In 2011, when I first attended, The Spirited Awards of Tales of the Cocktail were quickly becoming one of the leading award ceremonies in the hospitality sector. But the awards were lacking in engaging content or any content that had a presence outside the room. In addition, the Awards had become a bunch of talking heads. It was an accolade much needed in a growing industry, but the awards themselves were lacking in excitement.

I approached the founders of the Awards and suggested creating videos that could move the award ceremony forward, but also highlight talent in the field of spirits and mixology. Additionally it would be increase revenue opportunity among sponsors to be part of the content.

This proved to be a massive success, changing the entire dynamic of the awards, creating sharable content that lived well outside the awards, living as a reminder year round of what the Awards are to the community. I ideated, pitched, sold, produced and directed the majority of these videos from 2012 until 2017.