[revolutionisbrewing]

I live in SW Virginia, have been brewing for 6 years and have never been to an NHC.  I'm not sure if anyone else in my club of 80 members has either, and as long as they are held on the west coast, it will probably stay that way.  Yes, it will be in Philly next year, but if I have to miss that one for any reason (newborn baby?), when will my next opportunity come?

This isn't meant to be a rant against the NHC - I understand that the west coast sites were selected out of logistical necessities.  This is a request for the AHA to expand and share that conference experience on a smaller scale at the regional level.  As it is, there are probably thousands of members turned away from the NHC every year due to ticket availability.  Holding conferences throughout the year for several hundred members at a time would allow more of us to share our homebrew and interact with a wider homebrewing audience, present our findings and listen to other experienced homebrewers and local professionals.

Yes it would take more planning and coordination, but I think clubs from smaller cities not equipped for an NHC would embrace the opportunity to bring homebrewers to their area.  Sure we have rallies now, but they're missing the key component that makes NHC so appealing...homebrew!  If I want to dress up in a funny costume and share my beers with people from other cities, I shouldn't have to buy a plane ticket.

What say ye?

Kevin Campbell
VP - Star City Brewers Guild

[dbeechum]

Here's the good news: this idea is already in the hopper!

About the sellouts - remember this is really the first period when people have been shut out, so that's a new trend and we recognize the need to respond to it.

What I'd like to hear, to bring to the GC, is what you'd like to see at these satellite presentations. What's the right size sort of deal?

[revolutionisbrewing]

Maybe somewhere in the 500 to 1000 range depending on the venue.  Include the club night, pro night if there are enough local breweries interested to make it feasible.  Allow local brewers/homebrewers to speak.  Probably keep it around two days.  Basically just downsize the NHC and probably exclude the competition/awards portion, unless maybe it is held in conjunction with the NHC regionals?  Just a thought.

Glad to hear you're working on it!

[bonjour]

I'll second what Drew said.

Regarding the number of NHC's seemingly in Drew's backyard (Oakland, San Diego, Seattle) the intention is to spread the experience around the country.  Every location that has held an NHC started with a bid from a strong local committee that had sufficient facilities to hold the event.  If we don't have a choice we cannot choose.  Currently we are looking at 3000+ for future events (Beyond Philly).

As Drew said smaller regional events are one of the things we are looking into and we really appreciate your thoughts on this.

[Pinski]

unless maybe it is held in conjunction with the NHC regionals? 

That's a great idea.

[marty]

Here's the good news: this idea is already in the hopper!

About the sellouts - remember this is really the first period when people have been shut out, so that's a new trend and we recognize the need to respond to it.

What I'd like to hear, to bring to the GC,is what you'd like to see at these satellite presentations. What's the right size sort of deal?

if these potential conferences were held in the months after NHC, maybe there could be a "best of" condensed program of the seminars from NHC. Original hosts if they're in the area

[thomasbarnes]

Regional conferences could also be combined with NHC first round judging.

They'd also be good training grounds for clubs who are looking to host the NHC Nationals down the line.

Fair or not, big metro areas will always have an advantage when hosting competitions, just because they're better set up for the convention trade, have better transportation infrastructure and more of a critical mass of volunteers to make a big convention happen.

Clubs in smaller cities will need to form regional consortiums to be competitive. Also, having a good, well-established, active HB club really helps. St. Paul/Minneapolis and Cincinnati aren't huge cities, but because they have very good, active clubs, they got the conference in years past.