Pre-AI, every year the membership team at the BA compiled qualitative feedback gathered over the course of the year — your emails, call notes, survey comments, and more. We used a method borrowed from contextual inquiry research to understand what the quantitative survey results weren’t telling us. Not that anyone asked, but we affectionately call this “the note card project” internally.

Photo for reference. 😊

The Notecard Project

We learned a lot from that project. Most notably, both small and large breweries don’t see themselves reflected in a lot of our resources and education. Breweries under 1,000 bbls felt that solutions were too expensive or sophisticated for their operations, while breweries over 15,000 bbls felt education was only aimed at companies much smaller than theirs. The takeaway? We can, and should, tailor our resources to specific audiences. It’s okay if something built for a small taproom doesn’t apply to a larger company, and vice versa. It’s better to be something to someone than to try to be everything to everyone.

Another finding was about the importance of community. Most of us equate “community” with being in person with our peers. But the note card project revealed a whole different layer of community. You all feel connected to each other year-round by sharing knowledge, data, and best practices. Your sense of community is tied to the ability to learn from one another, and that doesn’t require being in the same room. This community can exist wherever, whenever.

I find these findings fascinating, but let’s circle back to the point: you want to learn from each other, and that supports a different kind of community. So this is a call to action to serve that community by sharing your knowledge, thoughts, successes, and lessons learned. Which brings us back to the start: why you should write for your community.

Everyone wants to know what other brewers are thinking about—what’s working, what they’ve tried (especially what hasn’t worked), where they could improve. The list is endless. Do you enjoy putting proverbial pen to paper, and do you have something to say? I want to read it … and share it with 20,000 of our closest friends.

If you need inspiration, here are a few ideas:

1. Did you take any big marketing swings that paid off? Care to share?
2. How do you drive traffic to your taproom?
3. What’s the secret sauce for your hospitality program?
4. Have you successfully (or unsuccessfully) leveraged community relationships to bring in new clientele?
5. Do you have fun with your social media? Do your staff help run it?
6. Are you a seasoned sales rep with advice? What are your top five tips?
7. How do you maintain relationships with your local accounts and/or distributor?
8. Are you brewing low-ABV beer? Any technical tips or tricks?
9. How is that low-ABV beer performing for you?
10. Guild leaders — what’s happening in your state that you’d like to share?

For examples in the wild, check out the last two Membership Musings columns in The New Brewer. In the May/June issue, Jeremy Mathison of Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative writes about their partnership with Farm Aid. In July/August, Kayleigh Paladino of Asher Brewing Company reflects on moving on from their organic certification while continuing to live out their company ethos of sustainability.

This is your invitation. Scratch that creative itch and contribute to your community today. Have something written you want to pass along? Or simply an idea you want to share? My email is billiu@brewersassociation.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

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