The first ever Camp Coffee Shop is Aug. 10-13 in Napa, Calif., and you’re invited!
BARISTA MAGAZINE
While rushing from one meeting to another at World of Coffee (WOC) San Diego in April, I ran into my old friend Jon Lewis of Deeper Roots Coffee in Cincinnati and we talked for three or four minutes. For a show like WOC, that was a win. My experience at that mammoth event is that most spontaneous conversations last about 30 seconds, maybe a minute. It’s part of the reason I’m inevitably exhausted and melancholy after that show every single year. In terms of Barista Magazine’s business, things went well. In terms of connecting with people, it was a bummer.
I’ve been super lucky over the years in this industry to attend totally different kinds of coffee gatherings, from the Nordic Barista Cup to the MANE Conference, Barista Nation, and Camp Pull-A-Shot. These events—all sadly now defunct—were comparably tiny, with around 100–150 people total. They took place away from everything, in environments intentionally selected to provide attendees with endless opportunities to connect, be it over shared meals, on a stroll back from a workshop, or during unexpected moments: watching a sunset with someone who was a stranger the day before, or pairing with a new friend for a class exercise.
The things I learned at these events really stuck with me over the years—because they were taught in small groups? Because we were in nature and not convention centers? Because there was time and space to make real connections?…