Beer Blogger Conference?

[The Beer Babe]

Another idea that has been thrown out there is that there is a wine bloggers conference, but no beer bloggers conference. Why? Probably because not a lot of beer bloggers think that there are many other beer bloggers out there. It doesn't have to be GABF big, but what do you think about having a beer blogger conference, workshop, meetup or weekend? ALL THOUGHTS ENCOURAGED. Thoughts born after a few pints are also welcome. Cheers!

[Dan]

Also, out of curiosity (and to fully establish my contrarian nature; really I'm not a big downer jerk I swear :)) what sort of advantages come from having an outside company put on a conference? I mean the center I work for has put on a few so I know that it can get mildly hectic, but that's for an international rehab conference. I'm not saying it's not worth it at all: just asking what the benefits would be.

[Allan Wright]

Questions are good, Dan! If you all have not looked at it yet, I suggest you look at www.winebloggersconference.org. The benefits of an outside company like Zephyr Adventures organizing a conference are you get a first-class conference with excellent speakers, lots of free beer to taste and (probably) free meals during the conference, and discounted hotel rates. We organize all of that. Plus, we do a lot of the actual recruiting to beer bloggers to convince them to come, without which there isn't a conference.

When we created the first Wine Bloggers Conference, no one knew if it would work. It takes a ton of effort and a critical mass of attendees. We can help provide both. To be upfront, this is a money-making role for me but most of that money comes from sponsorship dollars, which I use to pay my employees' salaries for the time they spend working on this.

Dan said:

Also, out of curiosity (and to fully establish my contrarian nature; really I'm not a big downer jerk I swear :)) what sort of advantages come from having an outside company put on a conference? I mean the center I work for has put on a few so I know that it can get mildly hectic, but that's for an international rehab conference. I'm not saying it's not worth it at all: just asking what the benefits would be.

[Jorge Zarate]

I think a beer blogger conference would be great, although they are not easy to put together... I'm currently part of a beer drinker group... lol... we are not drunks, we just visit local micro breweries and places that serve good beer on tap and talk beer...

Benefits for bloggers are networking opportunities and we can get micro breweries and pubs to sponsor the event so they get exposure...

I'd definitely love to be part of this and will be willing to help out in anyway I can...

Jorge

[the beer wench]

Rumor has it that this is happening. November 2010. Stay tuned.

[Allan Wright]

I am proud to announce the world's first Beer Bloggers Conference. It will be held November 5-7, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado and you can visit the website here: http://www.BeerBloggersConference.org.

We at Zephyr Adventures have been running the Wine Bloggers Conference for three years now and I have seen how it has had a big, positive impact on wine bloggers. Wine bloggers now have the opportunity to meet each other, they have more interaction and credibility with the wine industry, and they have learned a lot about being excellent bloggers. We expect the same for the Beer Bloggers Conference and invite you to attend, blog about it, and help spread the word.

It is not easy to get the first conference off the ground. Unfortunately, we had to do a lot of work behind the scenes before we could announce the conference. Now that it is announced, we will make sure to keep in touch with you, the beer bloggers for whom the conference is created, as we move forward finding speakers, deciding on content, etc. To keep informed, please make sure to sign up for the Beer Blog News alerts on the conference website.

Let me know your thoughts!

[The Beer Wrangler]

My wife is going to a mummy bloggers conference in New York. It's pretty big (and expensive - we live in Vancouver BC) and they have sponsorship.
A good sponsor would keep the costs down, but as they are finding (sponsership by Nestlé ) the big sponsors are also the big companies (boo hiss) We should get a geographical map of interested beer bloggers and find a good spot that's near the most people.

[Dale Miskimins]

I am looking forward to the November conference. Let's hope that an early winter storm doesn't interfere. See you there!