Below you will find a detailed schedule of the seminars by date at NBWA’s 88th Annual Convention & Trade Show. With over 20 seminars at this year’s convention, maximizing your time onsite and bringing back fresh ideas for growing your business has never been easier.
To view seminars by category, click here
Make sure to register for the seminars you want to attend — click here to learn how to do so. If you have any questions about the event or how to register for your preferred seminars, please contact Grace Moery at gmoery@nbwa.org
MONDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2025 | 8:00 – 9:15 a.m.
Aye, Robot: A Tech Approach to Building Your Long-Term Workforce
Jonathan O’Neil, CEO, Block One Automation
Barry Van Boord VP of Operations, Block One Automation
Raegan Cordell, Director of Product, Block One Automation
Staffing and daily operations are changing in the industry. This seminar will explore how robotics and automation can help distributors create more predictable and efficient warehouses over time. Rather than simply increasing headcount, smart systems can ease everyday tasks and help teams focus on high value work. The talk will cover ways to build flexible systems that scale with your business needs.
Distributors will learn:
- How to think about automation as part of long-term workforce planning
- Where robotics can create consistency in daily operations
- Examples of practical strategies already being used in distribution
Building a Culture of Continuous Learning and Innovation
Andrea Pellettiere, Director of Talent Management, Manhattan Beer and Beverage Distributors
Between rising competition and market shifts, things are moving fast in beer distribution. Your organization needs forward thinking, innovative ideas and new direction – all of which requires the best and brightest talent.
You know that personal development and learning are critical to building a strong workforce, but where do you begin and how do you ensure it truly drives your business objectives? In this session, we’ll talk about real and practical ways to implement successful learning initiatives, even if you are starting from ground zero.
We’ll cover:
- The difference between training and learning and why both are important for your organization
- Reframing the learning process to get employee buy-in…and even excitement!
- How to “unlearn” what you think you know about beer, leadership and life to pave the way for innovative thought and ideas
- Practical techniques to encourage intentional reflection, application and learning, no matter what area of your organization
Draft Beer is the Ultimate Sampling Opportunity
Jennifer Hauke, Founder, Draftline Technologies
Therese Nelson Rednor, Sales Manager – Beer, Breakthru Beverage Colorado
In this session, we’ll dive into data about the impact and strategy of product sampling in beverage alcohol:
- Sampling Impact: Research highlights how sampling drives long-term sales growth, boosts conversion rates and increases purchase intent. It also creates broader market effects, with 47% of samplers willing to buy later.
- Draft as Sampling: Draft can serve as a low-risk trial for customers, enhancing brand exposure and leveraging social reinforcement to encourage future purchases.
- Bev Alc Sampling: Single glass purchases on-premise act as a paid surrogate for sampling in this category, offering the product in a socially reinforcing environment.
- Premium Offering Expectations: We’ll explore what customers expect from premium draft pricing, how they’d react to subpar service at premium rates, and where businesses fall short.
- Operational Challenges: Maintaining quality is critical. In-house efforts often fail, while outsourcing to third parties raises concerns about cost, quality, and reliability
Regulatory Insights & Updates Across the Beverage Alcohol Landscape
Wendy Turk, Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Fintech
Dave Christman, Vice President, State Affairs, NBWA
Wendy Turk and David Christman will provide a timely overview of regulatory and legislative activity directly impacting the wholesale of alcohol and hemp across the country. This session will offer valuable insights into the evolving landscape and what it means for your business.
Influencing Key Accounts
Thomas Fox, Partner, Fox Sales Coaching
With consolidation making your big accounts even bigger, Key Account Managers need to be able to cut through the clutter to influence your most important accounts.
Veteran industry sales leader Tom Fox will highlight critical concepts needed to win in your on- and off-premise chains:
- Being customer focused is more important then ever – you’ll learn how to do so
- Using data to identify category and portfolio opportunities
- Using data to create assortment (distribution) and promotion solutions
- Building effective presentations
- Delivering your presentation collaboratively
With immediately actionable insights based on a keen understanding of the modern market, this is must attend for any of your current or future Key Account Managers.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025 | 8:00 – 9:15 a.m.
Adapting to a Changing Landscape – Alliances and Brand Acquisitions
Craig Van Horn, Managing Director, Ippolito Christon & Co.
Keith B. Hochheiser, Partner, Hochheiser & Akmal
Rizwan Akmal, Partner, Hochheiser & Akmal
With growing market consolidations, and shifting supplier dynamics, beverage distributors must adapt to stay competitive. This seminar explores the power of forming alliances with neighboring distributors to achieve economies of scale, create one-stop solutions for suppliers, and strengthen market position—while navigating legal risks, antitrust concerns, and state liquor regulations. We will also provide insight as to why a loosely formed alliance creates tremendous risk for its members. We will also cover key financial considerations, including allocating shared resources, valuing acquired brand rights, and structuring payments for shared services. Attendees will learn how to structure alliances that maximize value, boost competitiveness, and ensure compliance.
Additionally, we will examine how brand acquisitions can drive growth and diversification. This examination will look at how to properly determine the value of a particular brand acquisition, along with best practices to safeguard your investment and avoid costly missteps. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to adapt, compete, and thrive in this rapidly changing landscape.
Do The Homework, Make the Grades: Getting an A+ On Your Technological Investments
Nick Full, Director, Consulting Services, PDC/KPI
Distributorships are vibrant, kinetic and evolving organizations. Order patterns and complexities established over months, now change within a week, while a challenging labor market has made accommodating fluctuations more difficult.
How can distributors maintain efficiency with so many variables affecting their operations?
Investing in technology such as automation or mobile material handling offers an opportunity to position your organization for short- and long-term success – but it must be done with thoughtfulness and preparation to get the results you need.
This seminar will detail the pre-work, and the homework necessary to make the grade on aligning your labor and technology investments. We’ll explore:
- How to perform a complete and objective analysis of the current and future business at the invoice level
- Reviewing case studies of well-calibrated solutions and their results, as well as common myths and mistakes.
- Available solutions and technologies and where they apply to your business
Evolve or Else: How Distributors are Adapting to the New Beverage Landscape
Dave Williams, President, BUMP Williams Consulting
JB Shireman, Director, Arlington Capital Advisors
Explore today’s beverage landscape in this dual presentation from experts at BUMP Williams Consulting and Arlington Capital Advisors. The beverage alcohol industry is facing a critical juncture as it contends with heightened competition from recreational alternatives, a rise in moderation-oriented behaviors, shifts in consumer preferences and a surge in NA beverages promoting functional benefits. At the same time, the torrid landscape of M&A, consolidation, joint ventures and key supplier dynamics introduces its own layer of opportunities and/or challenges on top of the underlying category dynamics. This session will explore how forward-looking distributors are analyzing the realities of the industry today and forming strategies for the future and their role within it.
Future-Proofing the Family Business
Ian Padrick, CEO, Ohanafy
Theresa Johnson, CEO/Owner, The Beverage Market and Thundering Beverage
Ellie Preslar, Chief Commercial Officer, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
For many distributors, the business is more than a company – it is a legacy. But legacy systems are one of the biggest risks to that legacy. In this session, Ohanafy CEO Ian Padrick shares what it takes to modernize a multi-generational beverage business without losing its identity.
From outdated tools to disconnected data, Ian will walk through the common challenges family-owned distributors face and how future-ready platforms built specifically for this industry are solving them.
This seminar will show how embracing technology can help distributors honor your past, support your present and set up the next generation to lead with confidence.
Hemp Beverages: What a Difference a Year Makes
Christopher Lackner, Founder & President, Hemp Beverage Alliance
Michelle Bodian, General Counsel, Hemp Beverage Alliance
Hemp Beverages: What a Difference a Year Makes: Last year, the Hemp Beverage Alliance (HBA) asked the question: What is the future of hemp beverages? Twelve months later, that answer – and how it could affect beer distributors – is becoming clearer.
HBA founder and president Christopher Lackner and HBA general counsel Michelle Bodian will share an overview of state legislative successes in 2025, preview upcoming challenges and provide the latest on the Farm Bill and its impact on the category.
HBA will also present on innovations in the category, new entrants into the industry and market data that demonstrates that hemp beverages can be a key driver in any distributor’s portfolio.