Posts from the Events Category
Woman of the Hour - Tracy Genesen
August 7th, 2008
Tracy Genesen of Kirkland & Ellis, LLP is one of the prominent forces currently driving legal change in the wine industry and was the keynote speaker at ShipCompliant’s 2008 Users Conference a few weeks ago.
Genesen’s speech analogized her role in the industry to a “court of last resort” when legislative means are unsuccessful in remedying protectionist state laws that have remained in effect despite the Granholm ruling in 2005. Granholm resolved many instances of differential treatment by the states and was extended to apply to self-distribution in the Costco ruling. However, Genesen revealed that the post-Granholm time of prosperity has given way to another host of problems. For example, states like Maine and Arkansas, in which direct shipping markets do not exist, have level playing fields; however, treating everyone the same by not allowing anyone to ship is a detriment to the wine industry. In addition, courts are struggling to deal with retail-to-consumer shipping laws in many states. Challenges to these laws have produced interesting results, like the “funky remedy” by a district court judge in a Texas lawsuit which declared that Granholm applied to retailers, but that retailers must first buy wine through Texas-licensed wholesalers. Wholesalers have also maintained their grip on states like Massachusetts by crafting legislation that is beneficial to them but also facially neutral. The 30,000 gallon capacity cap in Massachusetts exemplifies such economic protectionism and is the contention in the Family Winemakers of California case. Oral arguments in the case took place on July 29th in Boston and the decision is expected sometime this fall.
Many thanks to Tracy Genesen for sharing her insights into the current legal atmosphere of the industry. To view Genesen’s speech in its entirety or that of any of the other speakers at the conference, please see the 2008 Users Conference Simulcast. More information on the cases in Massachusetts and Texas is also available on the ShipCompliant Blog.
TTB Expo 2008
June 17th, 2008
The ShipCompliant research team is attending the first annual TTB Expo at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, just outside of Cincinnati, today and tomorrow. The turnout here is quite impressive. In the opening remarks, the TTB team said their original goal was to get about 300 attendees from across the country. They had over 650 pre-register, and it seems like the actual attendance today is more like 1,000.
The turnout from the wine industry is equally impressive. We’ve run into a number of friends and partners in the industry from across the country today.
John J. Manfreda, Administrator of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), gave an excellent keynote address this morning, stressing an open dialog between the TTB and key industry stakeholders. They seem genuinely committed to listening to the industry to improve the ease of compliance with TTB regulations. If you have any questions or topics that you would like to get answers to while we are here, please feel free to leave a comment on this post or to drop us a private email at blog (at) shipcompliant (dot) com.
Georgia is a “Go”: Residents Can Now Join Wine Clubs and Buy Wine Online from All Wineries
May 14th, 2008
Good news, wineries - shipping to Georgia just got a whole lot easier!
As we mentioned in a previous post, House Bill 1061 had passed in the House and has since passed in the Senate. It made its way onto the Governor’s table on April 15th, and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue signed it into law yesterday. The long-awaited bill amends Code Sections 3-6-31 and 3-6-20, a source of problems for many wineries. Before the bill passed, Georgia’s direct shipping laws were very restrictive, only allowing direct shipment by wineries without a distributor relationship in Georgia and by all wineries for onsite purchases. Onsite shipments were limited to five cases per consumer or per household.
However, the passage of the bill effected many favorable changes to Georgia’s direct shipment law. The statutory amendments eliminate the problematic provision which prohibited wineries from shipping offsite orders to Georgia residents if the wineries were represented by a distributor in Georgia. This significantly opens up the state to both in- and out-of-state wineries that were not previously permitted to ship offsite sales directly to consumers.
Furthermore, the amendments added a definition of “winery” to the statute, defining it as “any maker or producer of wine whether in this state or in any other state, who holds a valid federal basic wine manufacturing permit.” (Section 3-6-31(a)).
Another noteworthy change is the addition of the age verification requirement found in Section 3-6-20(d)(4):
“Before accepting an order from a consumer in this state, the holder of a special order shipping license shall require that the person placing the order state affirmatively that he or she is of the age required by Code Section 3-3-23 and shall verify the age of such person placing the order either by the physical examination of an approved government issued form of identification or by utilizing an Internet based age and identification service;”
The new age verification requirement strengthens the affirmative statement of age provision (as was required prior to the amendments), working to assuage the fears of those who believe direct shipping creates an unreasonable risk of online ordering by underage individuals.
The bill also introduces a few minor changes. A winery no longer has to post a bond, designate sales territories, or name a wholesaler in each territory (thereby taking a conflicting law off the books). Wineries are also prohibited from shipping to licensed premises and are required pay excise taxes and state and local sales taxes from every sale shipped to a consumer in Georgia. In addition, of-age individuals can now purchase up to 12 cases of wine from each licensee per year (up from 5 cases per household pre-HB 1061).
Overall, although wineries must still obtain a special order shipping license and brands must still be registered in order to ship into the state, HB 1061 is going to live up to expectations and prove itself a valuable step for proponents of direct shipping. More wineries can now direct ship to Georgia and reach more consumers, benefiting both Georgians and non-Georgians alike.
The bill takes effect July 1st, 2008. Stay tuned for more details and permit requirements.
More Events - come join us!
April 12th, 2008
ShipCompliant will be participating in two events this month. If you are in the area, please try to attend!
Women for WineSense
Professional Members Only - Real Life Compliance Solutions
This event is meant to supplement the full-day TTB seminars occurring in the area at the same time. A legal overview will be provided by Susan Cagann, Special Counsel, Farella Braun + Martel. She will cover state and federal trade practice law along with legal issues concerning advertising, marketing and distributing wine.
If you are interested in attending the event or joining their Professional Members group, please send WineSense an email.
Christina Carr, Marketing Manager at Gundlach Bundschu will host the marketing panel consisting of ShipCompliant and New Vine Logistics presidents, Jason Eckenroth and Katie Hoertkorn. The companies will review best practices and provide actionable advice on direct shipping compliance.
WHEN: Wednesday, April 23 — 530-8PM
WHAT: Real-life Compliance solutions - legal and marketing.
TASTE: Our program will be accompanied by fine Mondavi wines paired with tasty hors d’oeuvres.
WHERE: Robert Mondavi Winery, Highway 29, Napa
COST: $20 Professional members, $35 invited non-members
Wine 2.0 Spring Fling
ShipCompliant’s Software as a Service (Saas) approach of enabling any technology system to integrate our best of breed compliance web services is well received among Wine 2.0 companies. Join the Wine 2.0 crowd at Crushpad on April 24th and meet some of our staff in person. They expect more than 200 attendees to enjoy an evening of great wines at Crushpad’s new urban winery location.
EVENT SPECIFICS
WHEN:
Thursday
April 24th
7pm - 10pm
WHERE:
Crushpad, Inc.
2573 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
DIRECTIONS
Direct to Consumer Symposium - May 1st and 2nd 2008
April 10th, 2008
Direct to Consumer Symposium
May 1-2, 2008
Meritage Resort, Napa, CA
Proceeds to Benefit Coalition for Free Trade and Free the Grapes!
Register here
Sessions will include:
- Who Is Buying? Consumer Research Findings
- Starting a Winning Direct Marketing Program
- Direct to Consumer Legislation and Enforcement
- Using Food & Wine Marketing to Increase Tasting Room Traffic
- Strategies & Best Practices to Grow Direct to Consumer Sales
- Litigation Updates from Coalition for Free Trade
- Start Up/Start Over - Lessons from the Winery Trenches
- The Down & Dirty on Compliance
- Using Telemarketing for Customer Service and Profit
- Strategies and Tactics to Increase Your Mailing List
- A State by State Shipping Update
- Grow Your Wine Club to 5,000 Members & Beyond
Jim Barbuti joins as panelist in fourth Shipping Compliance Virtual Seminar
October 24th, 2007
Don’t miss out on the fourth installment of our quarterly Shipping Compliance Virtual Seminar on Friday, October 26th sponsored by ShipCompliant and Wine Business Monthly. Panelists include:
- Steve Gross, Director of State Relations, Wine Institute
- James H. Barbuti, Liquor Commission Examiner - New Hampshire State Liquor Commission
- Jason Eckenroth, President, Six88 Solutions
- Jeff Carroll, VP Compliance, Six88 Solutions
Only 150 out of 500 spots remain in this FREE virtual seminar.
Click here to learn more and to reserve your spot.
If you are already registered for the seminar, please send your questions in advance by completing our pre-seminar survey.
Live! ShipCompliant Users Conference 2007
July 13th, 2007
We are streaming our users conference currently running in Napa, CA:
Update: The morning session of the 2nd Annual ShipCompliant Users Conference is now over. Thank you to everyone that attended both on site and virtually. If you are interested in viewing the seminar at a later date, please drop us a line.
Upcoming Compliance Events Summary
June 20th, 2007
Wednesday and Thursday, June 27th and 28th: Wine Institute Member Workshops
The workshops will include in-depth presentations on recent direct shipping and TTB and ABC rules and a discussion on maximizing tasting room and wine club opportunities.
June 27, 2007 - Santa Cruz Mountains/SF Bay Area
June 28, 2007 - Monterey County/Central Coast
Friday, July 13th – ShipCompliant Direct Shipping Seminar and Users Conference
ShipCompliant customers and other interested wineries will hear the latest legislative updates from Steve Gross and gain best practices and workflow tips from a panel of industry experts.
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Marriott Hotel, Napa, CA
Tuesday, July 17th – Wine Industry Technology Symposium
A global look at best practices and innovative use of information technology.
8:30 am – 6:30 pm
The Meritage Resort, Napa, CA
Compliance Events Summary – March 2007
February 24th, 2007
Monday, March 5th, 2007 - Direct Shipping Compliance Seminar
Virtual Seminar hosted by ShipCompliant, FedEx and Wine Business Monthly
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm PST
Attend from your computer (with a phone and an internet connection)
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 – Navigating Direct Shipping
Part of Oregon Wine Industry Symposium (Mon. – Wed.)
10:30 am – 12:00 pm PST
Eugene Hilton Hotel & Conference Center, Eugene, OR
Thursday, March 8th, 2007 - Wine Club Summit East
Part of Wineries Unlimited (Tues. – Thurs.)
CSI – Wine Clubs: Compliance and Shipping Issues
11:15 am – 12:00 pm EST
Valley Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia, PA
Speakers: Bill Nelson, WineAmerica; Mike Younkin, FedEx; UPS Speaker TBA.
If you know if shipping compliance related events and we’ve missed them, please send an email to comments (at) shipcompliantblog.com and we’ll get them up there regularly.
Thank you.
Compliance Events Summary - January 2007
January 15th, 2007
Thursday, January 18th – Making Sense of Direct Shipping Laws
Part of Tasting Room Profitability (Wed. & Thurs.)
8:30 am – 10:00 am
Marin Center, San Rafael, CA
Tuesday, January 23rd – Selling Your Wines Direct to the Consumer
Part of Unified Wine and Grape Symposium (Tues. – Fri.)
1:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Sacramento Convention Center, CA
A series of talks as part of Advanced Tasting Room Strategies:
Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park, CA
Tuesday, January 30th :
TTB Regulatory Update - 8:15 am – 9:25 am
Anatomy of a Compliant Sales Order – 9:30 am – 10:15 am
Wednesday, January 31st :
Consumer Direct Wine Shipping with UPS – 8:15 am – 9:25 am
Taming the Compliance Paperwork Tiger – 9:30 am – 10:15 am
If you know of shipping compliance related events and we’ve missed them, please send an email to comments (at) shipcompliantblog.com and we’ll get them up there regularly.
Thank you.
Compliance Q/A in Kennewick, WA - 11/28
November 22nd, 2006
Welcome to the (brief) second installment of shipping compliance events summary! These events are great opportunities to hear from experts on legislative changes to the rules, best practices for staying compliant and growing your market, special offers on shipping and other related services, and introductions to technology solutions.
November 28th – Washington Wine Industry Summit – Shipping Compliance Q & A
Click here for more information and registration
Three Rivers Convention Center
Kennewick, WA
Compliance Events Summary
November 7th, 2006
Welcome to the first installment of shipping compliance events summary! These events are great opportunities to hear from experts on legislative changes to the rules, best practices for staying compliant and growing your market, special offers on shipping and other related services, and introductions to technology solutions.
November 8th – Wine Institute Sonoma County Member Workshop
http://www.wineinstitute.org/programs/workshops/2006/sonoma-nov.php
Vintners Inn Santa Rosa, CA
8:30 am
November 13th - Wine America Fall Board of Directors & Annual Membership Meeting
http://www.wineamerica.org/meetings/fall.htm
The Inn on the Lake Canandaigua, NY
8:00 am
November 14th - Finger Lakes Direct Shipping Compliance Seminar
http://www.shipcompliant.com/spdr/
Ithaca’s South Hill Business Campus Ithaca, NY
9:00 am
If you know of shipping compliance related events and we’ve missed them, please send an email to comments@shipcompliantblog.com and we’ll get them up there regularly.
Thank you.
Compliance Seminar Wrap Up
July 23rd, 2006
We held our first annual users conference and direct shipping compliance seminar on Friday, July 14th. A big thank you to Steve, Pam, Jim, Brent and Jeff for speaking at the event and bringing terrific value to the attendees.
We ran a few surveys prior to and after the seminar. Click here to see more information on the event. If you are interested in attending any of our future compliance events, please drop us a line!
ShipCompliant Users Conference & Compliance Seminar – July 14
July 7th, 2006
Six88 Solutions is presenting a direct shipping compliance seminar in conjunction with its first annual ShipCompliant users conference. Due to generous sponsorship from FedEx and ChoicePoint, this event is now open to non-customers and is free of charge. The seminar will focus on the realities of enforcement and feature speakers such as Steve Gross (Wine Institute), Pam Madson (WA State Liquor Control Board) and executives from FedEx’s wine program.
Pam Madson is an interesting addition to the panel since she played a role in crafting WA’s recent direct shipping and self-distribution statutes. She will also be playing a hand in developing the enforcement policy for those laws. This is a terrific opportunity to get an insiders view into the nascent self-distribution aspect of direct shipping.
As mentioned above, registration is open to all and free of charge. We are excited to have the chance to meet many of our loyal customers & blog readers in person, so please register now. BTW, we also look forward to seeing you at WITS on July 18th!
