The Beer Now Conference has been around since 2010 and has traveled to over ten cities including Boulder, Boston, San Diego, Milwaukee, Tampa, Great Falls, and Asheville. It has undergone name changes, from the Beer Bloggers Conference to the Beer Bloggers & Writers Conference to Beer Now. We ran and then stopped a sister European Beer Bloggers Conference. We have had half a dozen different staff work on this conference over the last 11 years. We have had thousands of Alumni, speakers, and sponsors and want to thank you for your support over the years.
Our Current Status
The pandemic was extremely tough on events. We canceled all our 2020 events once the pandemic hit and are only running two of our five conferences in 2021. We lost two of our three conference staff – Reno and Sara – whom we still miss.
We did successfully run a Wine Media Conference in August with 144 people and no community transmission, so we are confident events can be held safely. But interest in events has fallen as people have curtailed travel, reduced indoor gatherings, or simply changed their lifestyle or life trajectory due to the pandemic. In 2021, Beer Now is full steam ahead for November 10 – 14 in Austin. We have an awesome outdoor location at a ranch/brewery, strong sponsor support, and excellent speakers. Plus, we are in one of the best beer cities in the country.
Unfortunately, our attendance is low and not enough to justify us running the conference beyond 2021 if things don’t change. We have 66 registered attendees at this point.
The Future
First off, we are posting this as a plea. If you have never attended Beer Now, please consider doing so! If you are an alumnus but not signed up, please consider doing so! We would love to double or triple are current numbers. If you are already registered, we hope you are still planning to attend. Small conferences are just as great, and in some ways better, than larger ones.
We are also open to future solutions that would give Beer Now a bit more solidity. That could include partnering with another organization, combining with another event, finding a fixed location, or signing on a multi-year title sponsor. Please reach out!
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