2beerguys beer blog

Bringing it home to Boston – #BBC13 – Beer Bloggers Conference

It’s Monday morning and we are pumped for a very busy week in the North East.  Coming off 8 very hot days, the heat wave has passed — just in time for the 4th Annual Beer Bloggers Conference.  This party starts on Friday July 26th, when over 100 bloggers from around the world will embark on a journey to one of the historical places in the world:  Boston.  We are grateful that  Zephyr Adventures  selected Boston to host the 2013 beer bloggers conference in New England.  We are also proud of the amazing breweries in the North East and we are excited to showcase them to our fellow bloggers and friends.

As mentioned, Boston is the fourth destination for the Beer Bloggers conference, following Boulder, Colorado in 2010; Portland, Oregon in 2011; and Indianapolis, Indiana in 2012.  It is hard to believe, but this is going to be the best conference of them all.  Kicking off with a pre-excursion to Portland, Maine; the beer blogging krew will visit Cabot Creamery for a Beer and Cheese Pairing, then a Beer Pairing at Sebago Brewing, followed by a dinner at the Thirsty Pig .   The next morning, the krew will stop at the historic seaport of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for a special lunch at the Portsmouth Brewery.

On Friday, the full conference begins at the Park Plaza hotel in Boston.  The conference is a non-stop beer journey through Boston and beyond.  There will be presentations by Julia Herz of the Brewers Association, a Keynote Speech by Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company, a Keynote Speech by Ray Daniels of the Cicerone Certification Program, John Holl (author of Massachusetts Breweries) and Norm Miller (of Beer Nut and the book Beer Lover’s New England) along with other presenters.  There will be brewery visits to both Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams) and Harpoon Brewery; along with other local craft beer destinations.

During the conference, attendees will learn about the State of Beer Blogging, along with the mechanics of beer pouring, live beer blogging, integrating social media with beer tastings, how to stand out in a crowd, and we will hear from success stories from other bloggers within the community.  It is a great time to help refocus and to get inspired to continue with our passions of beer blogging.  The success of the current craft beer industry has come along side of the passion of those within the community: brewers, owners, craft beer bloggers, craft beer drinkers.  Without each piece, the industry wouldn’t be flourishing as it is now.

Rather than just hearing from me, here is some excitement from other bloggers making the trip to Boston (with more to follow).

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From Alan McCormick aka @GrowlerFills

Growler Fills is headed to Boston!  What is Growler Fills?  Growler Fills is craft beer enthusiasm: news, education, discussion and commentary.  We tell the story of Montana craft beer while making national stories relevant to local Montana beer lovers.   While it’s a conversation about beer, it’s fundamentally a story about people: the people who make it, the people who drink it and the social bond that surrounds it.

The upcoming 2013 Beer Bloggers’ Conference will be my third and it has quickly become a highlight of my beer year.  The content is always strong and the beer is fabulous, but no conference can be successful without great people.  And that’s where the Beer Bloggers Conference excels.  It’s become a reunion of sorts for friends I’ve met from around the U.S. who come together over a common bond, the common interest in communicating about beer.  I’ve never seen anything make friends out of strangers faster than solving the world’s problems over a pint.

I’m crazy excited to come to Boston and take part in the pre-excursion to Maine and New Hampshire.  The beer culture is incredible and getting the inside scoop from folks like Brian (Seacoast Beverage Lab), Carla (The Beer Babe), and Sean and Amber (2 Beer Guys) is a tremendous bonus.  Yet, what excites me most is wondering what new ideas, new connections and new inspirations I’ll take away from this year’s conference experience.  There’s no question Growler Fills has grown to be what it is today due in part to the conversations I’ve had with these same folks.  Heck, I can even trace the inspiration and confidence to create Missoula Craft Beer Week to a casual conversation with 2BeerGuys on a bus ride in the other Portland. (Bet you didn’t know that.)  Who knows what will come out of this year’s reunion!

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SBL Podcast – Beer Bloggers – Monday August 22, 2013 – 8 to 10 PM

Here more directly from the source, tonight on the 42 episode of the SBLPocast, we will be talking with other attendees of the 4th Annual Beer Bloggers Conference in Boston, MA.  Watch us live and join is in the chat room:  SBLPodcast.com/42

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Please follow us on this amazing journey on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter.  For easy updates, please follow hashtag #BBC13 & #BeerBloggers.  If you’d like to learn more, please visit http://beerbloggersconference.org.