I got a very nice email this week inviting me to be a speaker at Ohio Brew Week. We've never been in southeast Ohio and July needed a new destination assigned to it so this may well happen. But what to talk about? What theme should I focus on?
- Economics: walls filled with rapidly flashing power point graphs as the audience uncomfortably waits for a pause to rush the bar?
- Autobiographical: why I type about beer when I could just drink the damn stuff?
- New Media: how to drink alone with greater social acceptability.
- History:all the things I did not know and still don't.
- Sociology: patterns in beer blogger bickering during the century's first decade.
- Geography: all beer has terroir. It's just that you don't like where it's from.
There's so much to offer Ohio, isn't there. But maybe I need a little help. What should I glean for the over 2,000 posts and nearly seven years of doing this that someone could sit for an hour or so and take something from? And if you are from southeastern Ohio - where are the good diners?
Comments
Roger Beal - May 19, 2010 3:31 PM
You're in for a treat. I was one of the judges for the Brew Week's homebrew competition last year. Athens is a pretty little university town, and it's full of great beer!
I'm going down again this year. When will you be speaking?
Cheers
Alan - May 19, 2010 4:01 PM
Still have to figure out if this is a go but pretty excited if we can pull it off. I would have to be mid-week as I would have to be driving and making a family vacation out of it.
Roger Beal - May 20, 2010 11:26 AM
The homebrew judging is actually the weekend before Brew Week so I'll be going down Thursday th 9th I think then coming back the Sunday. I love travelling in the States and this trip was no exception. I have a buddy in Bowling Green Ohio who accompanied me and it's really, really neat seeing how the land changes from Michigan all the way to Athens, which is only thirty miles or so from West Virginia. I'll be taking the same route again as Toledo is home to Sabco, maker of fine homebrewing equipment.
The laws are strange in Ohio. On Sundays you can buy beer but not wine, which is good to know before getting in line. On the plus side, even the farm supply centre has better craft beer than the "Beer Store."
In terms of the actual event, I found it very well run and everyone involved to be very friendly. The vibe is great. Feel free to email me if you have any questions at all.
Hope you can make it,
Cheers!