Despite the ongoing challenges that continue to pose problems for Canada’s hospitality community, the BC Craft Brewers Guild announced today that its annual BC Craft Brewers Conference will still take place next month, and like nearly every pandemic-era festival and event soldiering on, it will be exclusively online.
In an effort to adapt to the province’s ever-volatile public health advisories, this year’s revamped conference will offer three days of virtual educational seminars and keynotes, broken down into half-day tracks that focus on brewing, marketing and sales, operations, and finance.
“Breaking out the conference into half-day tracks allows people to take part in what they’re most interested in,” says Ken Beattie, Executive Director of the BC Craft Brewers Guild. “Running concurrent sessions didn’t allow people to absorb everything they wanted to. Now, they have the option to stay for the whole conference, or just attend the half-day session that pertains to their job.”
In addition to the various interactive workshops and networking sessions, participants will also have an opportunity to address and discuss integral issues within the brewing community by way of keynote speakers like Ren Navarro of Beer Diversity and BCRFA president Ian Tostenson.
“While we can’t meet in person this year, we’re confident the new format and online community platform will help connect BC Craft Brewers in a new way,” says Beattie. “It’s important for us to continually build connections within our industry and outside of it, to ensure the longevity of craft brewing in B.C.”
Tickets for Guild member brewery staff and brewing school students are $20 per person, while tickets for non-members are $50 per person. 50 per cent of each ticket sold will go toward supporting the Canadian Craft Brewers Association to help create a more inclusive and diverse beer community.
