This seminar was originally presented in May 2023. It was republished on July 7, 2025.

Your taproom is the epicenter of your brand. It is your opportunity to turn a customer into a regular. In this seminar, we will not only provide methods to help you create more memorable taproom experiences, but also ways to make those same customers more valuable to your brewery. It’s the little things that truly make a big difference. You will walk away with five actionable strategies that your team can implement immediately to maximize check size and to see greater success in your taproom.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key areas of opportunities to upsell appropriately
• Understand how upselling benefits everyone from taproom staff to ownership
• Construct strategies to properly train and motivate your team on best practices to engage with taproom guests
• Create a list of metrics that you will monitor and maximize in your taproom

Presentation Audio:

About the Speakers

Tracy Bardugon, Taproom & Events Manager

Fire Maker Brewing Company

Tracy Bardugon is the Taproom & Events Manager at Fire Maker Brewing Company in Atlanta, Georgia and is the Chapter Co-Lead for the Atlanta Pink Boots Society Chapter. Tracy has been a part of the beer industry for over six years and spends her professional and personal time working to make the industry a more inclusive and open space. When she's not at the brewery, you can find her spending time with her dog Emma, throwing a D20, or cracking jokes with her friends over beers during Tuesday Night Drinking Club.

Andrew Coplon, Founder

Secret Hopper & Craft Beer Professionals

Andrew Coplon is the Founder of Secret Hopper and Craft Beer Professionals. Andrew helps breweries nationwide create more memorable and profitable taproom experiences using data-based insights gathered from thousands of visits. He has successfully built a community of 16,000 craft beer professionals dedicated to the growth and betterment of our industry across the United States. When he isn't building relationships on Zoom or meeting you for a pint, he enjoys climbing jungle gyms with his son, Max, or planning the next adventure with his wife, Stacie.

Anthony Drago, Director of Hospitality

Monday Night Brewing

Anthony Drago is the Director of Hospitality for Monday Night Brewing. He oversees all taproom, private events, and restaurant operations across five locations and four states, and he has been with Monday Night Brewing for five years. At Monday Night Brewing, Anthony has been responsible for increasing to-go sales through staff education and merchandising opportunities. Anthony has 15 years in the service industry. He spent four years in the wine industry, advancing through the sommelier program until he made the switch from grapes to hops. Anthony can stand on one foot for longer than 30 seconds but no longer than 34 seconds.

LaShanda Poteat, Taproom Manager

Little Brother Brewing Barrel and Bottle

Lashanda Poteat is the Taproom Manager of Little Brother Brewing Barrel and Bottle. LaShanda is a Certified Beer Server through the Cicerone program and is the recipient of the Road to 100 Level II certification, which she is currently studying for and is looking to test at the beginning of 2023. She is the recipient of The Pink Boots Society White Labs Sour Beer: Alternative Microbes and Fermentation Techniques, which she completed in July of this year, and is also a recipient of one of the first Lifting Lucy scholarships, which allowed her to travel to her first Craft Beer Professionals Conference in Norfolk, Virginia in September 2022. She is the current chapter leader of the Pink Boots Society Greensboro Triad Chapter, where she has worked hard to get the chapter back active after falling inactive. LaShanda is the brand ambassador for Blkbeermom, which is her Instagram account dedicated to raising awareness to the beer industry's lack of black female representation. LaShanda is a mom to three of the most amazing humans in this world. She dedicates and does everything for this industry to pave the way for them. Whether they choose the beer industry or not, she wants them to know they can do and be anything in this world they want to be.