Speaking and hosting

I host conferences, chair panels and give talks with a glass in your guests' hands. Twenty years in brand marketing at American Express, Apple and Microsoft mean I can hold a room of retail directors, and the WSET Diploma takes care of the bartenders.

Check availability

Ruchira Neotia hosting a conference, arms open in front of a full audience

Recently hosted

Retail Gazette Customer Experience Day 2025

I hosted the whole day for 200 delegates, from the opening to the closing panel, with the room voting and sending questions on Slido throughout.

09:35Opening, then a Slido word cloud on what underpins customer experience

09:50In conversation with Asif Aziz OBE, retail director, EE

11:40Fireside with Helen Dickinson, chief executive, British Retail Consortium, and John Abbate, Westminster City Council

14:00Think tank on talent and technology with Kayleigh Fazan, The International Retail Academy

15:20Q&A with Rose Dyer, Beauty Pie

16:10Closing panel with Currys, Merlin Entertainments and Gamma

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Maya Angelou. I opened CXD25 with her words.

Formats

India in a Glass

India drinks more whisky than any country on earth, and its single malts now take the top medals. I tell the story behind that, from the trade deal to the families making it, as someone who judges it, writes about it and put ten Indian single malts in one room at Diageo.

Talk and tasting · for Diwali, India-facing teams and the trade

Masterclasses, launches and tastings

Trade masterclasses for bartenders, buyers and sommeliers, consumer launches and ticketed tastings, built around your range and the category story. I've run them at Diageo, Soho Whisky Club and The Nightcap Club.

Sixty to ninety minutes · trade or consumer

Hosting and chairing

Conferences, panels, firesides and awards, from the welcome to the last question. I brief the speakers, keep to time and keep the audience voting on Slido all day.

Half day or full day

Members: how brands make people belong

A keynote on belonging, from American Express cardmembers to the Oberoi driver who meets you at the airport with “welcome home, ma'am”. Belonging is the H in hospitality, and the whole point of an Indian meal or a drink shared at home.

Keynote · in development

Events I've hosted and presented

Retail Gazette Customer Experience DayLondon, 2025Full-day host for 200 delegates.

The first-ever Fenjiu SupperclubCheng International, November 2024Scripted and hosted. Baijiu told as a Shakespeare play, prologue to epilogue.

Pays d'Oc Flavour Festival & Sommeliers' ChallengeLondon, 2025Creator and host. Five chefs from five continents cooking against Pays d'Oc wines, for sommeliers and Masters of Wine.

Talking Whisk(e)y: The American Whiskey BoomBrown-Forman, LondonPanellist with Elizabeth McCall and Dr Rachel Barrie, for the Worshipful Companies of Distillers and Marketors.

An Evening in the Company of Indian Single MaltsDiageo, London, December 2025Curator and host. Ten Indian single malt brands in one room for the first time, with Diageo's Craig Wallace as special guest.

South Asian Spirits SocietyLondon Cocktail Week, October 2025Panellist at Silk Stockings, Dalston.

Indian single malt masterclassSoho Whisky Club, May 2026The club added an Indian single malt listing afterwards, and it's still there.

An Evening of Indian WhiskyThe Nightcap Club, July 2026Sold out, with all profits going to the Equal Measures hospitality programme.

Dram QueensSoho Whisky Club, September 2026Guest presenter.

Coming up: Diwali at Lucy CavendishCambridge, November 2026Whisky talk and cocktail pairing for the college's Diwali formal dinner.

Coming up: Whisky High NotesPodcast with Naomi BelshawIndian music and the Jugalbandi series from Rampur, filmed at Soho Whisky Club.

On stage

Ruchira Neotia with fellow panellists after the Talking Whisk(e)y panel at Brown-Forman, London

Ruchira Neotia speaking on the Talking Whisk(e)y panel, microphone in hand

Ruchira Neotia hosting a conference from the lectern

Check availability

Send me the date, the audience and what you want them to leave with. I reply within one working day.

Thank you. I'll reply within one working day.

That didn't send. Email me at ruchira@neomargarita.com and I'll pick it up.

Tell me what you're pouring

ruchira@neomargarita.com

I reply within one working day.