Hey y'all,
This Bubblings is following shortly on the heels of the last one. Think of the last one as being way late, and this one being on time. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep that up…. But no promises.
We had a great meeting last night at Wilbeer's. It was well attended and Art gave a terrific presentation on his tips to getting up to speed as quickly. It focused on the things he’s learned on his rapid journey from novice to competing down to the wire for our club BOTY award.
We now have volunteers to host all the monthly meetings for the rest of the year. That’s an awesome change from getting to one meeting date, without having a host for the next one. Now we need to get our presentations on track. Sue and Art have done a great job with the last two, have you thought about what you’d like to do?
We talked about our club participation in the upcoming AHA National Homebrewers Conference in Orlando, this June. We've discussed it some before, and we'll be talking about it a lot more as the event gets closer and we get further into our planning. Gina is heading a committee to plan our food preparations for Club Night; ably assisted by Nancy, Terry, Linda, and Greg (did I forget anyone?). Brian is heading up our beer preparations committee for both Club Night and our shift in the Hospitality Suite. There will be a list of styles that people have committed to bringing in the upcoming minutes. Think about other styles that you’d like to brew so we have a balanced variety, and let Brian know once you’ve decided.
In talking with Art, during the after-party portion of the meeting; we got on the subject of the club "stipend" for the event. It was proposed at the last exec meeting that the club underwrite some of the cost of the event for members that attend. We are participating as a club and that participation is very much in accord with our mission of beer education. This is a one-time opportunity to host the Conference here in Florida, and we want to encourage as many members to attend as possible.
The stipend was proposed and accepted in general, but no amount was set. We will be discussing the specifics of this stipend at the next Exec meeting on March 28th. As always, I'd encourage as many of you as possible to attend this meeting. The stipend might take a number of forms. For example, one suggestion was $50 per day for each member that attends. Thus if you attend for the full three days of the conference, you'd receive $150. This can be used to offset your conference expenses of ticket, hotel, gas, etc. If a couple, or any two brewers, share a room (cost $109 per night), this would pay for the room for the three days. Of course, if more than two share a room, it could also cover other expenses as well.
Anyhow, the form & amount of the stipend hasn't been set yet. In order to plan & budget intelligently, it will help a lot if we have a better sense of how many Hogtown Brewers plan on attending the Conference before the Exec meeting. This will allow us to get a better understanding on how best to handle the stipend, and how much this will cost the club. I understand that the stipend (and its amount) may be a deciding factor for some of us as to whether you can go or not, and we’d like to resolve this ASAP.
So, please email the list or contact me directly regarding your plans and how firm they are. For example, let us know if you’re going for sure, or perhaps you’d like to but aren’t sure yet, etc. And if you’re definitely going, we should try to reserve our rooms soon. Craig & Nancy went down to visit the Wyndham and said it’s a great facility consisting of many small buildings. They were told that the hotel will work with us in booking our rooms together in the same building if we let them know early enough. So please email regarding your plans to the list right away, even if they aren’t firm yet so we can better plan this adventure… and please come join us at the Exec Meeting. The more participation the better.
Mark Tumarkin
April 06, Bubblings from the Fermenter.
I gotta tell you it feels odd to be Primary Fermenter again, after how long? Four years? My mind keeps going back to the advice, or rather caution, that Fred Buhl gave me when I took over from him. He said trying to get a bunch of homebrewers to do something is like herding cats. Pretty much right on, I guess, but then here I am trying to do it again.
We've come to an interesting point in our club. Hogtown Brewers has had a long history. Think of our club motto; Since 1985, more hops than our lawyers advise. Since those beginnings in the mid-80s, there have been a lot of ups and downs. At the time I became the first Primary Fermenter (before that we had presidents, and this was during the Clinton debacle, I didn't want to be president, figured we needed a new name for it), the club was at one of the lowest points. It had almost disbanded, laid low for a while, and was pretty much just a party club.
Things have changed a lot in the intervening years. We are now a very active group, with a wide variety of events, brewing activities, competitions, and a good group of BJCP judges (who are respected statewide, and looked to for key support in many of the competitions). We have been involved in the Medieval Faire since its beginning days, but for the last seven years we&Mac226;ve been selling beer, and being more successful at it each year, providing us with an incredible resource. We&Mac226;ve got brewers that take medals, including Best of Shows, at competitions around the state. We do canoe trips, Big Brews (that win medals!), Teach a Friend to Brew Day, Mead Day, and other events. In addition to meetings, presentations, etc, we now host one of the best homebrew competitions in the state, and the list goes on.
I can't take credit for all of that. I may have gotten it started, provided the ideas and focus for some of it, but it&Mac226;s the result of the participation and work of a lot of us. But in some ways, we'd reached another low point. Very different in that it's our success that's in large part the problem. We're doing a tremendous amount, maybe too much. Or at least the weight of this has been too much on too few. Like many organizations, it's a few that do most of the leadership, most of the work. And to a large degree, that burns people out.
Along with the burnout, there was a lot of tension among our members. I was seeing the danger of our success killing us if we didn't change the way we do things. So I threw my hat into the ring again for Primary Fermenter. When I did, I told you that I wasn't going to do everything myself (I can't - you know that, I know that). I told you that I needed to have a lot of participation, and that if you didn't volunteer, you'd get appointed. To keep things going as they are, let alone to grow or improve things, we need a group effort. I told you not to vote for me if you weren't prepared to kick in and help. And you elected me anyway.
And so far, I'm amazed and pleased at the way people are stepping up and taking things on themselves. There are a number of examples: the way Greg & Pushaw took on the events committee. They sat down on Greg's porch, drank a bunch of good beer, and came up with a core list of killer events, and they're ready to make them happen. Brian saw a need to change the way we welcome new members, and stepped up to become our Vampire, the Minister of New Blood. Craig, our Birkmaier 5000 brewing machine, has done an incredible job in getting people to brew more, to brew together, culminating in a 53 gal bourbon barrel full of Imperial Stout for the Nationals. Wayne and Anne stepped up to put together a thank-you party to celebrate our hard work (and fun) in the Medieval Faire. Sue took on being Competition Czar. Tony volunteered to head up a phone committee. Gina volunteered to head our Food Committee (with able help from Nancy, Terry, Greg, Linda and others) for Club Night & Hospitality Suite at the National Conference. Brian stepped up to head our Beer efforts for the Conference... well, that's not exactly accurate... he left the room and was volunteered to do it. But he accepted it and took it on with a smile. People are stepping up to host meetings months in advance (we've got the majority of the months covered through next December, though there are still 4 or 5 months open). There are, and I'm sure will continue to be, many other examples.
And that's fucking awesome, forgive my French. That's the kind of participation I was looking for. In fact, at this point you&Mac226;re exceeding my expectations. If you keep this up, and I'm sure you will and more, I won't be herding cats, I'll be chasing after you to keep up. So raise your glass and toast to our continued success. My glass is full of Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA... uh, well no, it's actually become almost empty as I've rambled on. But I'll raise what's left... Here's to Hogtown Brewers - We Rock!
Mark Tumarkin
March 06, Bubblings from the Fermenter.