Interested in submitting a seminar proposal for 2019? Check back here in July 2018.

2018 Guidelines

The 2018 Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America^® (CBC) will take place April 30 – May 3 in Nashville, Tenn. 

The Brewers Association is welcoming proposals for educational seminars at the conference. Seminars are expected to provide actionable take-aways for attendees to help improve their businesses. The deadline to submit a proposal is September 18, 2017.

Please review the following guidelines before submitting a proposal:

• You may submit up to four seminar proposals
• Seminars are one hour long. It’s recommended that presentations be approximately 50-55 minutes long to allow for 5-10 minute of Q&A.
• Descriptions should accurately reflect the proposed seminar content. If selected, the text provided in the “brief description” field will be used as the seminar description in the conference program.
• Be prepared to provide a short bio and headshot when you submit your proposal.
• You can begin filling out the form and save at any point for completion at a later date. You must submit the form in order for your proposal to be considered for review.
• If your company affiliation changes after your proposal was accepted, it is subject to cancellation.
• Changes (including speaker additions) after the seminar is selected will need to be approved by the CBC seminar subcommittee.
• Titles and content of selected seminars are subject to change after subcommittee review.

Topics

Looking for information on what topics we’d like to see presented at the CBC? The seminar subcommittee has gathered a list of topics they are interested in seeing seminar proposals for. You may also submit on a topic of your choosing.

Brewery Operations

• Automation for smaller breweries
• Best practices on implementing ERP, production management software (based on barrelage)
• Floor covering systems
• Laboratory QA/QC systems, how to set up a lab based on brewery size
• Packaging contracting
• Packaging technology
• Sanitation, importance and how-to
• Tools to communicate lot code, traceability to wholesalers
• TTB forms (Ask TTB to participate?)

Brewpub Marketing and Management

• Brewers as stars for the brewpub, training to be representatives of brand
• Driving add-on, to-go beer sales
• Events at brewpubs to drive traffic during slow nights
• Hands-on beer and food pairing, beer dinner, and beer and food pairing on the menu
• How to increase per person average, sales tactics, spend at the table
• Menu design
• Retail/merchandise planning
• Staff buy-in/loyalty to the brand
• Staff training
• When people come for your food, how do you get them to love your beer?

Packaging Brewery Marketing and Management

• Adapting your business plan for the changing market
• Balancing new brands with existing brands
• Best practices for accounting programs
• Data driven industry analysis, where is the market going
• Human resources
• Lean manufacturing
• Marketing 101
• Retailer and brewer relationships
• Staying current with social media
• Staying relevant for older breweries
• What disruptions will affect business practices, how to evolve for the future

Quality

• Best management practices for barrel-aging
• Cans 101
• Draught maintenance: Keeping your system running smooth
• Glass flaw training seminar
• Good manufacturing practices
• Guidelines to reduce DO and TPO
• Introduction to quality management for small brewers
• Lab on a budget
• Mobile packaging best practices
• Quality draught system design and installation
• Raw materials specifications guidance (used within a brewery)
• Recalls
• Setting up a sensory program
• Yeast Management Practices 101

Safety

• Brewery air quality
• Brewpub/kitchen safety
• Confined spaces
• Electrical safety in breweries
• Ergonomic threats and solutions to avoid Workman’s Comp claims
• Grain handling best practices
• Lock out, tag out
• Return on investment by implementing a safety program
• Safety guidelines for handling compressed gas
• Safety record keeping
• Solutions to ergonomics threats in the brewery
• Starting a hazard analysis program
• Understanding OSHA

Selling Craft Beer

• Developing a marketing plan
• How do you build your brand in a new market
• How do you provide sales rep support for large territories with lower sales?
• How to create a fact based sales presentations: Make your case with numbers
• Is it better to focus on a flagship or portfolio approach?
• Managing distributor/brewer expectations
• Managing on-premise accounts in an era of rotating tap handles
• Planning for packaging: Determining what makes sense for your brewery

Start-ups

• Building a business plan with flexibility in mind
• Evaluating different business models
• How distributors evaluate new breweries to determine whether to partner
• How to execute a successful brewery opening/launch
• How to raise capital
• Marketing strategies for planning breweries
• Right-sizing your system
• Starting a quality lab/program
• Things you may not be thinking about when starting your brewery, checklist of top unplanned issues
• Water considerations in your municipality

Sustainability

• CIP optimization and manual cleaning best practices
• CO2 optimization and small scale CO2 capture technologies
• Promoting inclusiveness and diversity
• Social responsibility of breweries
• Sustainability 101: For breweries under 2,000 bbls
• Sustainability in brewpubs and taprooms
• Sustainable design and build strategies
• Utility management and best practices
• Water capture and reuse, even wastewater

Technical Brewing

• Art and science of blending beers
• Beer loss reduction and extract recovery
• Best practices for nitrogenizing beer
• Brewing enzymes
• Brewing myths: How to educate consumers
• Care and feeding of mixed culture beers
• Cellaring/filtering/conditioning best practices
• Gluten free, gluten reduced beer
• Haze stability in NE IPAs, unfiltered beers
• Hop contract strategies
• Hop varieties
• Liquid chilling/cooling systems, refrigeration 101
• Understanding malt and milling to optimize your bottom line
• Wood beers: Best practices from brewers
• Yeast handling systems for smaller brewers, scalable systems

The call for proposals is now closed.

For questions, please contact MacKenzie Staples.