NABCA CONFERENCE ROUNDUP
THE 76TH ANNUAL NATIONAL ALCOHOL BEVERAGE CONTROL ASSOCIATION'S
ANNUAL CONFERENCE FOCUSED ON "PROGRESSIVE CONTROL."
BY RICHARD BRANDES
T
is a musician and conductor, who led the Jacksonville
Symphony Orchestra for 14 years, the Stanford
Symphony Orchestra for several years, and guest conducted at well-known symphony orchestras across the
country. His presentation, titled, "The Music Paradigm,"
uses the dynamics between a conductor and a symphony
orchestra as a metaphor for how organizations and their
leaders (ie, control state officials) can approach leadership, teamwork and overall effectiveness.
With the hall filled with conference attendees,
Nierenberg had members of his full orchestra (gathered
he membership of the National Alcohol Beverage
Control Association used the forum of its 76th
National Conference, held at the Arizona
Biltmore, in Phoenix, AZ, to emphasize the importance
that the benefits of "Progressive Control" practices
bring to the various control jurisdictions. In his "Letter
From the Chairman," NABCA Chairman of the Board
J. Neal Insley, noted that the control systems "continue
today to modernize their regulatory and marketing
operations." He pointed out that in an "era of downsizing, control systems have outpace private retailers in
sales increases and revenue generation and, at the same time, have been
able to ameliorate the harms of alcohol abuse, according to most peerreviewed scientific studies."
Most importantly, Insley realizes
that "the alcohol beverage industry is
changing, with new beverage types,
new taste profiles and new challenges.
In this era of dynamic change, the
control systems and industry must be
flexible and adaptable to new market
and regulatory environments."
Kicking off the conference, in NABCA Chairman of the Board J.
Neal Insley presented brief opening
General Session I, keynote speaker comments the first morning of the
Roger Nierenberg presented a pro- Conference before introducing
gram more unique than anything that General Session I keynote speaker
this writer has seen in several decades Roger Nierenberg.
of covering the industry. Nierenberg
With orchestra members scattered throughout the
large audience, conductor Roger Nierenberg presented "The Music Paradigm."
28
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NABCA
Mike Keyes, president,
North American Region,
for Brown-Forman, presented Business Session I,
titled, "Building Brands
and Customer Loyalty
During Turbulent Times."
Enthralled by the unique presentation on leadership, a large group of conference attendees joined
conductor Nierenberg on the stage to experience
the "magic" of listening to a symphony orchestra
from the conductor's perspective.
StateWays I www.stateways.com I July/August 2013
