A message from the WAHA NHC Committee Chair:
Hi everyone, I know it seems a long way away, but the next American Homebrewers Conference will be in San Francisco in June. I have reserved a table for WAHA for Club Night, and all WAHA clubs are welcome to participate. If you plan to go, be sure to reserve a room at the conference site, the information from Gary Glass is below.
If you have never been to a conference, let me give you a brief rundown. What do you think happens when you take 1000 serious homebrewers and beer lovers and pack them into a hotel for 3 days of lectures and sampling?
The nights are less informative but no less educational - Thursday night is Pro-Brewers night, a beer festival just for conference attendees. The brewers know that there are no Bud drinkers in the crowd and bring some of their best stuff. Friday night is Club Night - same as Thursday, except instead of the pros every table is serving homebrew (600+ kegs in Cincinnati)! Saturday is the awards banquet, a sit down dinner where the winners of the National Homebrew Competition are announced.
And before I forget, there is a Hospitality Suite that is open the whole time during the conference, and clubs take turns serving homebrew. All day.
The 2nd round judging of the NHC takes place on Thursday, so if you plan to judge you'll want to be there early. There are typically pre-conference events as well, including a judge reception Wednesday night. Last year in Cincy there was a Bourbon tour, a bus load of homebrewers in Kentucky sampling and touring distilleries. This year expect tours and dinners in the days before the conference.
If your club expects to have a huge turnout and wants to have your own booth for Club Night, a representative should contact David Brattstrom <http://us.mc527.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=nhcclubnight%40gmail.com> right away. You should probably have at least 6 people going to staff your booth. Oh, and clubs often have a theme and dress up in costumes . . .
Booths can be as simple as a jockey box on a table, or as elaborate as you want - clubs are known to build entire many-tap bars that can be easily disassembled and loaded into a trailer for transport. Then there was the slot machine that dispensed beer at the conference in Vegas . . . anyway, if anyone is interested in helping construct a bar or devise a theme for WAHA, let me know <http://us.mc527.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=tschmidlin%40earthlink.net> and we'll begin planning.
If you plan to go or have any questions, let me know: http://us.mc527.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=tschmidlin%40earthlink.net
When you do, also let me know if you:
Plan to drive, when you'll leave, and if you'll have room for people or cornies
Want to help build a bar
Want to help organize for Club Night
Plan to just show up and have fun
Even if you aren't going, if you want to give us some kegs to take, tell me!
Tom