Summer 2011

NIDA Director Ken Sadowsky, BYB Brands’ Norman George, Communications Expert Robbie Vorhaus join BevNET Live Team in New York

March 9, 2011 by BevNET.com Staff

A pair of veteran beverage business investors and brand builders and one of the world’s foremost crisis communications experts have signed on to speak during the BevNET Live program in Manhattan on June 6 and 7 at the Sheraton Tower Hotel.

BevNET Live attendees will be both enlightened and entertained by an exclusive live interview on nurturing beverage companies and spotting innovation. Sadowsky, a former principal of Atlas Distributing, Inc., is now a promoter and investor in emerging beverage brands as well as the executive director of the Northeast Independent Distributors Association (NIDA), which plays a key role in introducing and establishing a regional DSD footprint for new companies. Sadowsky has served as a board member and advisor for many well-known entrepreneurial beverage companies, including glaceau, Vita Coco, Hint and, most recently, Bai. He is also a beverage industry advisor for the investment firm Verlinvest.

In Norman George, the president of BYB Brands, Inc., BevNET Live attendees will gain insight on innovation and growth strategy from the perspective of the head of a beverage incubator whose ability to spot and invest in emerging trends has resulted in the growth of a number of fast-growing entrepreneurial brands like Tum-E Yummies, Cha Dao Tea, Cinnabon, and many others. A 27-year employee of Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, which owns BYB Brands, George has a long history of helping develop, market and sell brands throughout the country.

Also joining the event during the June 6 Beverage School will be communications and public relations strategist Robbie Vorhaus, who will provide an executive-level breakout discussion on communications and crisis strategy for beverage entrepreneurs. The founder of Robbie Vorhaus & Co., Vorhaus is a communications and public relations strategist who has worked with beverage companies ranging in size from PepsiCo and the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. to the boutique tea company Teany. Vorhaus is consistently named as one of the top three communications and crisis strategists in the world, and is an internationally recognized and trusted communications advisor to global leaders, Fortune 500 companies, and entrepreneurs.

BevNET Live is continuing to develop programming and a preliminary agenda – including the June 6 Beverage School – will be released in the days to come.

Seats for BevNET Live Summer 12 are going fast. Register online now »

Filed Under: BevNET Live, News, Summer 2011
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Comments

Karen

Re: your upcoming speaker, Robbie Vorhaus:
Robbie Vorhaus, has
been quoted in “Exchange,” the semi-annual journal of the Canadian Design
Exchange, in a story about, “Why Spec Work Is Exploitative.” On what seems to
me, a hilariously hypocritical note, Mr. Vorhaus hired me to create a logo for
him and then refused to pay me for the work I did, essentially, claiming it was
spec work. When we agreed on a price for the work he never informed me that
what he had in mind was spec work. And why would he? In my opinion, it is
because I am a designer and illustrator whose work appears in major
publications across the country, and Mr. Vorhaus surely knows I would never
have dreamt of working on spec.

I recently took him to court and won a judgment against him.

It was his contention in court that if he did not want to
use the logo I designed, he would not pay me for the work done. This was
baffling to me as a professional, not only because he publicly speaks against
this practice of spec work, but because as I said earlier, Mr. Vorhaus never
mentioned that he would not pay me if he chose not to use my work.

I can’t help but wonder: in what to me, seems like
pathological narcissism, what made Mr. Vorhaus think I would choose to put
weeks of work into a project solicited by him, and then go unpaid according to
his whim.

Would Mr. Vorhaus order up a bespoke suit from a tailor and
then refuse payment because he chose not to wear it?

I think this will make a great story. I am pitching it to several news outlets. There are several
great angles to use. How does this self-proclaimed public relations maven of
yours spin this story? How does he reconcile the hypocrisy of the high-minded
ethical tone of the Exchange story with such a different approach when it is
time for him to pay someone he hired?

I will make available my court judgment against Mr. Vorhaus,
all emails between us, regarding the job I did for him, and the multitude of
excellent logo designs I created for him and the article from “Exchange.” I am
available to speak with you at your convenience.I am assuming you can retrieve my email address from your site. If not, please place a post beneath this one letting me know how to get in touch with you.
Karen

Re: your upcoming speaker, Robbie Vorhaus:
Robbie Vorhaus, has
been quoted in “Exchange,” the semi-annual journal of the Canadian Design
Exchange, in a story about, “Why Spec Work Is Exploitative.” On what seems to
me, a hilariously hypocritical note, Mr. Vorhaus hired me to create a logo for
him and then refused to pay me for the work I did, essentially, claiming it was
spec work. When we agreed on a price for the work he never informed me that
what he had in mind was spec work. And why would he? In my opinion, it is
because I am a designer and illustrator whose work appears in major
publications across the country, and Mr. Vorhaus surely knows I would never
have dreamt of working on spec.

I recently took him to court and won a judgment against him.

It was his contention in court that if he did not want to
use the logo I designed, he would not pay me for the work done. This was
baffling to me as a professional, not only because he publicly speaks against
this practice of spec work, but because as I said earlier, Mr. Vorhaus never
mentioned that he would not pay me if he chose not to use my work.

I can’t help but wonder: in what to me, seems like
pathological narcissism, what made Mr. Vorhaus think I would choose to put
weeks of work into a project solicited by him, and then go unpaid according to
his whim.

Would Mr. Vorhaus order up a bespoke suit from a tailor and
then refuse payment because he chose not to wear it?

I think this will make a great story. I am pitching it to several news outlets. There are several
great angles to use. How does this self-proclaimed public relations maven of
yours spin this story? How does he reconcile the hypocrisy of the high-minded
ethical tone of the Exchange story with such a different approach when it is
time for him to pay someone he hired?

I will make available my court judgment against Mr. Vorhaus,
all emails between us, regarding the job I did for him, and the multitude of
excellent logo designs I created for him and the article from “Exchange.” I am
available to speak with you at your convenience.I am assuming you can retrieve my email address from your site. If not, please place a post beneath this one letting me know how to get in touch with you.