We have exciting new announcements to make for the upcoming Beer Bloggers Conference. But first, we want to sadly say that Harry Schuhmacher from our original list of keynote speakers has had to withdraw. Harry has been a supporter of the conference since the first he heard about it, signed up to attend within 30 minutes of getting an email from us, and eagerly agreed to speak at the conference. Unfortunately, life sometimes gets in the way of beer.
However, we are very pleased to announce Jay Brooks from the Brookston Beer Bulletin will be keynoting in Harry’s place. Jay will speak on “Looking Into the Crystal Ball: The Future of Beer Blogging”. Jay was the General Manager of and still writes for the Celebrator Beer News, writes the Bottoms Up blog for the Oakland Tribune, and blogs on his own at the Brookston Beer Bulletin.
We would also like to announce that Seattle-based SEO expert Dustin Woodard is flying down to present to the conference on Beer Blog Site Reviews. Dustin will review three volunteer beer blogs on the spot, pointing out successes and errors, and share over $10,000 worth of SEO advice for everyone’s benefit.
We have tapped into the Boulder technology scene to bring you speakers from four Boulder tech companies, each of which will talk about a different aspect of blogging.
- Lijit (www.lijit.com): Perry Quinn (@PQBoulder) from Lijit will talk about adding a search engine to your blog, using it to know more about your readers, and monetizing the result.
- The Mandelbrot Project: Boulder resident Pete Sheinbaum, creator of Daily Candy and founder of the soon-to-be revealed The Mandelbrot Project, will speak on creating and growing your community on the web.
- Room 214 (http://room214.com) :Room 214 is a social media agency that will talk to us about how your blog should fit into your social media activity and vice versa.
- BlogFrog (http://theblogfrog.com): BlogFrog provides a way to add an instant community to your blog, giving your readers a place to comment, connect, and engage with each other, all without leaving your site.
And finally, we are very proud to announce the top three “Bloggers Presenting for Bloggers” topics as chosen by our attendees in an online poll.
- Creating a Brand and Profiting From It: Erik Boles from Beertap TV will talk about creating a brand with your blog and profiting from it. Erik and his partners at Beertap TV have turned a time-consuming hobby into a source of revenue and Erik believes you can do the same.
- Local Matters: Tons of bloggers are reviewing the latest Dogfish Head or Rogue release. But how many people are writing about the new Belgian IPA your local brewery just put out? Here’s one way to make a huge difference in the craft beer world and get noticed for your blogging. Anne Fitten Glenn of Brewgasm used this strategy to score a column in her hometown newspaper.
- How to Make Your Blog Mobile Friendly: With the popularity of smart phones like the iPhone and the Droid, people are consuming content on their mobile phones 4 times as fast as the Internet. Kerry Finsand of Taplister will talk about how to turn your website or blog into a mobile friendly website for little to no cost.