Grant Raeside – Managing Director

Grant Raeside has spent over 30 years in the world of strategic planning, marketing, public relations, event planning, fundraising, management and sales. He served for five years as the Executive Director of the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance. Under his tenure he increased the Vintner and Grower membership from 120 members to over 200 and in addition he increased the Associate membership program to 250 from 50 members resulting in tripling the Alliances income for new marketing and advertising programs. He established numerous new programs and events including VinOlivo, Passport to Sonoma Valley, Taste of Sonoma Valley, Wine Basics 101, Sonoma Valley Wine Competition, Sommelier Stars and the Tour de’ Concierge. He raised over $300,000 through an advertising co-op program for vintner members. He formed partnerships with Jazz +, Sonoma Valley International Film Festival, SF Magazine’s Best of the Bay and the Charles Schwab Senior Tour Golf Championship. His partnership with the Sonoma County Vintners to form the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend brought the entire Sonoma County together to produce one of the largest food and wine events in California.

Grant developed and produced the quarterly GrapeVine Magazine and the weekly Good Morning, Sonoma Valley newsletter. He wrote a column, Out of the Barrel, for the Sonoma Index-Tribune and produced a weekly radio show, Heard it in the Grapevine, on KSVY-FM. Over 100 shows were heard live around the world via the internet on KSVY.org. He served on the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau board of directors and the Innovation Council board of directors.

Prior to his position in Sonoma Valley, he was the founding Executive Director of San Luis Obispo Vintners, a vintner and grower organization of over 50 members. There, he opened the first ever, Association run, tasting room, Taste, in downtown SLO. He increased tasting room visitation by over 40% by securing stories in Sunset Magazine, Wine Spectator and the Wall Street Journal.

Grant is the Managing Director for Event Marketing Works. The company assists not-for profit organizations with strategic planning, marketing, fundraising and event planning. His fundraising events include the San Rafael Wine Festival, Taste on the Bay, Downtown’s Cookin’, Blues, Brews & BBQ, The Wine MarketPlace and the Fairfax Brewfest.

Grant was the Marketing and Communications Director for the American Heart Association. He served as the San Francisco Bay Area District Director for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He was the head of Marketing and Public Relations for the Atlanta Downtown Partnership and Manager of Sales and Marketing for Underground Atlanta. In Atlanta, he conducted media tours for the national and international media prior to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and the City of Atlanta’s Mayor’s Office. Grant was awarded the Partner of the Year award from the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau for his work in making Underground Atlanta the most visited tourism destination in Atlanta.

Over the last two decades, Grant has raised over $10 million dollars in cash and in-kind sponsorships while selling to many Fortune 500 companies. He produced and directed hundreds of events and fundraisers including the American Power Boat Association World Championships, Ice Cream in the Park, The Georgia Lottery Launch, American Heart Walks, Downtown Tour of Lofts, Georgia State Jaycee State Convention, College Football Peach Bowl Tailgate Party, Memorial Day BluesFest, Tenth Anniversary Super Show Party, American Motorcycle Drag Racing Championships, Thunder over Atlanta, This Magic Moment, St. Simons Island Sunshine Festival, MDA Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner, and the Southeast’s largest New Years’ Eve celebration, “Atlanta Peach Drop”.

Grant was born in San Francisco and grew up in Fairfax, California. He received a Journalism degree from the University of Georgia. He lives in San Rafael, California, with his wife, CC.

Michael Coats – Public Relations

Michael’s personal hands-on attention to his client’s public relations needs has been his hallmark throughout his over 30-year career. Michael has been privileged to represent an array of top flight entertainment clients including: the Doobie Brothers, tours by James Brown, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Night Ranger, Hot Tuna, and Jefferson Starship. Michael has also managed major entertainment events including the annual California Music Awards (Bammies), Simon and Garfunkel’s Day on the Green reunion, Silicon Planet and countless others. Michael has also worked with Bill Graham Special Events on a myriad of projects. Most recently, Michael managed the publicity for the “old” Guns N’ Roses reunion, featuring Slash, Duff, Izzy and Matt, which evolved into Velvet Revolver.

Michael  has lived in Sonoma for 25 years with his wife Valerie and their two children. Michael is the past president of the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau and headed the publicity committee for the city of Sonoma’s Sesquicentennial in 1998. He volunteers on local school projects and fundraisers, and is a past board member of the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation.  He enjoys spending time with his family; hosting the weekly radio show, Guys @ 5 with sidekicks, Mr. Pickles and Jobsite Jeff, Wednesdays on KSVY 91.3 FM; fly fishing the west; and growing organic, ultra-premium pinot noir grapes for his family label, Valerie’s Vineyard.

Don Chase – Special Advisor

Don Chase, most recently was the President of Kunde Family Estate. He was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day activities of the operation. All departments reported to him including Winemaking, Vineyards, Sales, Tasting Room and Hospitality, Public Relations, Marketing, Administration, and Human Resources.

Don has more than 25 years of experience in the premium wine industry, and has been associated with several family owned wine companies, including Rutherford Hill, Huneeus Vintners’ Quintessa, and Clos Du Val Wine Company, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. He also served as Chief Financial Officer for Hueblein Fine Wine Group, which at the time included Beaulieu Vineyard and the Inglenook Napa Valley brands, and held a similar position
for Christian Brothers Sales Company.

Don’s extensive experience is a great asset in today’s dynamic market and his leadership was evident in the Kunde’s Family Estate expansion overseas as well as in the U.S. market.

Chase relocated from New York to California with the Nestle Company, Inc. to Beringer Vineyards in 1980. He earned a B.S. in Accounting from Rider University in Trenton, New Jersey, and an M.B.A. from Marist University in
Poughkeepsie, New York. Don is a past board director and President of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance (SVVGA). He resides in wine country with his family.

Cynthia ‘Cyd’ Gibson – Graphics

Cynthia has been a graphic designer/illustrator for over 40 years, factor in the years as a child she spent mastering chalk drawings and tempra paint, and you can add a few more. Cynthia has worked with all manners of print, including Silk-screening, embroidery, advertising, corporate identities, sign systems, banners, exhibits, emergency evacuation maps, vehicle graphics, food and beverage labels, restaurant and retail identities, menus, menu boards and even high level profile signage.

Cynthia’s career has involved working for clients such as:
•    Art Decal
•    American Analysis
•    Chartmasters
•    Identity Services
•    Warren Welter Design
•    Ace Design
•    Pacific Sign/Design Muller Advertising and Saarlandische Rundfunk (Germany)
•    Universal Sign Company
•    Toll Architectural Graphics
•    Electric Crayon

Since stepping away from the corporate world, as a free-lancer, Cynthia has created brand identities and graphic components for, among others:
•    Moylan’s Brewery and Restaurant
•    Marin Brewing Company
•    Goldman Sachs
•    Event Marketing Works
•    Gensler Associates
•    PG&E Corporate Security
•    Tazuri Foods
•    SelectQuote Insurance Corp
•    Wallach Glass Studio
•    Sausalito Parks and Recreation
•    Tam Valley Parks and Recreation
•    Fairfax Chamber of Commerce
•    Tam Valley Parks and Recreation

A California native, born in Port Hueneme, Cynthia attended college studying physics and art and now resides in Santa Rosa, California.

Chef Jean-Pierre

Chef Jean Pierre was destined to become involved with food, even before he arrived in this world. Born to American parents in Paris, France, in 1962, Pierre was named after his two godfathers, Jean and Pierre Lafon, the former owners of the well-known 6th Arrondissement brasserie, La Coupole. He grew up traveling to diverse cultures and experiencing their cuisines. His love of food led him to San Francisco, California and eventually Marin County.

Chef Jean Pierre attended and graduated from the Hotel & Restaurant program at the City College of San Francisco in 1987. Settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, he learned his trade in various restaurant kitchens and catering companies, such as Absinthe, Left Coast Catering in San Francisco, The Lark Creek Inn and, The Parkside Cafe in Marin County.

In addition to experiencing various aspects of the hospitality industry, Chef became interested and learned about wine-making, farming, such as the design tenets of Permaculture, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), bringing knowledge and awareness of holistic food production and practices to the table.

James Marshall Berry – Internet Consultant

James Marshall Berry has spent the last 12 years immersed in technology, as Director of Internet Services of Devon Publishing Group (Portal Publications) in Marin County, followed by a year as Network Administrator at Winery Exchange in Novato. Most recently, he was Director of Technology for Three House Multimedia, providing guidance and vision for all the organizations technological functions, including the Sonoma Sun newspaper, radio station KSVY, SVTV Comcast 27 and all related websites.

Since leaving the corporate arena for good in 2008, James founded JMB Web Consulting in Sonoma Valley and the company maintains numerous websites for clients throughout Sonoma and beyond. James currently consults with many small businesses and wineries on how best to leverage Social Media and the Web 2.0 world for their brands, having recently spoke on the subject at Napa Valley College, WITS (Wine Industry Technology Symposium) and with the North Bay MAC Users Group.

James also has event management experience, having planned, organized and ran successful benefits in Sonoma Valley for victims of the Tsunami and Katrina disasters, raising over $25,000. While on the board of Directors of the Valley of the Moon Vintage festival, he helped turn the previous years loss of $8,000 into a $21,000 profit the first year of his service on the all-volunteer board, followed by a $41,000 profit his second and last year. James handled and managed over 42 musical acts on two stages.

He is also a local media personality, as the music columnist for the Sonoma Index Tribune and SONOMA Magazine and also contributes to the Press Democrat and the North Bay Bohemian. He also plays in several musical acts around Sonoma Valley.

James is a California native, growing up in Marin County, and for the past 20 years, has resided in Sonoma Valley with his wife, two children, two dogs, two cats and a horse.