Virtual Colorado Beer Tasting

September 2nd, 2010 · Uncategorized

We are excited to announce the first-ever Virtual Colorado Beer Tasting to help promote both the Beer Bloggers Conference and Colorado beers.

The tasting will take place Thursday, September 9th, at 7:30 PM Mountain Standard Time. Beer drinkers, beer bloggers, and beer journalists across the continent are invited to purchase your favorite Colorado beers, crack them open all at the same time, and then write, blog, Facebook, and Tweet about them.

You don’t have to be an expert to participate, either at beer tasting or at social media technology. On the beer side, all you need to do is taste, evaluate, and write your comments. Every opinion is a valid opinion when it comes to beer tasting. On the tech side, we make it simple for you. You can Tweet if you already do that (use hash tag #bbc10), post on our Facebook page, or even write a comment on this website. Just go to the Colorado page of this site for full details and visit it on September 9th to help facilitate how you express your opinions.

We already have eight Colorado breweries participating, so please try to select those breweries’ beers if possible. And the Boulder Daily Camera, hometown paper of the conference location, will be printing an article about the tasting tomorrow. See the Daily Camera website for their online version.

So come join many online voices at the first-ever Virtual Colorado Beer Tasting. You can participate from your own living room!

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Where Should the 2011 BBC Be Located?

August 18th, 2010 · From the Organizers

We know, we know. It is still 2.5 months away from the first-ever, 2010 version of the Beer Bloggers Conference. Nevertheless, things are going well. We have a dozen breweries pouring beer, four keynote speakers, four technology companies from Boulder giving presentations (to be announced), and over 70 people signed up.

That means it is time to get feedback on where YOU think the 2011 Beer Bloggers Conference will be held. Just so we are clear, a public vote is only one factor in the decision process. We’ll also poll 2010 registered attendees directly, check with the local beer community in various cities to see what support they can provide, and add our own spin as conference organizers. Still, what the public wants is important.

So please go to https://beerbloggers.uservoice.com and let us know what you think. On this site you can 1) add your own suggestion in the Enter your idea box as to where the conference should be held, 2) spend up to 10 votes on any of the listed suggestions, and 3) leave your comments. Have at it! And please spread the word about the poll.

We’ll announce the 2011 conference location at this year’s conference in Boulder.

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Scholarship Fund for Beer Bloggers?

August 13th, 2010 · From the Organizers

The three-day, two-dinner, multi-beer International Beer Bloggers Conference is only $95 for Citizen Beer Bloggers. However, bloggers also have to pay flight costs to Denver, airport transportation, hotel for two nights, and various other expenses. With a reasonable flight of $400, the whole weekend might cost $900 (less if you share a room), a worthwhile expense if you are into your beer blogging but still a lot for some bloggers.

Two years ago, realizing the same thing was true for wine bloggers, blogger Thea Dwelle from Luscious Lushes decided to create a Wine Bloggers Conference Scholarship fund. She enlisted the help of Megan Kenney (Wannabe Wino) and Liza Swift (Brix Chicks) and in no time started the scholarship.

Thea explains her decision as follows. “We started it because there were friends and strangers that were not going to be coming to the WBC due to financial hardship.  It was a bad year for a lot of folks, and I thought it was silly we couldn’t all pitch in.  From there it blossomed into attracting newbies and people that didn’t know about the WBC to build some diversity and community.”

The WBC Scholarship raised $3800 in 2009, distributed among 11 bloggers, and $4600 for the 2010 conference, distributed among 10 bloggers. Bloggers have to fill out a scholarship application and demonstrate real need before being selected. But once chosen, the scholarship on average helps fund 50% of the costs of the conference.

I was reading a comment on Drink With the Wench today from well-known beer blogger Jeff Alworth from Beervana who said “Wish I could join you all. Unemployment sucks. Raise a pint for all the absent bloggers!” Now, that does suck.

So what do you think? Are there beer bloggers out there who want to step up and create a BBC Scholarship Fund, appealing to bloggers and breweries for donations? Or should beer bloggers take a different tact, creating and running a Scholarship Program where local breweries fund a local blogger to attend, one-on-one? I’d love to hear your comments.

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Live Beer Blogging

August 3rd, 2010 · From the Organizers

One of the liveliest, craziest, events at the Beer Bloggers Conference is also the one that is perhaps most fun and educational: Live Beer Blogging.

On Saturday afternoon, November 6th, up to a dozen breweries will be stationed around the main ballroom of the Boulder Marriott, each at a table of bloggers. Each brewery will have carefully chosen one beer to pour this day – perhaps a special seasonal beer, perhaps that brewery’s flagship ale, or perhaps a special beer brewed just for the conference.

Bloggers and other conference attendees will be seated at tables, poised to write. Some will have laptops keyed up to their blog admin page while others will have their cell phones dialed in to Twitter.

On the word Go, each brewery will have five minutes to pour its beer for those at its table, explain the beer, and answer any questions. Bloggers will taste, evaluate, and write about that beer in the same five minutes. The room will erupt with the voices of brewers and bloggers, the clink of glasses, and the clacking of keyboards. After five minutes, the organizers yell Rotate and the breweries move to the next table to start the process over. Twelve tables in all.

We have four breweries already signed up to participate, all from Colorado: Breckenridge Brewery and Great Divide Brewing from Denver and New Belgium Brewing and Odell Brewery from Fort Collins. These, beer bloggers of the world, are the brave breweries willing to take risks and sign up first. Yes, it is a crazy process that can seem daunting to both breweries and bloggers. Yes, time is limited (by design) and there is no luxury of either casually telling a story or lazily tasting a beer.

However, the process is fantastic. Brewers will have to identify exactly what it is about their beer – and their brewery – that is special. Bloggers will have to hone their skills, identifying what they like (or dislike) about each beer and efficiently putting that into words. In the end, this will be one of the signature events of the conference.

Bloggers, sharpen your metaphorical pencils! Breweries, whether in Colorado or not, sign up now for the remaining eight spots!

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Keynote Speakers Announced

July 20th, 2010 · From the Organizers

Check out this lineup of speakers at the 2010 Beer Bloggers Conference:

Greg Koch, Stone Brewing CEO & co-founder, will explain “Why Beer Bloggers are Important to Craft Brewers and the Craft Beer Movement”.  Greg will explain why the passion, camaraderie and knowledge base of the beer blogging community make them the most effective voice.  However, it won’t be all preaching to the converted with messages of sunshine, rainbows and unicorns, as Greg will also be talking about the importance of upping your game, not being afraid to voice actual, real opinions, journalistic integrity, and refusing to kowtow to the behemoths.

Jessica Daynor, Managing Editor of Draft Magazine, will give a talk on “Beer Journalism: Beer Bloggers and the Print Media”. Hear Jessica’s views on writing about the beer industry and how both print media and bloggers fit into the equation. She’ll also provide advice on upping your game to be a better researcher, writer, and editor on your own blog. Draft Magazine is the leading consumer magazine in the beer industry and has four separate blogs on its website.

Julia Herz, Craft Beer Program Director of the Brewers Association, will speak on “Why Beer Bloggers Further the Revolution”. Julia will talk about the history, current status, and influence of the beer blogging community. She will discuss the first-ever bloggers conference, why you should attend beer industry events, and what you can do to further strengthen the beer blogging community.

Harry Schuhmacher, Publisher of Beer Business Daily, will speak on “The Crystal Ball: Looking Into the Future of Beer and Beer Blogging”. Harry has been described by Julia Herz of the Brewers Association as “So plugged in. His information is read, daily, by the key brewers, craft brewers, distributors and sales people in the U.S. beer business.” So he is the right guy to give us a preview of the future.

We hope you agree this is an incredible lineup of speakers. It is pretty special this group will be taking time from their busy schedules to attend the Beer Bloggers Conference and give their thoughts on beer blogging to you, the community of bloggers. You might have met or heard one or more of these speakers before but this will likely be the first time these industry players will be speaking directly to you.

In addition to these keynote talks, we will have a number of sessions on the nuts and bolts of beer blogging, still to be announced. Those registered for the conference will have an opportunity to vote on some of these topics but I can give you one preview. Erik Boles from Beer Tap TV will be speaking on Monetization. Click on the video below to hear a few of his ideas and then register to join us November 5-7 in Boulder for the first-ever Beer Bloggers Conference!

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Colorado Beer Bloggers

July 12th, 2010 · From the Organizers

There are approximately 400 “citizen” beer bloggers in North America, those not associated with a brewery, publication, or other business. Colorado has more than its fair share, with 14 active citizen beer bloggers (and another seven who write for the media.)

Two days ago I met with six of these bloggers at the Oskar Blues brewpub and brewery in Longmont, Colorado. We had several goals for the meeting. One was to provide a view into the new Oskar Blues Longmont brew pub. A second was to let the bloggers meet each other and start the process of making a more solid Colorado beer blogger community. A third was to discuss how we might jointly promote the upcoming Beer Bloggers Conference.

Chad, the marketing guy at Oskar Blues, provided a nice array of beers and food for the group, we were able to tour the brewery, and we even ran across the owner, Dale. See the Jenn and Beer and Ales for All blog writeups for complete information. While Oskar Blues is most famous for its premium canned beer, I was most impressed with the incredible enthusiasm the company has, above everything, for producing good beer. First goal achieved.

I think the six bloggers in attendance also had a great time meeting each other. Some were relatively new to beer blogging and others were three-year veterans. We had traditional written word bloggers, an audio blogger, and two video bloggers. Most importantly, though, everyone seemed to realize they are in this together and it helps to know others who are home, perhaps late at night, struggling through the same issues as you.

Finally, we discussed the upcoming Beer Bloggers Conference. We all agreed the conference will be good for beer bloggers and good for the Colorado beer industry. I asked for and received feedback on keynote speakers (more info coming soon). We talked about promoting the conference to beer bloggers across the nation (don’t be surprise if one of these Colorado bloggers contacts you), speaking to other bloggers about the conference while at the Great American Beer Festival, and having a Virtual Colorado Beer Tasting, which is on our agenda.

Lessons from the weekend? If you sometimes feel alone or discouraged as a beer blogger, remember you have others you can rely on. If you have not rallied with your local beer bloggers, you should consider it so everyone has a support group. And if you are not yet signed up for the November 5-7 Beer Bloggers Conference in Boulder, now is the time!

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Five Lessons From the Wine Bloggers Conference

June 28th, 2010 · From the Organizers

We at Zephyr Adventures just finished running the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference. 300 bloggers and others involved in online media in the wine world gathered in Walla Walla, Washington. This was the third annual conference. While I know wine is not beer, wineries are not breweries, and wine bloggers are not beer bloggers, it would be pure head-in-the-sand avoidance not to take away a few thoughts for the upcoming Beer Bloggers Conference. Here are five – replace the word “wine” for “beer” and this might be your crystal ball.

1. Wineries Believe in Wine Bloggers: I estimated last night that around 1800 bottles of wine were opened this weekend by wineries. We had 14 wineries and wine associations pouring wine as Premier Sponsors, two dinner sponsors, two After Hours party sponsors, one lunch sponsor, and another 30 or so local wineries participating in a Saturday morning field trip. Wineries believe in the power of bloggers to influence consumers.

2. Making Money – Offline – From Wine Blogging: We learned loud and clear at the first Wine Bloggers Conference that most bloggers do not make more than pocket change from their blog and probably never will. However, there have been some highly public instances of wineries hiring bloggers to run their social media marketing. There were winery representatives at the conference specifically to scout out potential employees. In addition, one key wine blogger expressed his intent to move from blogging to starting his own winery. Very cool.

3. Live Wine Blogging Kicks Hiney: Wow. Our featured Live Wine Blogging session is awesome. This year we had two different sessions, one for white and one for red wines. The format is sort of like speed dating where 25 wineries each have five minutes to pour, talk, and answer questions for one table of bloggers before rotating to the next table for a total of 12 rounds. Bloggers were writing, Tweets were flying, and wineries were loving the access to educated, passionate people who were publicizing their views.

4. Walla Walla Loves Wine Bloggers and Wine Bloggers Love Walla Walla: We held the first WBC in Sonoma County and the second in Napa and Sonoma. This year we moved the conference and it was a huge success. The Walla Walla community rolled out the carpet and our reception was awesome. In turn, I heard only fantastic comments from bloggers about the town and the local wine community. Next year we are on to Charlottesville, Virginia. Moving the conference from year to year is a powerful idea that lets everyone win.

5. You Don’t Want to Miss the next Wine (Beer) Bloggers Conference: Every conference gets a little better and attendees at the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference raved about the food, the wines, the interaction, and the education. We had 10 people sign up for the 2011 conference, 13 months out, within four hours of finishing the 2010 conference. There are many reasons people might hesitate in signing up for the first-ever Beer Bloggers Conference, including budget, time constraints, and simply a wait-and-see attitude. Don’t wait.

What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Twitter and Ashley the Beer Wench

June 14th, 2010 · From the Organizers

You might have already heard we have selected Ashley Routson, aka The Beer Wench, to be the Chief Blogger of the conference. Ashley blogs at her site, Drink With the Wench, as well as for Mutineer Magazine. Ashley is a dedicated and influential beer blogger who has an excellent feature on her blog called The Beer Blogger Interview Series. If you want to know a little about your fellow bloggers before attending the conference, check it out.

As the conference’s Chief Blogger, Ashley will have some official duties such as giving the opening welcome and the final closing comments. She’ll also be one of our sounding boards when we are making decisions that affect you, the participant beer bloggers.

In addition, we are proud to announce that Ashley will be managing the Twitter process for the 2010 Beer Bloggers Conference. We have set up the Twitter account @beerbloggers and Ashley will be Tweeting and Retweeting about the conference. So sign up to follow her and please use the hash tag #BBC10 on all your Tweets about the conference!

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Why You Should Attend the Beer Bloggers Conference

June 7th, 2010 · From the Organizers

We already have a dozen “early adopters” registered for the first-ever International Beer Bloggers & Online Media Conference, scheduled for November 5-7 in Boulder, Colorado. Not bad considering we just announced it a few days ago. We have also received a large number of responses from people who are considering  attending but haven’t yet made up their minds. Thus, three great reasons to register for the BBC:

1. You don’t want to miss out. The conference is limited to 150 people and will likely sell out. Why do we predict this? Primarily because the first-ever Wine Bloggers Conference, back in 2008, was also an unknown but sold out. In fact, we limited the conference to 150 people, increased it to eventually allow in 183 participants, and sadly had to turn away another 21. Once the momentum got going, registrations happened fast and we think the same will happen with the Beer Bloggers Conference.

2. You will have an outstanding experience. Again referring to the Wine Bloggers Conference, we can safely predict you’ll have an awesome experience. 83% of participants at that first Wine Bloggers Conference rated their experience Very Good or Outstanding and 99% rated it as a positive experience. (One person rated it “fair” – we are not sure why.) As one attendee said “I have been to hundreds of conferences for work, ed and play—I can safely say yours was one of the best organized I have ever been to!  Kudos to you all!” And since we at Zephyr Adventures have now had three years of experience running conferences for bloggers, the first-ever Beer Bloggers Conference should be even better.

3. The content will be excellent. We have received many inquires about the content and already about 10 suggestions for good speakers and subjects. We can’t tell you yet what the exact content will be because we will first hold a survey of registrants to let those folks vote on which subjects they want to learn about. We can give you a few examples of potential topics: how to monetize your blog, using Wordpress more efficiently, how beer blogging differs in Europe versus North America, how to increase your blog’s readership, how social media ties in to search engine optimization, using video in your blog, and how to interview a beer industry subject. We’ll also have some great keynote speakers from the beer industry, beer press, and/or from among your fellow bloggers. This conference is about having fun and meeting people but it is also about learning.

To find out more, peruse this site, read our first blog entry announcing the conference, or sign up for the Beer Blog News alerts on the right.

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The Worlds’ First Beer Bloggers Conference

May 30th, 2010 · From the Organizers

We are proud to announce the world’s first Beer Bloggers & Social Media Conference. Scheduled for November 5-7, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado, the conference will bring together an estimated 150 beer bloggers and others involved with online and social media in the beer industry.

The conference will include excellent dinners, delicious beer tastings, interesting speakers, and outstanding academic sessions designed to help beer bloggers improve their trade. We have already lined up some serious support including the Boulder Beer Company and Oskar Blues Brewery as our two dinner sponsors, Draft Magazine to help promote the conference, and the Boulder Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Colorado Brewers Guild. The host hotel is the Boulder Marriott. More sponsors will be announced soon.

If you are serious about being or becoming a beer blogger, this is the place to be. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet your fellow bloggers and to have an impact on how beer blogging develops.

We expect this conference to sell out, so reserve your space today. If you have questions, please contact us at info @ beerbloggersconference dot org or leave a comment on this blog. Please also sign up to receive updates of this site from Feedburner so you can keep abreast of future happenings. We hope to see you in November in Boulder!

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