Born and raised in California, Katie Canfield earned her B.A. in Spanish and Global Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. During her final year at university, she studied abroad in Santiago, Chile, where her career in the wine industry began. In 2009, Katie moved to Logroño, Spain and then Dijon, France, where she earned her M.Sc. degree in Wine Business. Following her studies, she moved to the UK to join Manchester-based wine retailer Hangingditch Wine Merchants, also contributing articles regularly to leading trade publication Harpers Wine and Spirit. Since her move back to California in 2014, Katie has worked in marketing and communications for the international portfolios of Wilson Daniels, Paul Hobbs Wines, and now O’Donnell Lane LLC, where she drives communications and strategic planning. Katie has worked three grape harvests in Chile, France, and Napa Valley, and holds the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wine and Spirits.

Follow her on Instagram @kt_canfield and @odl_sips.

Michelle Schromm is a wine industry professional with over ten years of experience in various sales and marketing roles, beginning at a high-end, boutique winery in Mendoza, Argentina, to managing Paul Hobbs’ international family of brands, and most recently, at RAEN winery. Some examples of her experience include team management, brand planning and launches for domestic and international wineries, and PR/communications.

Erica Duecy is one of the drinks industry’s most accomplished digital and content strategists. Formerly the Chief Content Officer for the wine-discovery platform Pix, she oversaw the rapid rise of its magazine The Drop, named as one of the best wine sites by the Wall Street Journal in 2022. Previously, Erica worked as Editor in Chief for the American wine/spirits publications VinePair and SevenFifty Daily. She has also led digital editorial teams at Architectural Digest and Saveur magazines. Her content and video programs have won more than 40 digital and editorial awards. As a consultant, she has built publishing and communications programs for Drizly, InHouse, and others. She holds the WSET Advanced certification and is a Diploma candidate. Erica is the author of the cocktail book Storied Sips (Random House), about the real-life stories behind the world’s most famous cocktails. She also writes a wine newsletter called Bottle Service, highlighting sustainable wines in unexpected ways.

Follow her on Instagram @ericaduecy.

Felicity Carter is International Editor for Star Wine List in Sweden, as well as Editorial Director of ARENI Global, the London-based fine wine think tank. Previously she was founding Executive Editor of The Drop; an editorial consultant to Liv-ex, and Editor-in-Chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, published by Meininger Verlag in Germany, which she built into a magazine read in 38 countries.

An award-winning writer, she has written for numerous wine publications in the UK, Australia, Germany, Denmark and the USA, as well as the Guardian USA. A noted speaker, she has given keynote addresses at top industry conferences in Hong Kong, Portugal, New York, Sydney, London, and Verona, among others. Felicity is also a wine judge, and has judged at competitions from Tblisi, Georgia to Mundus Vini in Germany, to competitions in Portugal, Bordeaux and Luxemburg.

Virginie Boone has written about and reviewed the wines of Napa and Sonoma for more than a decade, primarily for Wine Enthusiast Media, and is a resident of Sonoma County. She began her writing career with Lonely Planet travel guides and has written about wine, food and travel for Food & Wine, The Press Democrat, Sonoma Magazine, Pix.wine and others. She is the author of a weekly column for the Sonoma Winegrape Commission called “The Good Stuff,” which explores timely local topics in the worlds of agriculture and wine. She is a frequent speaker on California wine and a founding member of Les Dames d’Escoffier Sonoma County. Boone earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s in Journalism from Stanford University. More about her can be found at virginieboone.com.

Maria is a dedicated professional with over a decade of experience in public relations. With a background in agency and in-house communications, she brings a rounded perspective to reputation management, focusing on media relations, integrated communications strategy, and cross-business collaboration. Before transitioning to wine, Maria was the V.P. of Global Communications at a currency broker on Wall Street. After several years in finance, in 2018, she decided to follow her palate to the wine industry, joining a renowned public relations agency in New York City, leading integrated communications campaigns for institutions/B2B and wine brands worldwide. Today, Maria's time is between NYC and Washington D.C., working as a Public Relations Consultant and pursuing the WSET Level 2 certification.

Maria co-founded the nonprofit organization Hispanics in Wine, which amplifies and supports Hispanics/LatinX alcohol and hospitality industry professionals. She also co-created the annual LatinX Wine Summit, a one-day event that serves as an educational vehicle to share the impact of the Hispanic/LatinX contributions to the wine industry. Her dedication to diversity and inclusion in the wine industry has been featured in national and international media publications, including recognition as 40 under 40 Tastemaker's List by Wine Enthusiast, Wine Business Monthly's Wine Industry Leaders 2021, and Imbibe's 75 People to Watch in 2022.

Follow her on Instagram @mariarcalvert, @hispanicsinwine, and @latinxwinesummit.

Juliana heads up the California division of Colangelo & Partners, the leading wine and spirits communications agency in the U.S. With over nearly 10 years in the agency, Juliana has managed multiple teams and divisions, as well as managed the execution of integrated communications for leading international and domestic wine companies such as Frescobaldi, Far Niente Wine Estates, Charles Krug and Jackson Family Wines. Since 2016, Juliana has led the development of the California office, bringing on representation of some of the industry’s leading wine companies, helping to increase the agency’s domestic business share and developing a talented team of 15 communications professionals for the agency’s domestic division. Along the way, Juliana has become a leading voice for the industry in marketing, communications strategy and career development serving as a mentor with Batonnage, and leading the agency’s pro bono initiatives with organizations such as the United Somm Foundation and the LatinX Wine Summit. Juliana completed her WSET Level 3 and her eMBA in Wine Business with Sonoma State University and in 2021 was named one of PR News’ Top Women in PR in the “Rising Stars” category.

Currently, Marlena is the Director of Partnerships at Provi coupling her client relationship, strategic planning and project management skills. Previous to her role at Provi, Marlena had over seven years of experience at Beverage Media (including two years at SevenFifty) where she combined her love of people and problem solving to wear many hats as “Marketing and Communications Manager.” A true utility player, Marlena has worked concurrently on business and strategy while managing marketing and communications, contributing to editorial, and flexing her commercial savvy. With a passion and degree in theater arts and psychology from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Marlena brings her insatiable intellectual curiosity to every element of the beverage alcohol industry and loves to connect with all three tiers of the trade.

Heather Bradshaw is the Communications Director at the Washington State Wine Commission, where she manages strategic communications, industry outreach and media relations. Heather has been in the wine industry for 10 years, with previous experience at the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance and Jackson Family Wines. She began her career as a journalist, working at TV stations in Yakima and Seattle. A University of Washington graduate and native of Vancouver, Washington, Heather now lives in beautiful Snohomish, Washington with her husband and two very busy small children.

Samantha Cole-Johnson is an American wine writer and reviewer. In 2022, she became the US Pacific Northwest specialist for JancisRobinson.com and the Oregon contributor for Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book. When she’s not writing, she teaches WSET at Portland’s Wine and Spirit Archive. Her interests are firmly rooted in regenerative farming and fair worker treatment. She believes a winemaker is only as good as their vineyard crew and that ‘unskilled labor’ doesn’t exist in superlative viticulture. She is committed to highlighting the link between quality wine and the quality people that are necessary for its production.

Born and raised in California, Erin first fell in love with wine while attending university in Santa Barbara, California. She went on to work in finance for nearly a decade, before moving to Burgundy to pursue a career in wine. She landed in the UK working for one of the oldest publications in the UK, Harpers Wine and Spirits Magazine as a deputy editor. From there she cut her teeth in retail, transitioning to marketing and working with some of the biggest independent wine retailers and brands—as Head of Brand Marketing for Majestic Wine and now Digital Marketing Director for Slurp—in one of the most competitive wine retail markets out there.