Meet Our Leadership Team
Robert Cavanaugh, Wine Educator and Managing Director
Melissa Conway, Director of Strategic Growth
Melissa has over two decades of experience in creating and delivering marketing, communications, and fundraising plans for Fortune 500 corporate clients and top-tier non-profit organizations. A tenacious pursuit of excellence undergirds her vast expertise in developing strategic growth strategies. Melissa specializes in expansion initiatives for Adventure Wine’s marketing campaigns as well as Public Relations, Trade Contacts and digital marketing for prestigious international wine regions. An expert in creative event-planning, she will be developing a variety of new initiatives for Adventure Wine in 2023.
Melissa is passionate about wine and has led numerous large-scale consumer tasting, fundraising, and brand expansion special events. At the heart of her work, Melissa continually seeks to give back to local communities by advancing and expanding missional and non-profit organizations to the highest level of influence while making a positive global impact. In the last decade, her events and marketing savvy have helped raise over $20 million in resources to provide hope and healing to women, children, families, and veterans in need. Melissa may be contacted at melissa@adventurewine.com
Lindsey Parris, Wine Educator and Strategic Planning
Lindsey discovered ‘Life as a Cabernet’ upon sampling his first Bordeaux Grand Cru in a Saigon bistro, and has been an avid wine enthusiast ever since. A retired business economist and Colonel in the United States Air Force, Lindsey has advanced degrees from Florida State University and Harvard University, as well as being the co-author of Corrupt Cities, now in its 8th language translation.
Lindsey holds intermediate and advanced-level certifications from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, and works with Adventure Wine helping global wine regions develop strategic planning and promotions with Adventure Wine’s On- and Off-Premise chain accounts partners. He is also an extremely popular speaker, sharing his knowledge of wines at Staff Trainings and Consumer events.
Mike Tibodeau, Marketing Specialist
A communications consultant by day, Mike Tibodeau turns Wine Detective at night, specializing in finding the best values in wine for consumers and trade accounts. If there’s a $10 bottle of wine that truly tastes like a $30 bottle, Mike will find it and he’s quick to share that information at Adventure Wine promotions such as Consumer Events and In-Store Tasting programs.
Mike also helps organize Adventure Wine’s marketing teams in various cities such as Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Atlantic City, North Carolina and Florida, and has an active role in expanding Adventure Wine into new markets and new relationships with chain accounts.
Jackie Ducci, Marketing & Event Planner
Jackie discovered her passion for event planning as a student at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC and currently works with a wide array of social, corporate, and fundraising event clients.
Some of her corporate experiences include: Habitat for Humanity, the Kansas Republican Party, Tsunami REACH, and several Chambers of Commerce and university groups. Her assistance is invaluable in planning trade events.