SMTs: Lager than Life

Ladies and Gentleman, we have arrived! All 12 of us have sucessfully completed our training and are all killing it in our new roles. Our class started getting placed in early November and this process went on until January, which was remarkable considering our rather large class size. Here is where we all ended up:

• Alex Bondar- District Manager Burlington, VT (Region 1)
• Ryan Hansen- District Manager Springfield, MO (Region 5)
• Evan Jeffcoat- District Manager Asheville, NC (Region 2)
• Chelsea Phillips- District Manager Spokane, WA (Region 7)
• Joanie Fisher- District Manager Carbondale, IL (Region 4)
• Anne Reisch- District Manager Cape Girardeau, MO (Region 5)
• Teddy White- District Manager Lake Havasu, AZ (Region 8)
• Allison Smith- Category Space Manager Rite Aid & AM/PM, Los Angeles, CA (Region 8) 
• Tiffany Gordon- Project Coordinator, Sales Strategy & Development (AB HQ, STL)
• Cameron Lehman- Innovation Performance Manager, PPM group (AB HQ, STL)
• Uche Onwuzurike- Brand and Channel Planning Specialist, Trade Marketing (AB HQ, STL)
• Lindsey Williams- Package Liquor Channel Manager, Trade Marketing (AB HQ, STL)

One of the top tweets of 2011.

2 weeks ago us SMT gals had the pleasure of attending a “Women in Beer” event in Dallas, TX during a sales conference. It was so amazing to be in the presence of so many powerful and intelligient women in the Anheuser Busch and wholesaler family.

Congrats to everyone selected for the SMT final panel!  We look forward to meeting you all here in St. Louis.  To provide some inspiration, here’s some photo highlights of what we’ve been up to lately:

We celebrated Be(er) Responsible Day at a Cardinals game.

We became “official” brewmasters.

We secured the FA Cup sponsorship.

We got an extra case of Michelob Fruit Infused at October’s beer pick-up.

And we went to A-B’s SAMCOM (sales and marketing convention) with special appearances by Mark Cuban…

…Tony La Russa and Joe Buck…

…and the Eli Young Band and Jack Ingram!  I’ve had to pinch myself so many times since starting this job, but the best moment so far is doing the robot in the front row and having Mark Eli stop mid-song to point at me like, “Crazy Girl.”

Just another day at the office… sampling a new product!

My Mentor is a Sales Director in Southern Florida, so this past week I was able to go visit him and spend time with three of the many wholesalers in his territory. Also, I was able to go out in the trade and visit several accounts in West Palm Beach, Deerfield, and Fort Pierce. Pictured above you can see how one of the accounts is leveraging the NFL/Bud Light sponsorship by setting up with Lazy Boys. It was such a valuable training experience to follow him for a week and soak up all the knowledge he has gained during his 20+ years at Anheuser-Busch…. Oh, and the weather wasn’t too bad either!

Me and my sister, Sydney, at Game 7 of the World Series.

STL Cardinals, World Champions.

Label out.

Last week, all the SMT’s rode with different District Managers around the Midwest. I was in Southwestern Missouri and I got the great honor of meeting Chester the Cheetah at an opening of a new gas station in Joplin.

Budweiser announced as the official sponsor of The FA Cup.  Naturally we celebrate with day fresh Budweiser from the Clydesdales’ wagon during lunch!

Click on the photo for more info on the deal.

September 23rd was Be(er) Responsible Day, so some of us went to the STL Cardinals game to promote designating a driver.  Check out this video to see our human billboard!