21 thoughts on “How many beer blogs are there, anyway?”

  1. Maybe it should be based around a major beer event? With the way the beer blog numbers have been rising, I’m sure we could get a decent number together to meet.

    Then we would find sponsors that could help us rent a room or something and after that someone would probably have to get on stage or make a speech. Otherwise it will just get awkward with us all staring at each other.

  3. What a great idea. I had been planning a conference / party based on myself in the next few years called “Al-a-palooza” but this would be a great way to start. My idea is this:

    – do not hold it around an event.
    – tell people to get to a particular beery city during a given week/long weekend. Aim at booking houses through craigslist rather than hotel rooms.
    – have a couple of fixed events for all: maybe booking a craft beer bar, putting a band in a community hall or an afternoon of presentations from attendees.
    – have sponsors cover costs of fixed events. Otherwise no real “fee” for attending other than covering own costs.
    – go to minor league baseball games where pre-arranged cask ale supply has been set up.
    – otherwise, just hang out in various groups in a somewhat relaxed manner to discuss beer and beer blogging.

    I vote for Portland Maine.

  4. Whoa, planning a conference based on yourself? Seriously?

    I just think that a beer blogger’s conference wouldn’t see more than 20 people in attendance. But if it were held on the days surrounding a large festival somewhere, you could boost the number up a bit higher.

    I think that there are somewhere around 250 to 300 beer blogs that I know of. Many of the ones on my list are not really very active though so they certainly wouldn’t attend a conference.

  7. Yes – I was going to have a “me conference” for turning 40 but I started blogging instead. I am determined to hold one for my 50th in 2013.

  8. I think it would be tough to have an actual conference and also make it family oriented. If it were just a gathering where we cooked meat on a grill somewhere and had a sort of picnic I think that could easily be open for families.

    But if it were a conference like the Wine Conference with formal tastings and events with keynote speakers, I don’t really see how children or possibly bored spouses could be involved too well. This is not to say that spouses and children could not go off and do other organized things in the city. But it would be difficult to make a structured conference family friendly.

  9. That is fine but these are two separate things. Making it family oriented, the only way I would go frankly, is why you don’t do it as another structured conference. I was just at an unconference on web design theory and it is quite do-able as long as you get away from the ‘best fest” and “conference” paradigms. I’ve see enough keynote speakers personally.

    But we are likely talking about two different and separate events. Both certainly could happen.

  11. Yeah, we’re definitely talking about two different types of events. I figured we were talking about an event similar to the one that Stan wrote about, not something different.

  12. It’s pretty exciting to see the kind of trouble I can cause from 5,000 miles away . . .

    I hope this discussion continues (maybe Monday, when more people are around).

    Jonathan is right, Alan is right. There are a lot of way this could work, shake out. It’s worth looking at the way the Wine Bloggers event is structured while realizing a beer event would be much different. And better, of course.

    So if you have ideas please comment here. Or write a whole blog post of your own. Alan has. Just leave the URL as a comment.

  13. I think at San Francisco around the time of NHC would be good, but later in the Summer afterwards I could be satisfied with Portland Maine too.

  14. Yes, I figured we were talking about an event similar to the one that Stan wrote about in his last paragraph, not something different.

  16. I’m not unopposed to the idea in theory. I am concerned that, unlike the relative California-centric locus of wine bloggers that no one American city will be convenient for everyone. Not to say that this isn’t a high-paying job, but some of us aren’t so lucky as to be high-paid attorneys who can afford to jet-set around the continent in search of the next great beer.

    Portland’s a great choice, but it’s expensive to get to. Denver’s a good choice, but they have GABF. Chicago isn’t a bad idea, but it’s expensive. San Diego maybe? Milwaukee? Detroit? Philly? The National Brewery Museum?

    Madison, WI anyone? Bah. Didn’t think so.

  17. Hey – I am a lawyer but I sure can’t afford to jet set anywhere. I drive and bring the kids in the mini-van.

    How about making these regional? More than one location?

  18. Hello! This is my first time posting, having followed the link from Alan’s site!

    I LOVE the idea of having a beer get together. I’d do whatever I could to make it. But….

    I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way, but whenever I hear the term “family friendly”, I cringe. My husband and I are both childless by choice, adult brewers. At our brewpub, it is not uncommon to see little children running around at 10 or 11 (or later) at night. On New Years Eve, one woman, in just the epitome of class, put her baby ON THE BAR and kind of left him there for a few. The brewpub tried to be “family friendly”, and it turned into kids screaming and pulling shit down in the beer garden. When they put up signs prohibiting this and asked kids to be out by 9pm, parents threw a fit–and I mean a yelling, screaming, stinking FIT–on the blog, saying that they never get to see their kids otherwise (??), they can’t afford babysitters, etc. It was a mess.

    This is not to say that this would happen at a beer get together, but I think the major problem is that the kids get bored. I teach middle school special ed, and I know that kids get bored easily and I can’t blame them for getting bored at a brewpub if there’s nothing for them to do and the parents are off drinking. Many times, I find myself getting into “teacher” mode (and believe me, I really hate being in “teacher” mode at the bar!!) and watching the kids to make sure they don’t crack their heads open.

    So, this longwinded post is just to say that I love the “hybrid” idea–adults-only stuff and all ages stuff, but I think that we would need to make sure there is something for the wives (and husbands) and kids to do when the rest of us were at the adults-only events.

    Again, I’m not trying to turn this into a childfree vs. parent debate. I’m just thinking ahead….

    PS: Before I was a teacher, I practiced law for seven years. I never made more money than I do as a teacher–honest. We are a union state though, so the money is pretty good.

  20. What a fun idea. I’d love to attend a beer blogger conference. I bet we’d attract a few top brewers to speak, afterall they have our best intentions already in mind. I look forward to hearing more about this.

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