Welcome to the June edition of the WCA e-news

Coming to the close of financial year for many of you, so we know how busy everyone is. For those of you with a June end, we hope the year was a good one for you.
 
June for WCA saw two great and very different events. The webinar on leadership from Christian Campanella was hugely enlightening, covering a lot of ground from leadership in tough times to the benefits of a diversity & inclusion programme. For those that missed it, I really encourage you to have a look here when you get time.
 
The other event was the very successful Direct to Consumer Summit in Sydney. Many thanks to the excellent speakers who gave the attendees some great tips on D2C strategy and execution. I’m sure everyone who attended got lots of good ideas that they can go back to their businesses and implement.

Shifting to next (financial) year, we’re coming into wine show season, so encourage you all to get in early for the upcoming lunches for Sydney on the 18^th of August and Adelaide on the 6^th of October. For those in Adelaide, there’s also a really interesting event on growing your brand through the cellar door on the 3^rd of August. Visit our events page for all the details here. 

Finishing off on a personal note. It’s with lots of mixed feelings that after two and a half years I’m stepping down as EO at the end of the financial year to concentrate on my own consultancy business. I’ve had a number of conversations about the workload and I’ve agreed with the Board that it’s the right time to hand over the reigns. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved as a group in that time, coming through Covid lockdowns and back into the world of events and face-to-face networking. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with you all and look forward to staying in touch.

The good news is that Angus Barnes will be returning as Executive Chair. As many of you know, Angus is a WCA veteran, with over a decade on the board including 2 as Chair. In addition, Angus is Chair of the Royal Sydney Wine Show Committee and former EO of NSW Wine Industry Association. We’re delighted to have someone with his knowledge, skill and familiarity with WCA at the helm.

Angus’s return provides our current Chair, Marni Cook, the opportunity to also step down. After 6 years on the Board of WCA and nearly 4 years as Chair, Marni has just been appointed as the new CEO for Food South Australia. Like me, Marni has made the difficult call to step down in order to focus fully on her new role.

Marni and I are confident that WCA is in good hands and is being handed over to Angus in great shape. The financials are strong, with the Association on track to have one of its most successful years, the state chapters are running some excellent events and the programme of summits and webinars are well subscribed. Marni and I will continue to be active parts of the WCA family and know that Angus and Prue will be great custodians of this wonderful Association.

Cheers,

Andrew Stark 🍷
WCA Executive Officer