We had a great showing for the final talks on Sunday morning. Erik Boles, from BeerTap TV, started the “Presentations by Bloggers for Bloggers” and did a great job of energizing and awakening people who were still recovering from last night! As someone who has transformed a hobby into a revenue stream, Erik was able to provide some suggestions on how to brand your blog, become relevant and ultimately profit from it.
Kerry Finsand of Taplister discussed the importance of creating a user- friendly platform for the increasing number of people using smart phones to read online content. With the easy tips and suggestions he offered, it became apparent that improving usability among mobile users doesn’t have to be too costly.
Our third presenter, Anne Fitten Glenn of Brewgasm, shared her experience on getting her blog noticed locally, which led to becoming a columnist for the hometown newspaper. While it is great to review the latest and greatest brews, Anne suggested seizing the opportunity to explore and review your community’s local beer scene as well.
The final speaker for the 2010 Beer Bloggers conference was Jay Brooks from Brookston Beer Bulletin, who wrapped things up by talking about the future of beer blogging. He briefly discussed how blogging has evolved, with one new blog created every 2.5 days, and over 700 beer blogs started in the past five years. While some speakers have suggested writing for your audience, Jay offered a contrasting view, believing that you should write what you care about and your audience will find you. As for the future, Jay believes that bloggers are the future, and the fact that there are conferences for bloggers is proof of that.
During our final 30 minutes, plans for next year’s conference were announced. Mark Dredge of Pencil and Spoon announced that we will hold the first European Beer Bloggers Conference, to be held in May or June in London. Mark will be our Chief Blogger for the European conference and we will announce details soon.
Additionally, the next US conference will be in Portland, Oregon, the top vote getter among conference attendees when surveyed previously. We will announce the date and other details soon. See you next year in Portland or London – or both!
So this conference is going to turn into a West Coast thing? If you only poll among attendees, and it’s easier for West Coast folks to make it, it’ll always be out west. I realize Boulder isn’t on the coast, but I suspect the cost of a plane ticket from the Pacific Northwest was less than one from the Northeast.
Yay, Portland! I’m there (or here, as it happens).
I’d be interested to hear what the chatter was with regard to Jay Brooks’ comments, too. Here in Portland, we have an active little corps of bloggers, and I think we benefit from all having slightly different interests in the beer scene. That means we write about different things. Taken together, we do a pretty good job of offering a rich treatment. If any of us had to do what others do better, we’d be writing eight hours a day.
You have used the term “movement” several times. Is craft beer brewing a movement or do you mean beer blogging? To my mind craft beer brewing is an industry,a business.