Annual Convention Seminars By Date - NBWA: America's Beer and Beverage Distributors

Below you will find a detailed schedule of the seminars by date at NBWA’s 89th Annual Convention & Product Showcase. With 18 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 email Riley Bryson at rbryson@nbwa.org.

Monday, October 12 | 8:00 – 9:15 a.m.

Internal Evolution for External Gain

Dave Williams, President, BUMP Williams Consulting

For distributors to control their destiny in an evolving market, they need to effectively evaluate where their operation measures up – and where it is at risk of falling behind.

In this session, leaders from Del Papa Distributing will join Dave Williams to discuss:

Key considerations for growth and competition in today’s changing beverage market
How to begin an internal evaluation of your warehouse, sales systems, business intelligence and retail delivery and execution
Examples of implementation and continued benchmarking

Key Takeaway: A blueprint for self-assessment that can be applied to operations of any size, location and composition

What AI Can’t Do? Lead People

Matt Dahlstrom, Senior Partner, In:trench Consulting Group

AI can instantly surface problems across forecasting, pricing, routing, and performance. While most distributors are investing in better systems, the best ones are investing in better leaders.

In this session, Matt Dahlstrom of In:trench Consulting Group breaks down the three disciplines that make leaders impossible to replace with a software subscription:

Clarity: Leaders remove ambiguity so teams never guess what matters.
Consistency: Leaders hold standards and address gaps early.
Capability: Leaders develop people instead of rescuing them.

The distributors who win the next decade will have better technology AND better leaders.

Key Takeaway: A modern three-part leadership framework you can put to work the week you get home.

Coaching That Drives Sales

Thomas Fox, Partner, Fox Sales Coaching

We ask our managers to wear many “hats” and they’re pulled in many different directions. Even during work-withs, the focus tends to be on execution and auditing the account – not building or improving selling skills.

In this session, the Fox team will share strategies for influencing the attitudes and behaviors of the sales team while making the best use of managers’ time. The result: an enhanced company culture and increased market share.

Key Takeaway: A clear plan for managers to build and reinforce core selling habits.

Good Reps vs Great Reps: 5 Behaviors You Can Coach

Bud Dunn, President, Volume X Profit Technologies

Every distributor has good reps who cover their routes and execute what is asked of them. But great reps create a different level of value – they prioritize better, sell with more purpose, adapt faster and make stronger decisions in the market.

This session is built for owners, sales leaders, and frontline managers who want better execution without relying on more pressure or more meetings. By breaking down five behaviors that separate good reps from great, attendees will learn practical ways to coach the behaviors that improve account decisions, execution quality, rep development, and overall team performance.

Key Takeaway: A clear framework for improving rep performance through better ride-withs, feedback, questions and coaching habits.

Convergence 202: Maintaining Distributor Value in the Era of Total Beverage

Drew Jaglom, Partner, Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP
James Rieger, Partner, Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP
Randy Jozwiakowski, Managing Partner, Paragon Beverage Advisors, LLC

As distributors expand into spirits, wine, energy drinks, other non-alcoholics, and (for now) hemp, the question isn’t just what to sell — it’s how to protect and grow value across a more complex portfolio.

This session focuses on legal and strategic considerations that come with total beverage distribution. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how to approach:

The applicability — and limits — of franchise laws across categories
Contract strategies to provide protection where franchise laws don’t apply
How portfolio structure affects valuation in future transactions

Key Takeaway: How to protect and strengthen enterprise value as you expand into new beverage categories.

Building for What’s Next: How Distributors Are Rethinking the Foundation of Their Business

Davis Bryson, Chief Marketing Officer, Ohanafy
Ian Padrick, Chief Executive Officer, Ohanafy

The distributors who will lead the next decade aren’t waiting, they’re deciding what kind of business they want to be right now. This session explores the strategic choices shaping the future of distribution, from governance and structure to long-term direction.

Bringing together both strategic and operational perspectives, this conversation connects boardroom thinking with real-world execution. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of when to optimize vs. when to transform, and how to align leadership teams around a shared vision that drives long-term growth. Joining in the discussion with Davis Bryson will be Rebecca Maisel of Gulf Distributing Holdings, LLC.

Key Takeaway: A framework for evaluating your business today and making intentional decisions about where to invest, evolve and lead next.

Investing in the Market: How to Deploy Resources to Maximize Profit

Nick Rellas, Founder, Greater
Matt Ellis, Chief Revenue Officer, Greater

Where you invest your time, people and money determines whether growth actually translates into profit. This session breaks down how leading distributors deploy resources more effectively to drive both efficiency and top-line performance.

Attendees will learn how to align roles, routes, and priorities so teams spend less time on low-value activity and more time selling. The discussion will focus on practical ways to optimize coverage, improve productivity, and ensure resources are working where they create the most impact.

Key Takeaway: How to allocate people and effort more strategically to increase selling time, improve efficiency and maximize profitability.

Tuesday, October 13 | 8:00 – 9:15 a.m.

State of Beer & Beverage Distribution 2027: Data, Disruption and the Distributors Who Will Win

Andrew Criezis, CEO, Vermont Information Processing (VIP)

In this session, VIP will unveil the inaugural State of Beer & Beverage Distribution report, offering a first look at proprietary data across hundreds of distributors, millions of transactions and the full three-tier system. Attendees will gain clear insight into where the industry stands today — and what separates high-performing distributors.

Operational benchmarks showing how top-performers are pulling away on efficiency, delivery, and margins.
Where artificial intelligence is delivering measurable ROI in distribution operations, and where the hype still exceeds the reality.
The macro forces reshaping the three-tier system and the strategic moves that will define winners and losers.

Key Takeaway: A clear picture of the competitive landscape heading into 2027.

When Business Starts Managing You: Situational Leadership for Beer Distributors

Lori Scheiffler, President, Tamarron Consulting
Lucinda Ochwat, Founder/CEO, LTO Consulting

At some point, every leader feels it: the business starts managing you instead of the other way around. As complexity increases, many leaders default to a single management style and over-manage top performers while under-supporting those who need it most.

This session introduces two practical exercises designed to reset how leaders spend their time and manage their teams. Attendees will complete a simple time audit to identify where their hours actually go, then map team members against the Situational Leadership model to better align support and direction. The result is a clearer understanding of where leaders create — and lose — impact.

Key Takeaway: A practical approach to aligning your time and leadership style so your team performs at a higher level — without increasing your workload.

The Art of Draft Beer Execution at Retail

Jennifer Hauke, Founder, Draftline Technologies

Draft can be a point of differentiation. For too many distributors, it’s a missed opportunity to grow market share — but one that can be reclaimed through training and intentionality.

Through real-world examples and distributor insights, attendees will see how better draft execution — from system quality to staff education — directly translates into stronger retail relationships and measurable sales growth. The focus is on practical steps to improve performance in both wholesaler- and retailer-responsibility states.

Key Takeaway: How to turn better draft execution into stronger retailer partnerships and real on-premise sales growth.

Beyond the AI Hype: Real Deployments in Beverage Distribution

Patrick Tickle, CEO, Encompass Technologies
Brad Manilla, Chief Information Officer, K1MS
Emiliano Delucia, Chief Technology & Product Officer, Encompass Technologies

Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming one of the most significant technology shifts the beverage industry has ever seen. But beyond the hype, where can it create real operational value for distributors today?

Attendees will explore where AI can reduce repetitive work, improve decision-making and unlock capacity across functions like ordering, forecasting and reporting. The session also outlines what it takes to implement AI successfully, from data readiness to change management, with insights from distributors actively putting these tools to work.

Key Takeaway: Where AI can create immediate operational value — and how distributors can adopt it in a practical, scalable way.

AI in HR: Legal Must-Knows and Performance Best Practices

Matthew Bossier, President, BevCap Management

AI is changing how companies hire, manage and evaluate employees, often faster than labor policies can keep up. The benefits can be significant – but so can the potential liability.

With up-to-the-minute insights on the latest federal and state developments, employment attorney Theresa Gallion breaks down key guidelines for using AI in workforce management without creating legal or cultural risk. Attendees will gain clarity on emerging regulations, common pitfalls in AI-driven HR tools — including inadvertent discrimination exposure — and how to build policies that balance innovation with effective human oversight.

Key Takeaway: How to implement AI in the workplace while managing legal risk and maintaining strong leadership practices.

Managing Rising Fuel Costs: How Leading Distributors Are Reducing Last Miles

Ken Currie, VP, Partnerships, Descartes

Fuel costs continue to fluctuate, putting added pressure on already tight delivery margins. For beverage distributors, even small inefficiencies in routing quickly show up in cost per case, driver hours, and overall network performance.

Where are the most immediate opportunities to take miles out of the network? How often should routes be reevaluated? And how do you make changes without disrupting drivers or service levels? Hear from operations leaders at Pepin Distributing, Silver Eagle Distributors, and Mitchell Distributing on how they are reducing miles across their networks while maintaining service expectations.

Key Takeaway: How to reduce miles and improve routing performance using real data — without sacrificing service.

Getting It Right the First Time: The Importance of Order Accuracy

Daniel Carter, Director of Sales-Beer, Rehrig Pacific Company

Beer distributors pride themselves on service, yet one of the most important drivers of retailer trust — order accuracy — can be more strained than most realize. What looks “good enough” on paper often falls short in practice, where small errors compound into missed expectations, strained retailer relationships and rising cost-to-serve.

This session challenges conventional thinking by asking a critical question: How accurate is your accuracy?

Attendees will learn why the greatest opportunity for transformational value starts in the warehouse, where improving quality control at the source has the most significant downstream impact at the retailer and customer level.

Key Takeaway: The true cost of inaccuracy and a practical framework to consistently get it right the first time — improving retailer trust, increasing route productivity and reducing cost-to-serve.

Tuesday, October 13 | 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.

Zero Hour for Hemp Beverages: What Happens Next?

Christopher Lackner, Founder and President, Hemp Beverage Alliance

The hemp beverage category is approaching a critical moment. With the November deadline for potential federal prohibition looming, distributors who carry these products face significant uncertainty about what comes next.

This session examines potential federal outcomes and how different scenarios could play out in Washington, D.C. and across the broader beverage marketplace. Attendees will gain a clearer understanding of the legislative landscape and how to prepare for multiple possible paths forward.

Key Takeaway: What to watch on hemp regulation — and what happens if federal prohibition takes effect.

Pockets of Growth: Find Success with Legacy Brands and New Entrants

Kaleigh Theriault, Director, Beverage Alcohol Thought Leadership, NielsenIQ (NIQ)

In a diversifying beverage market, consumers are signaling where demand is heading. Distributors that respond strategically will be best positioned to win.

Using the full breadth of NielsenIQ data, this session helps attendees identify where growth is actually occurring — and why. Case studies of both legacy brands and new entrants give distributors practical insight into shifting consumer behavior and how to adapt their go-to-market strategies in a changing market.

Key Takeaway: How to identify real growth opportunities across the total beverage landscape and align your portfolio strategy with changing consumer demand.

The Consolidation Playbook: Scaling Beer Distribution Through Strategic Automation

Davis Dunham, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Cirrus Tech, Inc.

As consolidation reshapes the industry, automation is becoming a key driver of scale and profitability. This session explores how distributors are using automation to absorb growth, reduce costs and future-proof operations.

Attendees will learn how automation supports business scaling, from maximizing space and improving picking efficiency to reducing labor and capital costs. The session focuses on practical applications and what it takes to generate real ROI in today’s environment.

Key Takeaway: How to use automation to scale efficiently, support growth and improve long-term profitability.

A Seven Agent Army: AI Watching Your Bottom Line

Austin Bristow, Owner, Elevated BI

When problems arise in your business, are you confident that someone is looking at the right data at the right moment to catch them?

This session explores a different approach: purpose-built AI agents that monitor your operations around the clock, surface issues early and recommend next steps — without waiting for someone to pull a report. Attendees will see practical examples across sales, finance and operations, all built on data and systems distributors already have in place.

Key Takeaway: How to use AI agents to spot problems faster, reduce manual oversight and improve decision-making across the business.