By Andrew Starke
The Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) announced the participants in its ‘Young Guns and Gurus’ program during a launch dinner at Star City’s Astral restaurant last night.
Now in its third year, the program pairs young communicators in the wine industry with respected industry leaders in the disciplines of public relations, sales and marketing and journalism for a period of six months.
The selected participants for this year are:
Public Relations
Jeanine Bribosia, account manager, Liquid Ideas
Journalism
Amy Looker, editor, National Liquor News
Andrew Graham, marketing manager, Wine Makers Choice
Sales and Marketing
Toby Yap, regional sales manager, Langmeil Winery
Jonathan Mogg, general manager, Best’s Wines Great Western
The program aims to boost the professional development of the participants by giving them access to industry leaders and the wealth of knowledge they possess, the opportunity to network with like-minded future leaders and assistance with goal-setting in their chosen field.
WCA Young Guns and Gurus Program Director, Trish Barry noted: “We were thrilled with the overwhelming response to this year’s program, with a number of high calibre applications received from across the country."
"It was inspiring to read the goals and ambitions of the next generation, many who have entered the industry with an obvious passion for wine," she said. "The industry can be assured there’s a depth of talent and a number of people who will make a strong contribution to improving wine communication in coming years."
The 2009/10 Gurus are all WCA members and have generously donated their time in support of the program. They are:
Journalism
Judy Sarris and Peter Bourne
Public Relations
Angie Bradbury
Sales and Marketing
Phil Sexton and Robert Edwards