands. See more at www.byquest.com

Dennis is a California-native, born on the Monterey Peninsula. He is a graduate from Claremont McKenna College and attended Stanford Business School Executive Program in Strategy and Organization, and now resides in the town of Sonoma.