Having spoken about this topic with Gary Glass at HomebrewCon, then with a board member 2 month ago, and seeing no traction for the idea, I would like to put it out there to see if the idea gets some traction:
My proposal was for HomebrewCon to “officially” invite homebrewers from other countries to join us at HomebrewCon. Every year, a new country will get the “official” invite, which can be something along the lines of:
if at least 6 but no more than 10 homebrewers from your country attend HomebrewCon, commit to attend club night as a club, and bring at minimum 20 liters of homebrew for tasting, HomebrewCon will subsidize your trip by giving you a ~80% ? discount in the conference cost.
The discount can vary depending on the country (the longer the trip, the higher the discount).
Homebrew groups from other countries are encouraged to attend as “Clubs” but only one country will be invited each year.
The details can be changed/ adapted as the board deems fit but I am sure you get the idea.
Let me preface with I consider myself a mild socialist and honestly think this idea isn’t an entirely bad idea.
Why would Intl Members get a subsidy over US members? For a west coaster like me, Grand Rapids and Baltimore wouldn’t be considerably less costly compared to a European.
Also, traveling by air with 20l/5gal of beer would be a huge hassle and might not even be legal.
I don’t think it’s going to fly to “officially” subsidize an international presence at the American Homebrewer’s Association conference. The tickets themselves are already pretty cheap compared to your hotel and airfare, so would it really be much of an incentive?
Honestly, I feel a better use of effort would be to try and change the laws/rules/whatever to just make it easier for folks from other countries to bring beer. Let them work their own travel arrangements, while we try and iron out the issues so they can bring their beer/malt/whatever.
We had a similar situation for a couple of the events we held in WA last year. A bunch of folks from BC wanted to come, but the laws prohibited transport of their beer over the US/CA border.
They hooked up with some of the clubs from over the border in WA and they did a collaboration brew here, avoiding the issue.
I realize this doesn’t necessarily work from over an ocean, but I thought I’d throw it out there in case it might be a possibility for folks.
Many commented on whether bringing beer would be possible. I travel abroad often and have brought 20 bottles of homebrew into the US with no problem (I declared them in the customs form). A corny is a bit more scary for customs, I would agree.
BUT point taken… It does not have to be beer - They can be invited to give a presentation/ participate in a round table
@GS - Who said the same country. Every year a different country. The invitation can be made to the country homebrewer’s association, who can decide how to allocate the spots (up to them). The country to be invited can be decided by lottery from a list of countries in which their homebrewers’ association is interested in participating.
There can be reciprocity with American homebrewers traveling to their meeting and getting a bit of extra attention.
That is correct. This is something I could see happening for 2018, the deadline for 2017 proposals is long gone.
There are several on the GC and AHA staff that have been to conferences in South America, and have said the scene there is exploding, and the thistle for information is very high.
I would attend a talk like this, as it would be interesting to see the level of brewing, how they get ingredients, local laws concerning Homebrew, and so on.
Off the top of my head, there have been talks by British and Australian homebrewers, so it has not exclusive to Americans, just AHA members.