Yeah I was a little confused the first time I looked at the page. I ended up booking a hotel to check in the 17th so we should be all rested and refreshed for the first day.
Homebrew Con 2020 Nashville
- Thread starter SpartanKen
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One more spot to visit while you are here. Living waters in East Nashville is excellent. A coffee shop and brewery. I don’t drink coffee but from what I could tell they do both very well
Yeah, the website is pretty annoying. Some of the stuff reflects the 2020 (upcoming) schedule. But for other stuff -- for example, when you click on the educational sessions -- it takes you to last years schedule. It's making it hard for me to figure out if I want to arrive Thursday or Friday. Hopefully they get this sorted out soon so folks can get their travel plans set.
Nashville? 
the major events won't change times. The "General Schedule" on the homebrewcon website at least is for '20, not last year.
https://www.homebrewcon.org/lineup/general-schedule/
These things don't change that much and are fairly dependable for those trying to figure out their travel schedule.
For actual seminar schedule, understand that acceptance/rejection notices for seminar proposals literally went out yesterday.
It will take time for people to confirm, and the AHA to create a schedule for what seminar is when.
On the subject of seminars, my mead seminar was approved. The Cider Panel seminar was also approved and I'm on that too. And I'm planning to join a third seminar on the topic of judging/scoresheets. Supporting both KCBM and AMMA booths during Club Night too. Busy Busy. I bring my A-Game when it comes to sharing my stuff and I hope others do as well.
hope to see you all there
cheers--
--Michael
https://www.homebrewcon.org/lineup/general-schedule/
These things don't change that much and are fairly dependable for those trying to figure out their travel schedule.
For actual seminar schedule, understand that acceptance/rejection notices for seminar proposals literally went out yesterday.
It will take time for people to confirm, and the AHA to create a schedule for what seminar is when.
On the subject of seminars, my mead seminar was approved. The Cider Panel seminar was also approved and I'm on that too. And I'm planning to join a third seminar on the topic of judging/scoresheets. Supporting both KCBM and AMMA booths during Club Night too. Busy Busy. I bring my A-Game when it comes to sharing my stuff and I hope others do as well.
hope to see you all there
cheers--
--Michael
TandemTails
Well-Known Member
What's the protocol for sharing your homebrew? I'll be traveling in from out of state but would still like to bring some stuff for other people to sample. Do people just bring coolers in and start opening stuff during the sessions or is there a dedicated time/place for this?
If you get to Nashville: https://thepharmacyburger.com
Great place for Burgers, Brats, and Beer. I’m a little ashamed to admit it....but I get the Biergarten Platter every time and usually some Schlenkerla.
Great place for Burgers, Brats, and Beer. I’m a little ashamed to admit it....but I get the Biergarten Platter every time and usually some Schlenkerla.
Last year the early sessions were basically starting at 9AM, (everyday had some sort of social going on, of course we aren’t showing up at 8 for stuff 
). It was good fun plenty to learn, and the generosity of the vendors was like getting $100+ back in merch like hops, grain, yeast etc.
). It was good fun plenty to learn, and the generosity of the vendors was like getting $100+ back in merch like hops, grain, yeast etc.it depends on the year/location/laws, actually. In Portland, for instance, there was a Homebrew Side and a Commercial Side in the Homebrew Expo/Social Club, with people reminding you not to take your beverage from one side of the tape to the other. Silly, but ya gotta find a way to obey whatever the local laws are.
I pretty much always have a cooler bag on my shoulder, and will serve from it during Pro Night and Club Night (if not at a booth), during the competition awards, and even during seminars if it can be done discreetly without interrupting the speakers. I would not bring in a whole giant cooler - those stay in my car/hotel room - and I just visit the room occasionally and refill whatever bag is on my shoulder. Cheers--
Registration is open! Just finished registering my girlfriend and myself.
I can only speak to what I observed last year. There is beer served in the expo area HBCs were serving and venders were serving. I brought one bottle of homebrew to share with one particular person and brought a keg for club night. I’m flying this year, so any home brew I bring will be going with a friend that is driving. Social activity happened every night and many sessions had beer, mead or buch to sample as part of the presentation. So yes you can bring some beer to share in a non disruptive way (not in sessions). Some people were imbibing during the awards ceremony, pre gaming the knock out party.
Any more news or updates from any insiders here on Homebrew Con in Nashville this year. Looks like the stay at home order is being lifted on May 1, but what are folks' thoughts on what will happen to the conference this year. I'm not sure how feasible traveling from other parts of the country will be in mid-June. Not to mention the dwindling discretionary dollars to spend for this.
I really want to attend as had such a good time last year, but just not sure what HC would even look like this year if it still goes forward.
Also, not to derail the thread, but i'd been thinking about how "sampling" will be changed thru all of this. Was thinking of beer festival changes too. I don't see how to keep that process sanitary unless switching back to little 2 to 3 oz plastic sampling cups. ??? Would you want to hand your glass sampling cup back and forth for thru 3 days of the conference ??
I really want to attend as had such a good time last year, but just not sure what HC would even look like this year if it still goes forward.
Also, not to derail the thread, but i'd been thinking about how "sampling" will be changed thru all of this. Was thinking of beer festival changes too. I don't see how to keep that process sanitary unless switching back to little 2 to 3 oz plastic sampling cups. ??? Would you want to hand your glass sampling cup back and forth for thru 3 days of the conference ??
I am not an insider, however my club had a virtual meeting via AHA and our host Matt said the board is keeping an eye on things, there is no decision at the moment for postponing or canceling.
That said of course it is a possibility, if that happens of course refunds will be issued. So what I’ve done is registered for the low rate. Tennessee is getting back in to humming along, we just have to wait and see if it was a wise decision for them.
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Don't book anything that's not explicitly refundable and print or PDF a copy of the current T&C's. Airlines especially are just changing the rules as they see fit. I had to file a dispute late this week on tickets for flights that didn't even fly and there were no substitutes that didn't add over 9 hours of travel. Doubt we'll succeed but at least we have our money back for a while.
hopkincr
Well-Known Member
Things may be starting to get back to opening, but I would highly doubt a conference like that can really go on in mid-June. If they do it’s a political move from the state more than relying on any safety protocols. Many conferences have been cancelled through August. College football may not (probably not) start on time or with fans. If sports don’t allow fans, how can conferences bring that many people together? We’ve run in to this with kids’ club/travel tournaments not wanting to cancel due to $ and states that are “open” but no teams show up so they are forced to.
I was planning on going but I'm about ready to forget it. I haven't made any reservations or registered so finances aren't a consideration.
I agree. Davidson county (Nashville) has had over 2,000 cases and has not reached peak numbers yet. Anyone who thinks this will be over by mid-June doesn't understand the problem. I'm just a few hours away in Knoxville and was really looking forward to my first homebrew con. But if anyone books a flight or hotel I would make sure you can get reimbursed if this gets cancelled. (If you are a wealthy individual of leisure feel free to disregard my suggestion)
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I've booked flights, hotel and conference. I can't see how this can happen though.
No way this can happen. C-19 cases are on the rise. TN hasn't even seen the peak yet. Couple that with opening while cases are on the rise, I see TN going backwards. The numbers would be so off, I doubt that it makes sense unfortunately. I only hope that when it doesn't go, they return next year to Nashville. It was going to be my first one too. Opryland is really a nice venue for it.
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Many people I know (myself included) usually wind up sick (usually a simple cold) after attending big conferences and beer festivals.
Physical distancing is pretty much impossible at these things.
Can't imagine they'll hold this event.
Physical distancing is pretty much impossible at these things.
Can't imagine they'll hold this event.
I'm scheduled to speak- but I just cancelled my room reservation. Not sure if it'll go on or not, and maybe I could go if it's on, but I can use the $200+ for the one night fee paid for the reservation. With Oktoberfest in Munich being cancelled, I just don't see this event happening.
ChaosB
Berserker
I'm moving back to the states and Tennessee in late October as long as wave 2 of the virus doesn't screw things up. Hopefully there will be some other homebrew events around Nashville. I can't wait to get there.
Maybe I’m overly optimistic, it is about 6 weeks away, even NY state is going to start “opening up“ albeit slowly. In about 2 weeks or less TN will discover if their decision was wise.
Oktoberfest in Munich being cancelled was a surprise to me, but then reading their concerns regarding international visitors and the massive crowds they typically have, I get it. I had a trip to Maui planned for next month, obviously that’s not happening, right now visitors must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival and they have already arrested at lease one visitor for noncompliance that I’ve heard of.
Of course, depending on one‘s health travel and crowds could be off limits for a while even as the majority are out and about.
Sad too.
Canceled. Offering a virtual version for $99.
Offering a virtual version for $99.
Canceled.
I didn't know it had been announced yet. I was told to keep my mouth shut, so I did.
On a happier note, you could 'visit' my kitchen again! Bob would be my second-in-command this time and not my preferred @Melana.
I got the email this AM. So yeah, I was overly optimistic, but since TN “opened up” I suspect they will be feeling the consequences soon. Yes to your kitchen!
AND on a happy note- San Diego 2021! That was my all time favorite HBC venue and place.
My travel budget has not been touched for 2020, except for January when I did a full week at Walt Disney World with a friend as a "Disney for Grownups" trip. My Disney trip for next week with my grandkids has been refunded, my Nashville trip has been cancelled, and it looks like the rest of this year is out as well.
So I'll have money for Belgium and San Diego (and Disney) next year!
Let's all plan on San Diego, looking forward to getting together and sharing beers again.
My travel budget has not been touched for 2020, except for January when I did a full week at Walt Disney World with a friend as a "Disney for Grownups" trip. My Disney trip for next week with my grandkids has been refunded, my Nashville trip has been cancelled, and it looks like the rest of this year is out as well.
So I'll have money for Belgium and San Diego (and Disney) next year!
Let's all plan on San Diego, looking forward to getting together and sharing beers again.
Canceled.
I am kinda wondering what would make the event worth $99 since the recording will be available online for AHA members (at least I assume they will be like prior years). The page says:
"Three days of 20+ live seminars, meet-ups, and sponsored demos. All seminars are online and will be accessible after the event."
[/QUOTE]
I know what you mean, perhaps there will be raffles, certainly opportunity to ask questions, because you cannot ask the recorded seminar a question. I suppose AHA had unreimbursed expenses for this and are paying for a platform to have the virtual conference. So the purchase (which I haven’t yet decided) will support the association and the speakers who have volunteered their time and effort to present.
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Honestly don't get the $99 charge. Make it free to paid up members.
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We were supposed to go to San Diego in March. Economics permitting maybe we we will reschedule that trip to coincide.
Based on the virtual conference I attended last week I'm unlikely to attend another. No way I'd pay for one. Watching way too much TV as it is and it felt like poorly produced YouTube content. I get that they have to pay for the platform and the presenters aren't professional producers but right now bad screen time is just the last thing I need.
Based on the virtual conference I attended last week I'm unlikely to attend another. No way I'd pay for one. Watching way too much TV as it is and it felt like poorly produced YouTube content. I get that they have to pay for the platform and the presenters aren't professional producers but right now bad screen time is just the last thing I need.
I've been really enjoying my virtual beer tastings and things, but I can see how it could be "bad screen time". But I've been watching some TV lately (not a TV watcher as a rule) and watched The Voice on Monday- and it was a pretty great production. Oh, I know that presenters for HomebrewCon won't be shipped thousands of dollars worth of studio equipment, but maybe it will be more professional than my Jitsi soapmaking class @Hoppy2bmerry!
I'm pretty sure she mostly saw my left armpit and my nose in that class.
I'm pretty sure she mostly saw my left armpit and my nose in that class.
I had two work conferences that shifted to virtual and they were both quite disappointing. Hopefully the AHA can pull it off! I might be willing to throw $99 at them to help out with the losses from the conference and competition.
Issue #1 was that both conferences had outages and access problems at the start. Even tech companies that are in the role of building enterprise scale solutions have had issues with the volume. Given that the keynote is during the day on a Thursday and this is a paid event, the traffic might not be terrible, but I would suggest some type of an optional event (meet and greet, Q&A, etc.) before the keynote as a trial run.
The bigger issue for me is that it is really boring to watch somebody sitting at their computer wearing a headset like they are streaming on Twitch or on a Zoom meeting. If you and other presenters could track down and share info on how to effectively present virtually it might help.
We definitely won't be sitting at a computer. Well, at least I wouldn't be. I'm way too active for that. This year, my talk is on "Wine, mead, and cidermaking for brewers, using equipment you already have" as the topic- so that's hands-on and not theory. I have no idea yet what they will provide for training, the format, etc. In the past I've had powerpoint, samples of my products (last two years was on alternative fermentations, mostly food and kombucha) but never giving a speech type of presentation. I think it depends greatly on the topic of course.
