Distiller magazine

12 distiller ADI was among the earliest trade organiza- tions to make the call to postpone and then go digital with their annual confer- ence. It was a tough call in one sense, reports Anne-Sophie Whitehead, conference director, but it made more sense than facing the possibility of no conference at all this year. In addition to redesigning the conference for an online set- ting, ADI instituted a "pay-what-you-can" system to accom- modate attendees who might be more cash-strapped than in previous years. "We decided to pivot early for everyone's safety," Whitehead explains. "We were the first in the industry to do it, and we made it a collaborative win by working with our speakers and vendors to deliver the same great content people are accustomed to from our face-to-face conference." I'll admit personally that I was skeptical. Of course, we all want these things to go well and provide value for everyone, but we also all have experience, now, with how badly digital meetings can go. ink of the Progressive commercial that parodies how long it can take to accomplish so little in a Zoom meeting. And there's no denying that things were not smooth as silk. e streams were sometimes laggy or jilted, the frames sometimes reorganized themselves for no obvious reason and I know I wasn't the only person who got confused by the way the app displayed the times for the sessions. at said, this was still a very rich, enjoyable conference. is owes, I think, to two main factors. First, ADI did its due diligence in trying to pre-record as many presentations as possible beforehand. is has become a digital meeting best practice because it reduces the chances for technology breakdowns. It also allows the presenters to hang out in chat and respond to participants in real time. Second, you, the participants, were dead set on having a good conference. ere was a lot of grace and patience and positivity in the chat bar, and when things went awry you rolled with it, refreshed your browsers and got back into it. Spirits people are good people like that. e New Orleans conference had been on track to have 2,000 registrants; the Virtual Conference managed to draw 1,600 people and to feature over 100 exhibitors in the virtual exhibit hall out of an anticipated 170 in the physical space. Considering they were pulling this together in a matter of weeks, Whitehead and her team felt they could call it a success. "I am very proud of the team," Whitehead says. "We acted responsibly and with fairness to support the industry's need for safety and education and found a way to make it a reality. We were supported by many sponsors and exhibitors who shared our vision for the greater good of the community and trusted that we would do our best for everyone under the circumstances." Something To Celebrate ADI President Erik Owens presented the 2020 Bubble Cap Award, honoring an outstanding ADI member distillery, to Spirit Works Distillery of Sebastopol, CA. Owens said Spirit Works co-owners and husband-and- wife team Ashby and Timo Marshall are leading the way in converting American consumers to the traditionally British spirit known as sloe gin. Timo Marshall served as president of the California Artisanal Distillers Guild and led the effort to pass legislation allowing direct-to-consumer sales. First ADI Virtual Conference… Was Actually Pretty Great VIRTUAL CONFERENCE 2020 Brad Fruhauff

• Cover