Take a look at the upcoming DISCUS Academy webinars. You must enroll in the entire course in order to view the webinar. Click on the Courses tab to learn more about DISCUS Academy courses.
Upcoming Live Events
There are currently no live events.
Past Live Events
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Build a Marketing Calendar to Get Your Brand in the News
Learn how to beef up your marketing calendar, so you have the amount of media exposure your brand desires.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Choosing, Developing, and Protecting Your Brand Name
Trademark owners will learn how to select strong brand names, how to register and maintain a trademark registration, and how to protect trademarks from infringement...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Do-It-Yourself PR for Spirits Brands
Thu 1:00 PM EST
DISCUS International Webinar Series - Part 4: Imports & Distribution
In this webinar, industry representatives from the United Kingdom, Canada, and U.S. will share what obstacles to address or avoid when exploring export opportunities.
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Reputational Risk
Thu 1:00 PM EST
We know your Why, Tell your Who
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Social Media Dos & Don'ts
This course covers responsible social media guidelines to empower employees to engage with advocacy efforts, participate in marketing and communications, and share the...
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Sparking A Movement - Live Course
Every organization must consider how to activate change FASTER and traditional change management can only go so far. In today’s world, the way to make change is to...
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Environmental Safety, EPA Plant Permits, and Clean Air Act Considerations Live Webinar
This course details environmental safety considerations, what emissions requirements exist for distilleries at the federal and state levels, what distilleries must do...
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Process Safety Management - Pressure and Vacuum Relief in Pot Still Distillation
This webinar will explore and outline the Pressure and Vacuum Relief in Pot Still Distillation guidance document that is intended to inform distillery owners and...
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Alternate Routes to Market
Prior to the outbreak of the global pandemic customers were already pushing for the “Amazonation” of alcohol. With the advance of COVID-19 the trend toward receiving...
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Advanced Sales Analytics
Following up on the Introduction course, this course will provide a deep dive into how to best use sales analytics to improve decision making and describe what to look...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Key Principles of Distillery Design and Layout
The course will use “business friendly” terminology that will allow you to gain a better understanding of what you need to be aware of and have in your facility to...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
How to Build a Local Marketing Fund
This course discusses setting realistic goals through metrics, gross revenue expectations, spending commitments, and elements of a marketing plan. It includes...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Global Marketplace/Global Perspective: Legal Considerations for International Markets Live
This Elective Course will detail the requirements necessary to legally import and export distilled spirits, enable participants to evaluate and understand these...
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Manufacturing COGS - Insights, Risks and Impacts
This course provides a common sense approach to COGS and will assist you in identifying all cost elements, including those often forgotten, to build out a robust and...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Alcohol: What You Need to Know to Promote Responsible Consumption
This course is appropriate for a wide variety of audiences who want to learn more about how to promote responsible consumption for those who choose to drink.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Paving the Last Mile to Purchase with POS
In this course, BrandMuscle will reveal the latest trends in POS formats and share best practices for scaling your POS more efficiently, effectively, and sustainably.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Distilled Spirits Distribution 101 & Contract Negotiations: Understanding Franchise Law
This course outlines key aspects of any good distribution agreement, highlights pitfalls to avoid, and lays the foundation for an understanding of those areas where...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Managing Ancillary Operation Risk
This course will examine some of the unique operations and expanded services offered by DSPs.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Market Innovation : Secondary Barrel Finishing, Expanding Beyond Distilled Spirits, and More
This course details some of the core product innovation trends, such as barrel finishings and hard seltzers. You'll learn how to navigate current regulatory issues...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Introducing New Products to Market
This course will introduce you to the stage gate product development process used by a majority of the consumer products companies to develop new products for...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Management Process
This course presents core management concepts, vocabulary, and philosophy, sharing the benefits of data-driven education that encourages innovation.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Introduction to Branding
This course identifies the foundational elements of a brand and explains how a brand is formed in the minds of various audiences and customers.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Competitive Pricing Strategy
The course will walk through how a brand should consider pricing in a saturated market, the use of volume discounts in retail trade, and tiered pricing.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Entry and Exit Strategies
This course outlines various options for exit strategies and shares guidance around developing such strategies.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
People Build Brands
This course will show participants the importance of personalizing relationships with your customers and clients to gain long lasting, reliable partners.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Retail Collection of Revenue
This course covers the various point-of-sale (POS) options and how those options support a distillery's operations and growth.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Supply Chain Risk
This course covers the potentials risks in a DSP supply chain and avenues to mitigate those risks.
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Accounting Software Options and Selections (Integration with TTB Compliance)
This course provides the deep background needed to proficiently choose the right accounting software and ERP package to fit your business needs.
Wed 1:00 PM EST
Building Supply Chain Relationships
This course provides an end-to-end understanding of supply-chain relationships and valuable supply-chain management strategies with a future-focused approach.
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Product Recall
This course covers common product recall risks and demonstrates how to develop a product recall plan and establish recall procedures.
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Distilled Spirits Regulatory Overview: TTB Regulations Parts 5 and 19
This course details vital TTB regulatory sections, advanced considerations and analyses, and expert insights on keeping products and operations advancing.
Tue 1:00 PM EST
The Power of Influence: Celebrity Brand Ambassadors
This course is designed to discuss different partnership models, help you determine whether an endorsement may be right for your brand, and give you the tools to set...
Wed 1:00 PM EST
Working With Control States
This course details the key control states based on consumption and how to get your brand listed in a control state, and specific pricing requirements.
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Tactical Marketing: Point of Sale
This course covers point-of-sale options regarding marketing, the impact of tactical programming, tactical marketing calendars, and back-office items.
Wed 1:00 PM EST
Spill Control
This course discusses off-normal ethanol spills and the associated risk at various points in the production process.
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Environmental Permitting & Reporting
This course provides general awareness around common environmental programs that may apply to distillery operations.
Thu 1:00 PM EST
Electrical Safety
This course provides a detailed overview of the electrical risks associated with distilled spirits plants and tips on how to best safeguard your operations.
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Food Safety
This course covers the FDA’s food safety requirements, various risk factors distillers might encounter related to food safety, and food safety best practices.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
DISCUS Code Virtual Media Summit Series: Social Media and Digital Code Compliance 101
This course will provide an overview on why this is such an important area of focus and review the various things that must be taken into account when advertising in...
Fri 1:00 PM EDT
Sales & Marketing Legal Compliance Training
This course provides a well-rounded, high-level understanding of sales and marketing compliance for beverage alcohol.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Entering a New Market
This course covers the requirements and impacts of entering new domestic and international markets and recommends resources to help in the decision-making process.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Retail Risk
Retail operations go beyond just tasting rooms. They include public tours, merchandise sales, and food-service vendors. This course provides examples of common retail...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Insurance
This course provides an introduction to the vast array of business insurance requirements related to the operation of a distillery in the United States.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Intro to Sales Analytics
In this course, participants will learn the basics of sales analytics and how they can leverage their data to make more impactful decisions.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Brand Storytelling
This course focuses on specific case studies of different-sized brands with varying market goals.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Intro to Policies & Procedures
This course provides an introduction to the policies and procedures necessary to operate a business. It includes resources to assist in ensuring policies and...
Fri 2:00 PM EDT
Capital Expenditures
Capital expenditures, depreciation, and amortization are fundamental forecast assumptions in the financial modeling and valuation processes. This course will cover how...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Tasting Rooms in a Post-Covid Landscape
Panelists will discuss how they have coped with re-opening their tasting rooms while giving attendees advice on how to successfully run a tasting room post Covid.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Recordkeeping (OSHA, TTB Compliance, Worker's Compensation)
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
FDA Beverage Alcohol Jurisdiction
This Foundational Course details the entirety of FDA’s beverage alcohol jurisdiction and how they regulate everything from your distillery’s general sanitation...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Top TTB Tips to Keep Your Business and Product Development Moving Forward
This Elective Course will share TTB best practices based on the longstanding spirits industry expertise of our panelists and help participants to prevent horror...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
State Nuances
This course outlines the primary issues handled at the state level, factors to be aware of, and how to leverage these state regulatory landscapes to your advantage.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Creating an Organizational Culture
This course covers the key attributes of an integrated corporate culture and models for assessing and shaping your own organizational culture.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Maximizing Distributor Relations
This course covers how to motivate your second-tier partner to perform to your expectations and ways to work toward brand-building results.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
The Five Practices of Leadership
This course will teach you the 5 practices every leader should know and how leaders mobilize others to get extraordinary things done.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
How to Build Influence and Increase Loyalty
This course will cover what it takes to build influence and create lasting relationships.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Workplace Diversity and Inclusion
This course will explore how and why diversity consciousness is important, key challenges and solutions to create successful diversity strategy and planning, success...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Discounting Rules
This course will also explore quantity discount and channel pricing programs and share couponing and sweepstakes best practices from industry members.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Employee Contracts & Rights
This course discusses the crucial elements of those relationships, from the beginning to the end of the employee/employer relationship.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Intellectual Property
This course gives participants an overview of the different types of intellectual property, best practices for securing and maintaining intellectual property...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Chemical Storage and Release Reporting Part 2
In part 2 of this course, Amy Trautman of EHS Support will provide an overview of the reporting requirements for facilities that store, manufacture, process, and/or...
Fri 1:00 PM EDT
The Fundamentals of Product Approval: COLAs/Labeling & Formulas
This course details TTB regulations pertaining to labels and formulas; how to file for these items; advanced considerations regarding class or type, brand name, and...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Introduction to HR Compliance
This course covers the basic human resource requirements every employer is required to execute.
Wed 2:00 PM EDT
The Confluence of Laws, Regulations, Guidance and Policy in Regulating Spirits
This course provides a complete picture of the spirits regulatory framework and the various bodies of laws, regulations, and policies that they must comply with to...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Chemical Storage and Release Reporting Part 1
In part 1 of this 2 part course, Amy Trautman of EHS Support will provide an overview of the reporting requirements for facilities that store, manufacture, process,...
Fri 1:00 PM EDT
Budgeting & Forecasting: Strategic Year-End Financial Decisions
The tasks of financial management, budgeting, and forecasting are crucial to any spirits organization, and this course is for those handling these critical...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Developing an ESG Program
This course identifies the elements of an ESG program and covers how to develop an effective program for your organization.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Control State Basics
This Elective Course will detail common Control State requirements and explore how participants can best navigate them to grow and push their brands forward.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Health & Safety Compliance
This course covers the regulations that describe the methods that distillers must use to protect their employees from hazards.
Wed 2:00 PM EDT
How Consumers Shop
This course will help you gain an understanding of how consumers want to interact with a product, consumer loyalty, and their ideal shopping experience.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Distributor Selection
This course is designed to help find the route to market that best suits your brand. Learn the pros and cons of working with the largest distributors vs. smaller...
Wed 3:00 PM EDT
Antitrust Compliance Part 2: Criminal Antitrust Training & Compliance Best Practices
This program will help you identify problematic conduct and strengthen compliance and prevention.
Wed 3:00 PM EDT
Antitrust Compliance Part 1: Civil Antitrust Training
During this program we will discuss how government agencies are driving civil antitrust.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Intro to TTB Permitting
This course details TTB permit types, what you need before you file, how to obtain a basic permit, and expert insights on information you need to know to successfully...
Thu 2:00 PM EDT
Leading a Sales Team
This course reviews some of the best-applied leadership styles and characteristics while stressing the need to keep sight of the desired outcome with the use of...
Wed 11:00 AM EDT
DISCUS Code Virtual Media Summit Series: DISCUS Code 101
This course will provide a history of the Code as a model for self-regulation and relay why self-regulation is so important for our industry and our ability to...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Business Management Software
This course will teach the basics of a BMS, how to choose the right one for your company, and what you can gain from such software.
Mon 1:00 PM EDT
The Dimensions of Diversity Webinar
In the past ten years, the workforce has changed dramatically. More than ever, a workplace is a diverse collection of individuals proud of who they are: their gender,...
Fri 2:00 PM EDT
Cost Accounting
You can improve your business profitability by using constraint analysis, target costing, capital budgeting, price setting, and cost of quality analysis. This course...
Thu 2:00 PM EDT
E-Commerce
This course will cover the basics of Spirits eCommerce and provide an approach for brands to get organized and elevate how they approach eCommerce.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
Brand Ambassadors
This course covers the unique roles and responsibilities of a distilled spirits industry brand ambassador and how to structure a successful program domestically and...
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
International Webinar Series: International Marketing
Speakers will share insights on enlisting local representatives or firms to promote and build brand awareness in key international markets.
Wed 2:00 PM EDT
Brand Valuation
This course reviews the ways to evaluate a brand's value to bankers, investors, buyers, and your community.
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
How to Win Friends and Influence People: Why Grassroots Advocacy and Coalition Building Matter to You
This course highlights the need for advocacy at all levels of government and gives actionable steps for achieving your policy goals.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Sustainability
This course will give an overview of how to implement sustainable practices in your business and the environmental and financial benefits to your business.
Thu 1:00 PM EDT
Introduction to Compliance
This course provides a well-rounded, high-level understanding of both federal and state compliance for the marketing and advertising of beverage alcohol.
Wed 1:00 PM EDT
Alcohol Responsibility
Alcohol responsibility is a critical part of long-term sustainability of the beverage alcohol industry. This course will increase understanding of alcohol...
Tue 1:00 PM EDT
DSP Safety
General distillery safety is the paramount concern for distilled spirits operations of all sizes, and distillery managers must seek to implement proper hazard...
Fri 1:00 PM EDT
Vaccinations & the Workplace
This course will explore employer COVID-19 vaccination plans and policies as workplaces must now balance employee rights with the overall safety and health of its...
Thu 2:00 PM EDT
Where to Hire Consultants & When to Keep in House
Classifying a worker as an employee or an independent contractor has a significant effect on the cost of employing that individual. For this reason, the IRS and...
Fri 1:00 PM EDT
Financing
Financial planning and problem-solving is a necessary step in any distillery's success. This course provides a brief introduction to the fundamentals of finance. Key...
Wed 1:00 PM EST
Regulated Waste Handling
The regulation of solid and hazardous wastes is a highly prescriptive maze of technical requirements. Those requirements can change with the specific type of waste,...
Mon 1:00 PM EST
Trade Practice and Tied-House Considerations: What Do They Mean?
This course covers the main concepts of “trade practice” restrictions and “tied house” laws to better understand how to navigate these muddy waters.
Fri 1:00 PM EST
It All Goes Back to Prohibition: How the Spirits Industry was Born
This course will give you an understanding the origins of these laws provides a foundation for understanding how they are viewed and enforced by regulators today.
Wed 1:00 PM EST
Walking & Working Surfaces: Slips, Trips & Falls
This course provides an overview of steps DSP managers can take to improve facility design for walking and working surfaces and reduce slip, trip, and fall hazards for...
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Flowing Work Through TTB
TTB Compliance is critical. This module will cover the necessary operations data every licensed Distilled Spirits Plant must collect, how to reconcile and submit the...
Thu 2:00 PM EST
How to Build a World Class Team: Organizational Structure, Job descriptions, Compensation
An ineffective organizational structure can lead a business away from its plans. This course provides the opportunity to apply strategic decision-making to determine...
Wed 2:00 PM EST
Intro to Building Pricing
This course provides a hands-on approach to building out the price point of a product, starting from the ex-works price and ensuring the inclusion of COGS, appropriate...
Fri 2:00 PM EST
Understanding Financial Statements & Cash Flow Management
This foundational course to geared to help decision makers gain a deeper understanding of their company’s financial position through analysis of the financial...
Wed 3:00 PM EST
Antitrust and M&A – What to Expect with the Biden Administration
This course provides a refresher on the antitrust laws and antitrust enforcement agencies, insights into likely personnel changes, a forecast for the next four years,...
Tue 1:00 PM EST
Developing a Safety Program
This course will provide the attendee with an in-depth overview of the steps necessary in developing a compliance-based occupational health and safety (H&S) program....