27 StateWays Q www.stateways.com Q July/August 2014
He instituted several basic, substantial changes:
fi rst, the need to really prioritize the organization's
functions. In that regard, he moved 2,000 agents over to
covering terrorism from investigating normal criminal
activity, making sure that everyone became digitally
profi cient. Second, it became important to build a
intelligence capacity capable of collating together all
pieces of information in order to get a clear picture of
what's going on.
"We now have 3,000 analysts," Mueller said. And
although he would not be specifi c, he said that their
efforts have "stopped a number of plots, but obviously,
not all of them (ie, The Boston Marathon bombing)."
He added that "cyber terrorism remains a signifi cant
threat," and that both presidents Bush and Obama
approached combating terrorism with similar seriousness.
Mueller pointed out that in his years running the
FBI he learned several important keys to running an
organization.
"At fi rst, I micromanaged, but I learned to delegate.
Delegation is important in running a large organization.
"I also learned patience. At fi rst, I was impatient to
get new technology up and working, But I learned that
upgrading technology is a complex task."
Mueller also said that it's also important to have
people around you "who can put things in perspective."
Finally, he said that it is important "to retain your
values but adapt to changing threats, which leads to
the balancing of national security concerns and civil
liberties."
Business Session I followed Mueller's presentation,
titled "Serving Today's Consumer," which was a
discussion of today's changing consumer landscape from
three perspectives. First, Bryan Fry, president and ceo of
Pernod Ricard USA, described how mobile phones have
dramatically changed how consumers interact with the
marketplace. As such, "he said, "We are seeing a shift
from traditional media to social digital media. These
days, consumers care and react to what their friends say
(or post) on social media more than what companies say
about their products."
Because of this, companies [and their products]
must position themselves online to be "the thing that
consumers share with friends online rather than just
From Constellation Brands (left to right) were
Mike Murphy, sales director; Rick Kral, sales
director; Rick Renkens, VP, general manager,
control states; and Mark Hopkins, sales manager.
At the Diageo lanai were Lynn Walding (left),
executive director, control states, for Diageo,
and Randall Smith, from the Alabama Alcoholic
Beverage Control Board.
Stephen Larson (left), administrator, for the
Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, and Marc
Satterthwaite, vice president, director, Control
States and Canada, Brown-Forman.
Western Spirits' president Tim Livesay with
Tricia Brungo, Western Spirits vice president,
Control States Division.
