Who, what, where and when: all the details for the #SGCFBarAcademy talks during Singapore Cocktail Festival. By Holly Graham.

Singapore Cocktail Festival 2019 sees the launch of #SGCFBarAcademy – a series of panel talks on May 12 aiming to provide a platform for knowledge exchange and industry-related conversations curated by the bar community, for the bar community, hosted at SKAI Bar in Swissôtel The Stamford. Aside from the panel lead Ivy Woo, panel members will change every two years, bringing fresh perspectives to the discussions. The lineup for 2019 and 2020 are as follows:

– Ivy Woo, panel lead (co-founder of SGCF, Food News Integrated Marketing and Allegro Hospitality Marketing)
– Colin Chia, Panel Member (owner of Nutmeg & Clove (Singapore), Bar Roketto (Niseko), #FindTheLockerRoom and FindThePhotoBooth (Bangkok))
– Charmaine Thio, panel member (Southeast Asia brand ambassador at Hendrick’s Gin)
– Ethan Chai, panel member (deputy general manager at Proof & Company)
– Sam Ng, panel member (gin ambassador and trade relations manager, Asia at Four Pillars Gin)
– Rusty Cerven, panel member (beverage manager of SKAI Restaurant & Bar, Singapore)

The schedule for #SGCFBarAcademy on Sunday, May 12 will see four talks span several subjects from 1-4.15pm. Academy sessions are free for the industry to attend, and are limited to 40 seats per session. Register your attendance here.

Please see below for times, topics and speakers:

Vijay Mudaliar

1 What: Are Bar Awards Important?
Award organisers and bar operators will evaluate the purpose behind industry bar awards, and whether these awards impact the industry and businesses. 

Who: Moderator Stuart Gregor (co-founder of Four Pillars Gin) will be joined by panellists including veteran bartender Simone Caporale – formerly of The Artesian (London) and now consulting at Marque D’Amour (Seoul); The Bar Awards co-founder Tron Young; Vijay Mudaliar – owner of sustainability haven Native (Singapore); co-owner of Tess Bar & Kitchen (Singapore) Victor Ng; and Mark Sansom, content editor for The World’s 50 Best Bars and The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
When: 1-1.45pm

David Ong

2 What: What Makes A Winning Bar?
The bar industry’s best will weigh in on the benchmarks for a winning bar, while sharing their experience in calibrating award-winning venues.

Who: Moderator Vivian Pei (academy chair – Asia for the World’s 50 Best Bars) will be joined by panellists including David Ong, co-founder of The Curator Coffee & Cocktails and OTO (Manila); Gabriel Carlos, assistant bar manager of Asia’s Best Bar Manhattan (Singapore); Gan Guo Yi, hospitality director and co-founder of Jigger & Pony Group (Singapore); Jamie Rhind, bar operations manager of the iconic The Bamboo Bar in Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental; and Rusty Cerven, beverage manager at SKAI Restaurant & Bar (Singapore).
When: 2-2.45pm

Tom Egerton

3 What: Sustainability: The Real Deal
More than just a conversation on the latest buzzword, this session will draw from waste management experts, conservationists and hospitality operators to find out how efforts towards sustainability can have a positive impact on both the environment and the business.

Who: Moderator Tom Egerton (spirits evangelist at Proof & Company, TEDx speaker on the subject of sustainability and former bar operations manager of sustainability-awarded Potato Head Hong Kong) will be joined by panellists Cher Chua, co-founder and managing director of Batu Batu – Tengah Island & Tengah Island Conservation – an off-grid, barefoot luxury island retreat in Malaysia that informs and inspires guests with greater mindfulness and respect for the environment; Colin Chia, owner of Nutmeg & Clove (Singapore), Bar Roketto (Niseko) and Bangkok’s #FindTheLockerRoom and #FindThePhotoBooth; Hailin Pek, manager at Zero Waste SG, a non-profit and non-governmental organisation dedicated to help Singapore achieve zero waste and the circular economy; and Maroš Dzurus and Adam Amir Ghalleb of Himkok (Oslo).
When: 3-3.45pm

Charmaine Thio

4 What: Branding 101 for Bartenders
Learn how you can carve a brand for yourself within the community while establishing a striking persona through the use of media and social media platforms.

Who: Moderator Mark Tay (co-founder of Sunday Punch – a range of small batch bottled cocktails created in Singapore) will be joined by panellists Charmaine Thio, the Southeast Asia brand ambassador at Hendrick’s Gin; Ivy Woo, co-founder of SGCF, Food News Integrated Marketing and Allegro Hospitality Marketing; Antonio Lai, the brains behind the drinks at Hong Kong’s Quinary, VEA, Room 309 and more; Victoria Cheng, a food and travel journalist, restaurant critic and television presenter; and Thimah Hameed, the digital director at Burson Cohn & Wolfe whose previous projects include working with Facebook to create their first advertising sales demonstration tool, which was rolled out globally.
When: 4-4.45pm

To register, please click here.