A Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Wine Symposium will be held in Prosser, Washington next month. The one-day event will take place April 28 at the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center.

“We’re trying to make this an opportunity for people to cross pollinate their ideas and to come away with something actionable,” says Stephen Kilisky, co-lead of the steering committee for the DTC Wine Symposium: Pacific Northwest.

Kilisky was inspired to organize a Northwest-based conference while attending the DTC Wine Symposium in Monterey, California in 2025. After discussing with other attendees from the Pacific Northwest, Kilisky approached the Symposium conference chair about the idea.

Kilisky subsequently conducted an initial survey to gauge interest and to learn more about the best topics to discuss. After finding that interest was high, the symposium was funded.

The one-day, single track symposium will start with a small trade show followed by a “State of the State” discussion with industry leaders from California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. After that, Doug Frost, M.S., M.W. and co-owner of Echolands Winery in Walla Walla, will deliver the keynote address about the importance of community. A subsequent session will focus on email marketing.

A working lunch will include facilitated, round-table discussions on specific topics. Potential topics might include how to hire, train, and retain top talent and how to do a better job messaging sustainability.

In the afternoon, there will be a session on leveraging wine club potential. This will be followed by a panel on expanding tasting room and wine club experiences for customers who are remote from the winery.

The final two sessions will focus on improving hospitality and using social media to drive loyalty. Every session will end with three actionable takeaways.

“The sessions are really focusing on how can you build on top of your best practices and take those to the next level, as well as introducing new ideas,” Kilisky says.

The DTC Wine Symposium: Pacific Northwest is targeted to managerial-level individuals, including wine club managers, hospitality managers, social media managers, marketing managers, and winery owners. It is intended for wineries that generate a majority of their revenue through DTC sales.

Kilisky says the early response has been strong. Early bird tickets have already sold out, though regular ticketing is still open.

The evening before the Symposium, the Prosser Wine Network will host a reception. This event is ticketed separately.

Net proceeds from the DTC Wine Symposium: Pacific Northwest will be donated to Free the Grapes!. This is a non-profit coalition dedicated to removing restrictions that prevent consumers from purchasing wine directly from wineries.

See more information about the DTC Wine Symposium: Pacific Northwest.

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