Today we chat with Beckie Kier, Event Director for Vinexpo America and Drinks America, who has led the team on the U.S.-based Vinexpo event since its launch in 2018. Learn all about how Vinexpo New York transformed to Vinexpo America, and the brand-new Drinks America that was created in response to a forecasted continuing rise in consumption of spirits and ready-to-drink beverages. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!
Transcript on Cheers to Vinexpo and Drinks America
Michael Wangbickler:
Welcome back, HTB podcast listeners. I’m your host, Michael Wangbickler, and I’m joined today, of course, by Emma Criswell, my co-host…
Emma Criswell:
Indeed, hi Mike.
Michael Wangbickler:
Hi. And today we’ve got Beckie Kier on the show. She is the Event Director for Vinexpo America and Drinks America, where she oversees strategy and leads the sales, marketing operations team. She brings twenty-eight years of events experience to her role at Diversified Communications, which is a global media company based in Portland, Maine. Her events background includes a variety of operational roles, as well as managing programs for high value buyers. Beckie has led the team on the U.S. based Vinexpo event since its launch in 2018.
Michael Wangbickler:
She has earned the WSET Level 2 Award in wines and has completed the Court of Master Sommeliers introductory course and examination. And when she’s not overseeing event details, she could be found creating in her stained-glass studio and enjoying lake life with her family in the home state of Maine. Welcome to the show, Beckie.
Beckie Kier:
Thank you so much for having me. I’m honored to be invited and I’m excited to share some of the details about our new events.
Michael Wangbickler:
Great. So, before we get too far into the interview, would you share with our listeners how they might get a hold of you?
Beckie Kier:
Sure. Each event has its own website at vinexpoamerica.com and drinksamerica.com links to the social handles and contact information can be found on those sites.
Michael Wangbickler:
OK, great. So, can you summarize the scenario that we have here between Vinexpo and Drinks America?
Beckie Kier:
Yes. Vinexpo America and Drinks America are two distinct but co-located events being held at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Vinexpo America is a relaunch and repositioning of the former Vinexpo New York event, and it’s in a traditional Vinexpo format in terms of being focused on wine with an exhibit hall that’s laid out geographically by growing region. Drinks America is a brand-new event focused on beverage alcohol beyond wine, including all categories of spirits, along with beer, RTDs and complimentary products like packaging solutions and industry services.
Beckie Kier:
The combined events provide buyers of both wine and spirits access to more opportunities than the previous format, and they deliver an experience more inclusive of the [inaudible]. Attendees will have full access to both events, including full conference program, all the Masterclasses and all of the other event features. Events are jointly organized with Diversified Communications and Vinexposium.
Michael Wangbickler:
What does each organization bring to the table?
Beckie Kier:
So Diversified Communications is headquartered in Portland, Maine. We have offices and trade events around the world. We bring extensive experience in producing business to business trade events in a wide variety of industries like seafood, commercial marine, medical and beverage alcohol. And Vinexposium is the world’s leading organizer of wine and spirits trade events. And they’re based in France. Their expertise in events focused on beverage alcohol globally is really unparalleled. Having teams based in the US and in Europe also has a lot of advantages when it comes to attracting buyers from North America and exhibitors from around the world.
Michael Wangbickler:
What’s the benefit to the industry as a whole having these two events happening collocated?
Beckie Kier:
There’s an incredible opportunity for producers who are seeking to expand their reach, in particular for US producers. At our previous events, we’ve had consistent feedback from attendees telling us that they are specifically looking for domestic producers, all categories of attendees, but in particular, the on and off premise of regional chains have collectively, collectively requested a focus on participation from US based producers. So, the decision that was made to reposition the Vinexpo New York brand as Vinexpo America was intended to broaden the scope of this event.
Beckie Kier:
When we launched it with the New York name, that name was interpreted really very literally, and the event became viewed as a niche event for brand seeking regional market share in New York. The launch of Vinexpo America along with Drinks America has allowed us to redefine that scope. These events present the opportunity, the opportunity to reunite and to connect and to generate business partnerships in the domestic market.
Emma Criswell:
That’s so interesting. I was at Vinexpo New York when it was happening, and I definitely did see a lot of regional interest, in that I found that a very specific thing that I didn’t realize that was kind of how it was interpreted. So that’s interesting.
Beckie Kier:
Were you there in 2020?
Emma Criswell:
I was.
Beckie Kier:
That was the last wine event…
Emma Criswell:
I know, I know… I was having breakfast with a girlfriend when the first case of covid was confirmed in New York City. So interesting. But what is the percentage that you’ve seen now that you have added in beer and spirits versus wine? How is that going to be broken down?
Beckie Kier:
So, we’re really just getting started. We launched the event; we made the announcement about a month ago. Our sales team was really hard at work. We have a lot of interest from our return exhibitors. We are hoping the events will be roughly equitable in size, but that that sort of remains to be seen. That’s the fun at the end, is what we get with what we get to put into place.
Emma Criswell:
Yeah, absolutely. That’ll be fun to see the outcome.
Michael Wangbickler:
And so, the intention basically is that it has more of a national reach rather than just a regional New York reach.
Beckie Kier:
Absolutely. And that was always the intent. It’s just that that New York name really, really was read very literally. But the goal really is to create an annual meeting place for the North American beverage alcohol market. So, we’re really trying to broaden that scope out to include buyers and sellers from North America, Canada and globally.
Michael Wangbickler:
Excellent.
Michael Wangbickler:
So OK, so why should industry leaders participate in the event?
Beckie Kier:
In the last year, the value of face-to-face interaction has become even more clear by virtue of the absolute absence of it.
Michael Wangbickler:
Yeah.
Beckie Kier:
Live events provide opportunities that digital and virtual events can mimic, but they really can’t replace the face-to-face experience. Launching these events creates a unique opportunity to unite the industry in person, to create or expand on partnerships, and have meetings with buyers looking for products in this market.
Beckie Kier:
From the perspective of industry leaders in particular, this model really charts a path to becoming the annual meeting place for the beverage alcohol industry in North America.
Michael Wangbickler:
Great, and so can you just kind of you mentioned buyers – who else are you expecting to be at the event?
Beckie Kier:
So, our attendee base includes on premise, off premise, importers, distributors, Sommeliers – sort of the whole gamut of the industry is welcome, Mike, at our event. And we don’t have any consumer component, but industry professionals in the beverage alcohol industry are our target audience.
Michael Wangbickler:
And there really isn’t anything that’s as broad as this in the United States currently, is there?
Beckie Kier:
There is currently no national trade event for beverage alcohol, but March 2022 there will be.
Michael Wangbickler:
Yeah, that’s exciting. I mean, you know, I think it’s long overdue. There has you know, there’s all kinds of regional events, you know, there’s Unified Expo here in California, and you’ve got TEXSOM down in Texas, of course. And you know, but having a national gathering of all of these people, I think that’s pretty exciting and will provide a lot of opportunities for a lot of our clients, our listeners and everybody in the industry so…
Beckie Kier:
So Diversified as a company we look for gaps where a trade event would create representation for an industry. And in the course of researching an event like this, we very, really very quickly realized that there was no national trade event for beverage alcohol in the US, which is kind of incredible, bearing in mind that it is one of the biggest consumer products in the US. So, this event really serves to fill that gap. As you said, there are a lot of regional events, but this one is really meant to bring buyers and sellers together to feed the consumer demand in the US.
Michael Wangbickler:
It’s fantastic. I love it. You mentioned March. So, when exactly is the event going to take place?
Beckie Kier:
March 9 and 10 at the Javits in a brand-new exhibit hall, which is at the moment a hard hat area.
Michael Wangbickler:
Oh!
Beckie Kier:
Part of the part of the new expansion that began pre covid. Yeah, very exciting. And both. And I also kind of wanted to clarify that both events will be they’ll be in the same hall. One registration gets everybody into everything. It’s really from the attending perspective, it’s one event. The distinguishing factor is what type of product they sell.
Emma Criswell:
I see that makes sense.
Michael Wangbickler:
OK, so does that. OK, so does that mean, like there’s going to be sessions by each of… by Vinexpo, and then Drinks America separately or… How is that going to work?
Beckie Kier:
It will be a balance of sessions. So, our conference programming has traditionally been six sessions total, three on each day. And the balance there for a trade show organizer is you want to have enough content to pull attendees to the event, but not so much content that you’re pulling attendees off the floor all the time. So, the six is a nice balance and we’ve designated that it will be a balance of two sessions that are spirit specific two that are wine specific and two that reach the broader industry. And one of each on each day.
Michael Wangbickler:
Nice. So, and then so obviously there’s going to be an expo floor. How many vendors are you expecting to be there?
Beckie Kier:
Our goal is about 500.
Michael Wangbickler:
Wow.
Emma Criswell:
Wow.
Michael Wangbickler:
So is that all producers on the producer level, like, you know, wineries breweries and distilleries, or is…
Beckie Kier:
Yeah, the vast majority will be producers. We do also have a representation from US importers who are showing their entire portfolio, but the majority are producers.
Michael Wangbickler:
Yeah. Got it. That makes total sense. Well, it sounds like a super exciting event. And I’m going to have to mark it off on my calendar and be there…
Beckie Kier:
Absolutely.
Michael Wangbickler:
…for this. So, do you have any other thoughts that you’d like to add to the conversation?
Beckie Kier:
I wanted to talk a little bit about the value of an event in the in the United States. So as opposed to an international event where producers are meeting buyers from all over the world, buyers and sellers who come to Vinexpo America, and Drinks America come knowing that they are meeting with producers who are specifically looking for new business in this market. Presenting the opportunity to discuss business opportunities and strategies specific to the North American market and the specifics of our consumer demand.
Beckie Kier:
And really, last but not least, our team, the Vinexpo America and Drinks America team is a really strong and incredibly talented team committed to building a very successful event.
Michael Wangbickler:
Fantastic. I’m really looking forward to this. I came into this interview not knowing what to expect honestly and coming out of it, I’m super excited about…
Emma Criswell:
Yeah, this is right up your alley.
Michael Wangbickler:
Yeah, absolutely. This is this is…
Beckie Kier:
[crosstalk] Mike, we’ll take care of you.
Michael Wangbickler:
OK, sounds good. So, Beckie, thanks a ton for being on the show today. Really appreciate it. Emma, of course, as always, great talking to you.
Emma Criswell:
Absolutely.
Michael Wangbickler:
And we will see you next time on the HTB podcast.
