J. Smoke Wallin / Co-Chair, WITS

Smoke is an accomplished leader and successful entrepreneur in the CPG, beverage & technology industries.  He has advised many of the most successful brands, distributors, retailers and companies on their "go-to-market" strategies. His business partners and customers have included: Anheuser-Busch Inbev, Bacardi, Bass Brewers, Beam, Boon Rawd (Singha Brewery) Credit Suisse, Diageo, Goose Island, Grolsch, Heineken, Pernod Ricard, Rogue, Seagram, Walgreens, The Wine Group, the major beer, wine and spirits distributors, as well as 100s of other wine, spirits, beer and non-alcoholic beverage clients globally.   He has raised over $100s of millions in debt and equity, publicly and privately as CEO or CFO, acquired and/or sold dozens of brands and companies. Smoke has coached numerous start-ups, CEOs and workout situations to create value for stakeholders.  He is a recognized industry leader and is a frequent speaker.

Mr. Wallin is Chairman, CEO and founder of eSkye Solutions, a SaaS software provider to the beverage and retail industries.  eSkye was the leading software provider to the wine industry until selling that business to a publicly traded company and is currently the leading provider of national account pricing solutions to the industry.

Smoke is Co-Chairman & founder of the Beer Industry Technology Symposium (BITS) and the Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) the leading gathering of CIOs, breweries and wineries and technology companies in the industry.  He is Chairman of Wine 2.0, blending the line between wine and technology.  He is founder and CEO of Taliera, a company that creates, incubates, advises, introduces and grows brands and companies. Mr. Wallin created Taliera in 2006.

In 1988, he joined National Wine & Spirits (NWS), a $150 million wine and spirits distributor. As head of corporate strategy and later CFO, EVP & Director from 1993-2004, he grew NWS to $1 billion+. NWS IN is now a joint venture with RNDC.

Smoke led the wine and spirits industry in Washington D.C. as Chairman, President & Director of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) 1996-2004. Smoke also served on the Government Affairs committee for the Craft Brewers Association.

Wallin has an MBA from Vanderbilt University and a BS in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He was a Cornell wrestler and in Sigma Nu Fraternity.  Smoke is an Eagle Scout and the father of two Eagle Scout sons.  He lives in Indianapolis, IN with his wife Anitra and his four children.