NBWA 73rd Annual Convention - OnTrak Software

"Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town

Chicago, Chicago, I'll show you around - I love it!"

— Frank Sinatra

The NBWA 73^rd Annual Convention has always been the Beer Industry event — and this year, from our vantage point, was the best ever.  It’s not that everything in the Beer Industry is all sunshine and roses, far from it.  The beer industry, long thought of as nearly recession proof, is coming off more than two years of very difficult and challenging times.  Nevertheless, most signs (pun intended) point to a better 2011 and beyond.  

This year, the NBWA Product Demonstration Room was a hit. Packed to the limit with suppliers, distributors and vendors alike, the event seemed to be filled with optimism - even if cautious optimism.

Over 100 exhibitors enjoyed the attention of a full-house of owners, executives and top managers for the time the booths were open.  The attendees were genuinely interested in discovering “the future” - new resources, services and products to help them become more efficient and improve their businesses. As a software provider to the industry, we were amazed at the interest in our company and our solutions.

We were fortunate to be situated next to a Tequila company, Dos Lunas (http://www.doslunas.com).  They were at the Convention specifically to talk to beer wholesalers about adding Dos Lunas’ products to the distributor’s portfolio of brands.  The beer distributors we spoke with are very interested in expanding their offerings, and were particularly appreciative that a non-beer, non-malt-beverage product was marketing to them.

We were also very fortunate to have Joe Jones helping us out this year. Joe is the CEO of Big Systems (http://www.bigsys.com).  Big Systems became an authorized OnTrak Business Partner earlier this year. Joe was willing to spend time with his customers introducing them to, as he called it, “One of the most fertile areas for improvement within a Beer Wholesaler’s operation - Managing and controlling your POS costs.”  Several times I overheard Joe tell his long-term customers, “OnTrak is the future, and you need to make sure it is in your future.”  Our thanks to Joe for his support and hard work.

We met many Beer Wholesaler executives at this year’s convention - and almost to a person they were bullish on the future and looking for every resource to help them improve their operations and increase efficiency.  Alcohol Beverage distributors have spent the last few years investing in products and solutions to shave costs, gain valuable information about their businesses and to preserve and grow their top line.

We’re confident that our marketing at-retail solutions fit into their future investment strategies.

Thank you to all who stopped by. It was great meeting you.

“Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the blues in Chicago

Chicago, the town that Billy Sunday couldn't shut down”

  — Mark Fullerton