IB Woman
Issue No. 47 - June/ july
Wine body’s French connection
by Penelope Herbert
Born in France and having lived in South Africa and Spain, Sylvie Clarke brings an international perspective to her role as Executive Officer of WISA, Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc.
Since accepting the role in July 2007, Sylvie has worked to implement systems, profile WISA members at trade shows, develop the membership base and create partnerships with key organisations. Her recent foray into the USA market via the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento will provide opportunities for her members and flow-on effects for the SA economy.
“WISA was initially created by the winemaking and viticulture suppliers themselves so they could have an industry voice,” explains Sylvie.
“There was a working committee but no EO until October 2004 so I have built on the work that had been started previously. Now, WISA supports the wine technology suppliers across research, viticulture, and wine-making plus support industries such as legal, freight, multimedia, logistics, and banking.”
Trained in accounting, business and a member of the Zonta Club of Adelaide, Sylvie’s networking, event management and marketing skills have been given a workout including the initiation of the ‘Supplier of The Year’ Awards. The objective of the awards is to bring clients and suppliers together in a friendly atmosphere that fosters relationship building.
“It’s an opportunity for suppliers to showcase what they can do and create wine industry partnerships,” says Sylvie. “It’s a soft-sell approach for people who don’t like selling and for people who don’t like to be sold to; it’s an exchange of ideas and needs.”
WineTech is another key industry event, supported by WISA, which includes the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference to be held in Adelaide in July 2010.
Sylvie says while WISA focuses primarily on the technology elements of the wine industry there are sustainable partnership opportunities with a bread...
