World's First Beer Blogger Conference

The first annual International Beer Bloggers & Online Media Conference has been announced to take place in sunny Boulder, Colorado, November 5-7, 2010.

Montana-based Zephyr Adventures is the organizing force behind the blogger rally. Zephyr owner Allan Wright and company have been running active tours around the world for the last 14 years. With roots in guided adventures related to hiking and trekking, biking, skating, and more recently wine adventuring, Zephyr now expands their scope to include the world of beer. According to their website, there are already a dozen “early adopters” registered for the three day event. The Beer Bloggers Conference (BBC) lists three main reasons why this event is a must attend for any beer blogger: 1) There is limited availability of room. For the inaugural Wine Blogger’s Conference (WBC), tickets were swooped up surprisingly fast and BBC organizers expect even more momentum with this one. 2) It will be an outstanding experience. The WBC was a huge hit with a great review by attendees, and Zephyr says this will likely be even better. 3) Zephyr and BBC promise excellent content. Says the organizers “We have received many inquires about the content and already about 10 suggestions for good speakers and subjects.” Some topics covered will be: 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. BBC also promises great keynote speakers for the event.

All of this sounded great to us and we were just about to sign up and make plans for the event, but we wanted to learn a little bit more. So, we spoke with Zephyr Adventures and BBC founder Allan Wright to get further insight into what might sway any blogger, reporter, or beer lover on the fence about this unique experience.

Tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind starting the International Beer Bloggers & Online Media Conference. How did the concept come about and what was your role in developing it?

Allan Wright: My company, Zephyr Adventures, started the first-ever Wine Bloggers Conference back in 2008. The conference has been extremely successful and is now in its third year. We have been planning to duplicate this by creating a Beer Bloggers Conference for over a year and finally got it off the ground.

Who else was involved with the conceptualization and development of the conference?

AW: Zephyr Adventures is the main organizer of the conference. However, we initially approached the Boulder community to see if they would be interested to host and got some excellent initial support from the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau. Two local breweries (Oskar Blues and Boulder Beer Company) also signed on to provide meals (and beer) to conference participants and these folks have been very helpful in getting the conference off the ground.

From my understanding, Zephyr Adventures is the creator of the conference and behind the concept. Your website until now appeared heavily centered around biking, skating, and wine. On Zephyr’s site it says “we don’t try to be all things to all people. Instead, we only run tours we think are outstanding vacations where we are the experts.” Do you consider yourself a beer expert? What is your background with beer?

AW: This is a great question. No, we are not beer experts. To be honest, we were not wine experts either three years ago when we started the Wine Bloggers Conference, although we are pretty versed in the wine industry now. We are, however, experts in organizing and creating events. This is what will allow us to put on a fantastic Beer Bloggers Conference. We will reach out to the beer and beer blogger communities to make sure the event is also excellent in terms of beer and the beer industry. Give us a couple years and we will not only be experts in the beer industry but we’ll also probably be running active beer tours.

Seeing that Zephyr is based out of Montana, why was Colorado chosen as the location for this event?

AW: Seven years ago we at Zephyr Adventures gave up our physical office and have had a virtual office ever since. We find it is more efficient and creates a better lifestyle. While the company is based in Montana, where I used to live, I now live in Boulder. Since Boulder is a beautiful town with a strong tech community and 10 local breweries within the city limits, it is also an excellent place to host a beer bloggers conference. The conference will likely move to new locations in future years.

As stated on the Beer Bloggers Conference website: “The cost of the conference is $95 for citizen beer bloggers (those unaffiliated with a business or organization), $195 for industry beer bloggers (those whose blog is affiliated with a brewery, retail store, or other business or organization), and $295 for non-blogger participants (industry, media relations professionals, friends and family, etc). ” As reporters on craft beer, why should someone who is able to get free entry to most beer events, like GABF, be willing to pay for this event?

AW: This conference is more than a beer event. For one thing, two fantastic dinners are included in addition to a lot of beer. More importantly, the conference is educational by nature and will include keynote speakers, educational sessions, and breakout topics all tailored to beer bloggers and those involved with online and social media. This is not just a beer tasting event but a chance for bloggers and others interested in beer blogging to learn about their trade.

What can a success blogger/beer reporter expect to take away from this conference?

AW: Attendees can expect to take away three things: 1) A fantastic weekend full of fun, food, and beer. 2) An excellent opportunity to meet other beer bloggers, whom they might know only via the internet. 3) Knowledge to improve their trade and become better bloggers.

What do you see as the highlights of this three day conference?

AW: The highlight of the conference itself will likely be the Live Beer Blogging. This is an incredible event at which attendees will be seated at round tables in a grand ballroom. Each table will have one brewer who will have five minutes to pour and talk about his or her beer while the participants blog, Tweet, or Facebook about the beer they are tasting. After five minutes, the brewers rotate to the next table in a sort of “speed dating” format. The atmosphere of the event is amazing, the instant online exposure for the breweries is excellent, and everyone leaves having had a great time.

Tell us about some of the speakers at this year’s event? Are they only those from Colorado? Any Portland bloggers/speakers to be involved?

AW: We do not yet have a list of speakers for one very good reason: we let participants themselves decide what topics they want to hear. This is a conference for bloggers and they should have a say in the content. I am even now collecting suggestions for keynote speakers and content topics. We will ultimately put these to a vote of participants. Speakers will come from the Boulder tech community, from the beer industry, and from among the ranks of bloggers themselves. Sample topics could include using video in a blog, using social media to improve Search Engine Optimization, making a website accessible to mobile browsers, how to use WordPress more efficiently, how to monetize a blog, how to conduct an interview with someone in the beer industry, how to write a beer review, etc.

Please add anything else I may have missed. Thank you for your time!

AW: I left what I think is the most important idea for last. The beer industry is gigantic and yet most consumers get their information about beer via paid advertisements from the big players. There is an opportunity out there for beer bloggers individually and as a group to become a powerful force in educating and shaping the buying habits of beer drinkers. However, for this to happen individual beer bloggers need to produce a quality product that consumers will trust and beer bloggers as a community need to have a strong, coherent image so people actually seek out their opinions. This is not just about individual bloggers but about gaining credibility and influence as a group. The Beer Bloggers Conference can help make this happen and simply having a conference is one step in the right direction.

Thanks, Allan. You’ve convinced us. We’ve just booked our trip!