Beer Bloggers Conference: Part 6

Click here to read Part 5.

Too much beer.  Too little sleep.  Massive exhaustion.  The last day of the Beer Bloggers Conference was tinged with parting sorrow but also with relief; relief that maybe—just maybe—we’d recuperate from this long weekend and not keel over from swollen livers or sleep deprivation. 

The last day was a morning of seminars and a closing keynote speech.  The first panel discussion was titled Taking it to the Next Step or how to advance one’s blog, gain more readership, and boast a little more clout in the craft beer community.  The main takeaways from this session:

·         Tweet your little heart out.  BrewDad claims it was on Twitter where he started to garner a lot of attention and now he’s in negotiations for a beer-related TV show. 

·         Don’t drink and Tweet.  Beer bloggers have an image to uphold and misspelled, incoherent rants do much to tarnish said image.

·         When Tweeting, don’t use all 140 characters.  Leave a few extra spaces so people can re-Tweet your message accompanied with their thoughts, too.

·         Beer bloggers are important enough to write for big publications.  They’re also not so important that they can’t write for small publications.  Be confident, not uppity.

·         A beer blogger’s knowledge is valuable so don’t dole out all your information for free.  A lawyer charges for his or her consultation, why shouldn’t beer bloggers?  Of course, it goes without saying that nickel-and-diming people is a sleazy way of doing business; not every bit of information should come with a price tag.  Beer bloggers are experts, though, and it’s about time we were treated as such.

·         Keep your blog updated.  It looks unprofessional when you have months-long gaps between posts.

·         “Grow the circle.”  Engage people who aren’t beer blogger or beer geeks otherwise we’re just talking to ourselves.  Don’t throw out a lot of jargon without explaining its meaning; that’s a turn-off to the uninitiated.  Expand the blog into other genres.  A foodie doesn’t have reason to read your beer blog unless it’s a “cooking with beer” blog.  Now there’s a subject matter overlap and a chance for increased readership.  I consider Beer in Colorado a travel journal/beer blog hybrid; perhaps I can attract a wider audience by hyping the travel aspects.

Next was Creating a Beer Event presented by Eric of Focus on the Beer. 

·         I may have to hand in my Colorado Card because, while I knew Eric was based in Colorado, I never got the joke behind his blog’s title.  It was only recently I realized he’s from Colorado Springs, Colorado and, now that I have that piece of the puzzle, the name “Focus on the Beer” is hilarious.

·         Cardinal rule of hosting a beer event?  Have enough cups for everyone. 

·         Check out Eric’s Beers Made by Walking project.

The last official order of business was the closing keynote speech by author Randy Mosher.  While the opening keynote speech mainly concerned Garrett Oliver’s philosophy of brewing, Mosher’s speech was a history lesson on the lesser-known aspects of beer.

·         In the days of the ancient Greeks when everybody drank wine, it was considered barbaric to drink beer.  Unfortunately, that stigma sticks with us today as society’s upper-crust indulges in wine and looks down their noses at the uncouth beer guzzlers.  Actually, no, it’s not unfortunate.  Call me a barbarian; I’d rather be that than a wine snob.  Compare your local beer bar to your local wine bar and tell me which one has the most jovial patrons. 

·         Quick, name the civilization that invented “light” beer!  America?  Thankfully, we can’t be held responsible for that atrocity.  Hang the blame on the Sumerians.

·         Who invented the drinking boot?  That’s got to be the Germans, right?  Nope, the Persians.  Funny how one of beer culture’s most debaucherous activities originated in a country where you’d now have your tongue cut out of your head for simply looking at a beer.

·         The first beer to use hops had to be from somewhere in Europe, right?  Right, but it’s not from the country you’d assume; it was Italy!

With the conclusion of Mosher’s speech came the official close of the conference.  Fret not, for there was still fun left in the day!  We had the opportunity to take home Night of Many Bottles leftovers (I made sure to nab a Red Snapper Roasted Pale Ale from Arbor Brewing Company; fellow fans of the movie UHF will understand why) and, afterwards, those of us who didn’t have a plane to catch received an unofficial conference perk: a private lunch and tour at Sun King Brewery.

Sun King

We snacked on sun King’s deli meat buffet and I drank the special-release schwarzbier.  We also talked at length with the Hoperatives from the Cincinnati-area.  I admit that after that conversation I'm willing to concede that Cincy may well be a worthy destination for beer tourists.  Most exciting, however, was the fact that I was finally able to obtain the Sun King version of the Chaka can!  My collection (of two) is now complete. 

  

Then, after a weekend that felt simultaneously like eons and nanoseconds, the Beer Bloggers Conference was officially and unofficially over.  A single, beer-laced tear rolled down my haggard face.   But what fun it was!  I refer back to Part 1 in this series where I admonish those who criticize the conference for being too corporate or whatever.  Yes, you’re right; it’s too corporate.  I was being sold every second.  It was basically one big commercial.  I’ll say anything to keep your sourpuss self from attending the next conference and tainting this great group of people with your negativity.  This event is for people who want to learn, meet great people, and drink great beer; all others need not apply.

A red snappah!  Mmm, very tasty.

Speaking of the next conference, there were rumblings on where it should be held next.  My vote goes out to Boston.  I’ve never visited and, despite the fact that some of my most hated sports teams reside there, I’d like to check the city out if only to evacuate my bladder on Gillette Stadium.

Goodbye, beer bloggers; you’re all splendid people!

I may be done writing about the Beer Bloggers Conference but Nicole and I actually did a lot more after  the conference, too, so be on the lookout for our post-conference shenanigans.

Prost!

Chris

P.S. Check out this video from the conference's Live Beer Blogging session.

My biggest take-away from the last day of the conference was how to reach out to new readers. I like to cook and bake and I really like to cook and bake with beer. Hopefully, once I get over the back-to-school blues, I’ll be able to post on a regular basis recipes using Colorado beer. I already made a delicious pot roast with Renegade Brewing Company’s Ryeteous Rye IPA and next on my list is beer cheese soup—hopefully with Renegade’s Una Mas if it’s on tap again soon.

Nicole