Brian Connors is the Senior Director, Global Food & Beverage Innovation, Founding Faculty Director of the Bacardi Center of Excellence and is Wine Studies Chair at Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Brian is also the curriculum designer and facilitator for Accelerating Leaders that works directly with industry and academia creating innovative solutions for operational training, leadership development, and educational resources. 

As the Founding Director of the Bacardi Center of Excellence, Brian has created the first-of-its-kind Bacardi Spirits Management Major, and developed and launched the virtual learning platforms called Future Proof, and BacardiTeach. Hosts the popular industry-focused BacardiTalks series and 2 Barstools & a Knife Podcast. He also oversees the Bacardi Innovations Fund which launched Cecilia the world's first interactive robot bartender that received national media attention on NBC’s Today Show, FOX & Friends, and international media coverage. He is the lead faculty of the Beverage Management programs at the top-ranked Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management including the new wine studies, beverage entrepreneurship, brewing arts, and spirits management programs. In 2023 Brian was honored as one of the 30 Most Influential Educators in Global Hospitality by The International Hospitality Institute.

He was the Wine Education Consultant for Celebrity Cruises. In this role, he assisted in the development of their award-winning beverage programs and traveled the globe training the fleet of nine ships and one of the largest teams of Sommeliers in the world. 

Throughout his career, Brian has consulted to nearly every segment of the industry including independent and multi-unit restaurant groups, hotels, resorts, entertainment venues, private city, and country clubs, retailers of natural and organic goods, hospitality REITs, and the mega yacht industry.  He is regularly invited to speak nationally on topics such as innovative education, food & beverage trends, strategic marketing, and hospitality leadership.  Brian has developed nationally recognized, award-winning wine and beverage programs, and has appeared on the Travel Channel’s ‘Trip of a Lifetime’ as well as national television and print media features.  

Brian earned his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University, has trained for his Sommelier certification at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, and is certified by the Court of Master Sommelier.  He is also a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) through the Society of Wine Educators, International Bordeaux Wine Educator (IBWE) through The Bordeaux Wine Trade Council (CIVB), and a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) according to standards achieved through the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.  Brian served as Alumni Admissions Ambassador at Cornell University for the School of Hotel Administration and was a board member of the Cornell Hotel Society. 

Brian has a Master's degree from the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, and a Bachelor of Science from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, which is a specialized business school in the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University.

Dale Gomez is the Assistant Teaching Professor, McKibbon Endowed Professor and Director of Information & Instructional Technology at Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Mr. Gomez has also taken the role of Online Learning Administrator and Global Technology Liaison for the University.

Mr. Gomez's Information Technology experience spans over 20 years. His primary responsibilities include providing technical leadership and support in the implementation of desktop administrative computing, networking management, media services and enterprise systems for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Mr. Gomez is member and secretary of the Faculty Senate Technology Committee and a board member of the FIU’s Information Technology Administrators Committee whose focus is the development of the computing initiatives that support University-wide technological advancements. In 2014 Mr. Gomez was named top 10 Heads of Higher Education by Tech Decisions and was awarded the 2014 BEST Integrators award for the School’s Wine Spectator Restaurant Management Lab.

Mr. Gomez is a graduate of Florida International University's College of Business. Mr. Gomez earned his Master of Science in Management Information Systems in August 2006, and his Bachelor of Business Administration in August 2002.

Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Gomez currently resides in Cooper City, Florida.