I woke this morning and made a batch of Oren’s Nicaragua Cup of Excellence using siphon coffeemaker. True to my prediction, I made it differently thanks to some hacks I learned in Mike Ebert’s authoritative presentation. Score a point for CoffeeCON 2012. The other day after winding down the event and helping do some packing with some of the exhibitors a flood of suggestions, there’s and mine came forth and I’ve been processing them since.

First, let me formally announce that we are committed to doing this again next year. Pat and I are still married and I may have mentioned to more than one of you that I would not do this again if I thought it would hurt my family. It won’t. We worked (especially Pat) diligently, but all in all it was loads of fun. I can be bought but I can’t be bored. Like a novel, a job should last as long as it’s interesting and we’re ready to go again next year, which means we will begin soon.

The exhibitors and experts all told us before they left that they hoped we’d do it again. Several just assumed so and casually left with “see you next time” after which I sneaked a glance at my wife to see if sweat beads formed on her forehead after hearing it.

So let me begin my side of a dialogue. Here are some random thoughts as I consider starting on CoffeeCON 2013:

Warrenville was a great place to host it. After pitching this and being rebuffed several times, I took one more chance before I would have brought it somewhere else. I’m so glad they finally said yes. It’s my home. When we came here twenty-plus years ago, then-Mayor Lund held my son on her lap while we asked about the schools and it’s been an ideal community in many ways. I’m an urbanite by nature, but I’ve developed a healthy respect for the other side. Small towns suffer a lot of jokes, but in reality they persevere because they hold a lot of values and benefits too. While it might be my idea and my wife’s management, it was a community that pitched in to make it happen. I’ve joked that everything in Warrenville is a barn raising, and it was just so in this case. When my good friend’s wife was terminally ill some years back, it was Warrenville’s St Irene’s ladies who drove her for twice daily treatments, babysat for her family and stayed with her. The community supported us as we, who’ve never before produced an event, got close to our deadline underfunded and inexperienced and I couldn’t imagine how we’d done it without their help.

The exhibit hall was great. I felt like any man would approaching an object of beauty. Sure it looks great but will it be a hassle? I was intimidated by the union ownership. I found they were accommodating in every way. They know they have an architectural marvel, but they made everything easy. When we expressed how important electric wattage is to a gear-centered event, they actually rebuilt the power outlets wherever we needed it. Pat and I were almost daily visitors there since they said yes. People only walked up to ask if they could help. I realize the value of union electricians when I saw how our equipment performed. Meanwhile, even a casual look at photos or clips from the event will demonstrate how beautiful it was as a backdrop. I’m a visual artist, having been a video producer for most of my career. I know what to look for. The IBEW building has it in spades. Even the classrooms and their built-in electrical gave us a cool Tesla-like atmosphere. The home roasters never looked more at home. I like that it was not a hotel ballroom and a real place.

NOTE: Next year, we need to budget for a bathroom attendant to keep things tidy. We need to all-day AV help. The films were in demand and never worked right – more evidence the shoemaker’s children never have shoes, since they were both my works.

Experts were of course, the key. I was obsessive about getting the right ones. Fortunately, I know them all intimately – enough to call them friends as well as colleagues and brazen enough to call with a simple pitch of a new idea. Every single one said yes instantly upon receiving my request. I knew they would drive the attendance and aura of the program. I purposefully am leaving out any names in this diary entry, but I’m happy with them all. If anyone attended one of the classes or seminars, I am confident their coffee drinking is now positively impacted for life. I wanted to create an event that would change lives and thanks to the experts, it is so. When I first brought up classes to many potential exhibitors and sponsors, I saw winces. “It just sounds like school” said one. Well I say it IS like school. One thing I keep saying over and over is coffee brewing needs to be taught. It is not intuitive. And the classes were taught by those who do. They were by and large, the same people I’ve learned from. I rest my case on this one.

The exhibitors were a tough sell. I learned that many companies, some who have worthy products, have a policy never to sponsor, appear or take part in any first-time event or even loan their precious logo to be laid upon it. This was news to me, because as I explained to them, as a creative I actually charge a premium for original ideas. Can you imagine a comedian paying you less because your joke is new and fresh? Or a television network saying, “hey what is this, it’s a new idea”. Woe to a society in the wraps of corporate marketing managers. I’m still stinging from some of the brush-offs. We had some believers, though, starting with BUNN AT HOME. I’m sure anyone who knows me knows I don’t tie reviews to my feelings, but I will never forget that they took a risk when others were hiding behind their credenzas to see how the water was before wading in. I want you to know that Pat and I took a bath rather than offer any less product array than we promised. In the last draft, I told anyone who roasted or had a brewer who would make the trip here, that they’ve had an exhibit space. It makes a big difference to choose from them all, doesn’t it? Well, I think we got the group we promised and that we wanted.

NOTE: Next year I want to have more regional roasters here. This was, I think, a sales effort failure on our part. I asked that everyone be invited, and found only 26 had been, still a good number but not everyone. My mother taught me if you go to the dance, you ask every girl to take a spin around the dance floor if you ask one.

The music was inspired. As I discovered as a filmmaker, music saves many a scene and amplifies them all. I was surprised by the flash mob, unfortunately so were the loudspeakers they were near. I knew they would sing, just not where. That’s part of what I intended and it worked, but we needed more technical rehearsal. The music was all first-rate. I could have attended just to hear the music. Chicago Acoustic Underground are terrific and I’m forever in their debt. I have a chronic complaint that live music is often too loud, and this is especially true in very reflective spaces like the IBEW building. I asked that the sound mixer keep the levels just a bit lower than normal, and you’ll have to check his blog to know their view, but mine is it was nigh perfect. More than one person told me they almost started dancing. Music stimulates the brain centers and I could not imagine this event minus the music caliber we provided.

More Exhibitors notes – We had a nice mix of a few local businesses, even those without coffee affiliation, but they had to have some connection or they weren’t there. This is how I want to keep it. I originally had a separate team developing the idea and recruiting exhibitors, one reason most of the exhibitors didn’t get contacted until November. They were under a false impression that we were doing some sort of small business expo. I’m all for that in a different context, but that would have failed to deliver what I knew coffee lovers wanted and I would have been bored to tears at my own event. I’m past being all sniffly about this wrong turn, but I am more resolved than ever to keep the script on track (as my TV network friends like to say) let the local chiropractors benefit from ankles twisted lifting espresso machines than hovering around coffee drinkers at a tasting hoping for an occasional slip and fall. My resolve stays firm as I envision CoffeeCON 2013 – it’s obviously better for the attendees but it’s actually better for the community that hosts it.

Signage was deplorable. I apologize and throw myself on your mercy as a neophyte community organizer. The only benefit is I met a fair number of people who wanted to know where the rest rooms were who came over to shake my hand. I got lost several times and missed the first few minutes of a class because I didn’t know where the heck it was. We moved classes several times in order to accommodate increased crowds. No doubt about it, the classes were popular. Do we need it to be two days? Can we afford it? Can our experts take the extra day? Two flew in from out of the country and one of them went right back directly afterwards.

Auditorium AV – the auditorium is beautiful. We must find a way to tint the windows as it faces south and light leakage prevents us enjoying the images behind the speakers. The sound system is great, but the loudspeakers extend into the usable screen space. This involves working with the IBEW and our audio-visual experts and can’t be addressed on the day of the event.

I said I’d avoid name-dropping and I’ve mostly kept my word, except where I felt the story demanded it, but I want to thank Atlanta Bread Company for being the food vendor. I’ve attended many events and the food was substandard and overpriced, almost a guarantee. I wanted people to be able to leave their cars for their entire stay and not be tempted to leave for lunch. Atlanta gave us high quality sandwiches and the $6 price tag was very reasonable. I know they were freshly made that day. They were very nice. We need to make sure we have credit cards taken everywhere and that’s an IT issue. I don’t normally carry cash, especially on the day of an event.

Having gear and coffee for sale was, I think, a good idea. The commercial value is obvious, but in our world, product availability was just as valued by the attendees. Some of the gear, such as a Sowden SoftBrew is just not going to be found at nearby retailers. Most of the prices was at or below even online prices. I’m the kind of person who wants to take what I’ve learned and practice as soon as I get home and at-show purchases make that possible. Thanks to the city for extending grace for the consumers and exhibitors in order to make this happen.

More notes may be added as I think of them. Now it’s your turn. Thanks again for making CoffeeCON 2012 a reality and a success!

CoffeeKevin

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