Knkbrand
Well-Known Member
I thought I would hear some kind of news about next years Homebrew Con, but cannot find any information. Cn anyone that is in San Diego this weekend fill us in on the location for next years Homebrew Con 2024?
I thought I would hear some kind of news about next years Homebrew Con, but cannot find any information. Cn anyone that is in San Diego this weekend fill us in on the location for next years Homebrew Con 2024?
when I went to Portland, I thought there were ads all over the hotel saying that the next year would be in Rhode Island. Maybe I am misremembering. I hope it gets announced tomorrow!I believe they announce the next year's location on the last day, which is tomorrow. It's got to be somewhere in the Midwest or South, since it's in CA this year and last two in person ones were RI and PA. Was thinking Nashville since they lost out in 2020 due to Covid, but was told they did not apply to host next year. My prediction is Texas or New Orleans, it has not been down south since 2002. My Master Homebrewer Program buddies who are in San Diego this year are saying unofficially the rumor out there is Denver for next year.
I personally think this is a bad idea, and will be the beginning of the end.Homebrew Con to be combined with GABF, in Denver, in October. Blah
Part of me says it sucks being an adjunct to another conference. But I have had a good experience in the other direction: Oracle combined the Java dev conference with their giant Oracle one - us Java devs got double the parties.I personally think this is a bad idea, and will be the beginning of the end.
For the home brewing hobby, maybe it's "the end of the beginning"will be the beginning of the end
So I guess there was a reason for the delay. Will it be October 23 or 24?
In the early to mid 2020s, I suspect that theseThis is sad, but it is a result of the current decline of homebrewing. Hopefully that changes in the near future.
But wouldn't a cheaper, smaller HomebrewCon that didn't didn't lose money be a more sustainable model?
It would be interesting to see details of where the AHA spends money on HBC. The classes are given by volunteers. There is a ton of "free" homebrew beer. Do vendors pay a fee to be there? I only recall maybe one event with catered food. The attendance cost is not cheap and I am responsible for my food, housing and transportation costs. Clearly the venue is a big cost and it probably has been hard these past years to right size the venue for an unknown crowd size. Are there other big costs of HBC?But wouldn't a cheaper, smaller HomebrewCon that didn't didn't lose money be a more sustainable model?
It would be interesting to see details of where the AHA spends money on HBC. The classes are given by volunteers. There is a ton of "free" homebrew beer. Do vendors pay a fee to be there? I only recall maybe one event with catered food. The attendance cost is not cheap and I am responsible for my food, housing and transportation costs. Clearly the venue is a big cost and it probably has been hard these past years to right size the venue for an unknown crowd size. Are there other big costs of HBC?
I was disappointed to hear about Con combining with GABF, but at least they are continuining it in some fashion, for those still interested in attending.
I think you're confusing the 2023 GABF with 2024.FWIW it's not a combined event. GABF is taking place late September with HBC about a month later.
I think you're confusing the 2023 GABF with 2024.
2024 GABF is October 10-12 and so is 2024 Homebrew Con.
It would be interesting to see details of where the AHA spends money on HBC. The classes are given by volunteers. There is a ton of "free" homebrew beer. Do vendors pay a fee to be there? I only recall maybe one event with catered food. The attendance cost is not cheap and I am responsible for my food, housing and transportation costs. Clearly the venue is a big cost and it probably has been hard these past years to right size the venue for an unknown crowd size. Are there other big costs of HBC?
I paid for a 10x10 booth in Grand Rapids and it was $3500. Given inflation, I'm guessing the same booth was $5-6k this year.I was at this year's Con (and last year) and I spoke with some of the vendors who indicated it was VERY expensive for them to be a vendor.
I'm not on the AHA board and never have, so this is all speculation based on the fact that I was involved in organizing smaller scale events for my previous corporate job. The facility usage fee is for sure the biggest cost. Meeting rooms, exhibit halls, paying BA staff, and then part of that contract also guarantees the associated hotel a certain number of sleeping rooms. If they are not occupied to a certain level, they have to pay additional out of pocket. A lot of facilities are also union shops, so they have to pay insane fees just to get extension cords plugged in. They pay for refrigerated trailers for the cellar staff to keep all the kegs cold.It seems to me, the venue and advertising are really the only major costs I could see for the AHA (they gave us breakfast a couple days and a taco buffet at club night this year fwiw).
The judges for NHC are volunteer, volunteers man the events, the speakers are volunteer, the beers at knockout are the B/C bottles from NHC etc.
Meanwhile, vendors apparently pay an exorbitant fee (and provide the freebie swag themselves), entries for NHC have skyrocketed to $29 a pop, tickets to the events are hundreds of dollars each...we even have to pay $30 for a tee shirt if we want one!
and last year was a pathetic compared to preCOVID cons. I've been going since Oakland. Look at these numbers...I loved being in San Diego but found that Con overall was disappointing compared to last year. There were way less vendors, way less swag and the setup for club night and the kickoff party were poorly constructed as everyone was crammed into far too small a space.
I went to GABF once, primarily because I was already in town on business and a friend of mine comped me a ticket to the event. I basically just paid one hotel night out of pocket for the experience. I don't think I'd ever go if I had to pay all of it out of pocket. Of course, I'll consider when we all find out to what extent the Homebrewcon portion of it will retain its classic vibe, but I have my doubts. The main problem with Denver for life is that my very dedicated NJ homebrewclub is never going to be able to pour for club night again. It's one thing to sit out a couple years in a row, but you fly out to enjoy other clubs knowing that it will be our turn soon.This will be my last Con, unless there are major changes. I have been to GABF and it draws a TON of people so the logistics of adding another event seems like it will make it a nightmare to maneuver (finding accommodation, flights, getting in and out of the event etc.)
Yes. Will competition beers be due in late summer? Horrible time to be shipping entries. I’d prefer a single round competition. Doubt Id attend either but let’s see how it unfolds.So, what does that do to the National Homebrew Competition?? Curious as to how that will be set up.
Pittsburgh was my first NHC. It is going to be hard to get reliable metrics out of that year. COVID was still lingering with a camp of people still reluctant to attend in-person events and another camp of people that were turned off by the vaccine requirements. People said the vendor section was smaller than years past (was SD even smaller?). I felt there was a good array of vendors, I came home with a decent amount of free swag, and there were some pretty solid give aways (I did not win any of them). The venue seemed too big for the crowd, and I felt like I was constantly walking back and forth between large empty areas of the conference center, though a few of the sessions were standing room only.1 - Pittsburgh was a flop. I heard multiple accounts about the vendor area being tiny and not much energy at the event.
Smaller regional conferences sound like a good idea...keep the costs down and make it easy to attend.If it was always in Denver, it would likely shift to more of just a Colorado Homebrew Con...though smaller regional conferences don't sound like a terrible idea.