NHC 2012 Venue Announced!

[NikoBrew]

Niko,
Given that:

1.) Mrs. Niko IS your number one supporter of all things Nikobrew,
and
2.) You both have an amazingly close family relationship with everything homebrew and BN
(don't kid me she's said it over and over on <facebook>,)

the only stumbling block is who wold take care of the little nikoettes.

I would think a getaway for the two of you would be a great anniversery gift.

my two cents,
Alan

Much appreciated Alan. Though a trip where I am gone four days of...sucks for my wife. She's not a beer drinker and we'd then need a real room not just sharing with her brother (which I would do on the trip) sooo what I may end up doing is just going and missing the BN Party. It'll still be a great time.

Oh yeah and the kid watching...

[tavish2]

The 2012 NHC is from June 21-23. I forgot to calculate the leap year adjustment!

My birthday is the 25th. Looks like I'll be celebrating in the USA!

mine is the 24th. Looks like I'll be celebrating in the USA too! wait a min...

[San_Diego_Matt]

I just got home and haven't seen this posted yet. The website for 2012 is http://www.brewingwithbigfoot.com/

Hope you all had fun in San Diego

[CRBrewHound]

Isn't NHC always the weekend of Father's day in the US, it has been the last two years. If that is the case I looked up father's day for 2012 and that is on June 17th, which would make NHC 2012 from June 14 though June 17th. This is not a statement, but more of a question to someone who knows how this whole thing works?

[CRBrewHound]

word of advise to anyone thinking that a club can pull off landing the nhc... it wont happen. you have to have the support of multiple clubs cause its a huge event. also there are some big requirements such as they need like a spot to have it like a hotel or convention center. that is really hard to find in lots of cities. It took us changing laws to even have WA considered as a spot by the AHA. The stars really have to be kind of aligned to get the bid! glad the cat is out of the bag though

I think this is bad advice Tavish, sorry but I do, I think the more people who try, the better it is for NHC and the more choices it provides to the committee for places to choose from. Yes, you do have to have a center that is large enough to host the size of the NHC, however, to say that one club can't pull it off is not accurate. There are some very large clubs out there. Many out there have numbers in hundreds.

So I would say if you think your club can pull off a winning NHC, submit a bid, the worst that can happen is the committee turns you down and gives you advice on what you are missing as requirements to be hosting club. This give you a list of things to work on, and upon completion of them, you can submit a new bid and maybe host a few years later.

Now, I do agree that there are some clubs that just can not host the event. Mine for example could not feasibly do it. The city I live in is too small to host a convention of that size, and our club accepts that and will not put in a bid, at least not for a very long time (most likely in my life time, yes, that long).

[homebrewbaron]

They actually prefer it when it is NOT the weekend of Father's day (it is in the conference planning guide even http://ahaclubs.homebrewersassociation.org/NHCplanningguide). However, there is a festival out in Seattle the week before (Father's Day Festival) so come early and hit that!!! Then tour around for the week.

But yes, the dates are June 21st-23rd. Bellevue was chosen by the AHA because of affordability options. Downtown Seattle didn't have the space/rates.

But here is the great news.
- There is a direct continuous bus that goes straight from the airport to downtown Bellevue
- There is a direct continuous bus that goes from downtown Bellevue straight to downtown Seattle
- Downtown Seattle is a free-bus zone so you can hop on and off buses and save your feet. Or burn off some extra calories.

You don't need a car or have to take an expensive shuttle anywhere. But if you want to get out and enjoy the rest of the Sound (or head out into the mountings or down to Yakima or Portland too, grab one). We are looking to have some great bus tours. You can get to tons of great beer nice and easily. I personally am working on the "conference via public transportation" map.

Plus right around the conference is the Tap House Grill. http://www.taphousegrill.com/ 160 beers on tap. You can literally tour the Northwest within short walking distance from the Conference Center. Washington is a draft culture (very little bottling) so just belly up anywhere and try some beers you won't be able to find out of the area.

Downtown Bellevue has tons of great food and beer options all around the Conference (Hyatt Bellevue Regency). http://bellevue.hyatt.com/ Beautiful spot (and despite us joking about it, the weather in the summer is great - you can see the average rainfall in June here: http://www.seattletravel.com/weather.html).

It is going to be a really easy conference to attend. We hope to see you all there!

And one last cheers for San Diego! Greatest conference!

Mark Emiley
Conference Bitch
http://www.brewingwithbigfoot.com

[tavish2]

word of advise to anyone thinking that a club can pull off landing the nhc... it wont happen. you have to have the support of multiple clubs cause its a huge event. also there are some big requirements such as they need like a spot to have it like a hotel or convention center. that is really hard to find in lots of cities. It took us changing laws to even have WA considered as a spot by the AHA. The stars really have to be kind of aligned to get the bid! glad the cat is out of the bag though

I think this is bad advice Tavish, sorry but I do, I think the more people who try, the better it is for NHC and the more choices it provides to the committee for places to choose from. Yes, you do have to have a center that is large enough to host the size of the NHC, however, to say that one club can't pull it off is not accurate. There are some very large clubs out there. Many out there have numbers in hundreds.

So I would say if you think your club can pull off a winning NHC, submit a bid, the worst that can happen is the committee turns you down and gives you advice on what you are missing as requirements to be hosting club. This give you a list of things to work on, and upon completion of them, you can submit a new bid and maybe host a few years later.

Now, I do agree that there are some clubs that just can not host the event. Mine for example could not feasibly do it. The city I live in is too small to host a convention of that size, and our club accepts that and will not put in a bid, at least not for a very long time (most likely in my life time, yes, that long).

I guess I should have an * by the part about "a club". If your club is not extreamly large, logistically its not feasible without the coordination of serveral other clubs. Most homebrew clubs around the country are under 50 people and from what I have heard from most of the folks who have put it on, you need way over 100 people working on it. There are several clubs out there that could possibly take it on who have either extreamly large numbers, or moderate size (50-100) with extreamly efficent and talented members. The main thing I was trying to convey was that to have a good conference, you need good support from all the local clubs. Make nice with the locals and pool resources.

[CRBrewHound]

word of advise to anyone thinking that a club can pull off landing the nhc... it wont happen. you have to have the support of multiple clubs cause its a huge event. also there are some big requirements such as they need like a spot to have it like a hotel or convention center. that is really hard to find in lots of cities. It took us changing laws to even have WA considered as a spot by the AHA. The stars really have to be kind of aligned to get the bid! glad the cat is out of the bag though

I think this is bad advice Tavish, sorry but I do, I think the more people who try, the better it is for NHC and the more choices it provides to the committee for places to choose from. Yes, you do have to have a center that is large enough to host the size of the NHC, however, to say that one club can't pull it off is not accurate. There are some very large clubs out there. Many out there have numbers in hundreds.

So I would say if you think your club can pull off a winning NHC, submit a bid, the worst that can happen is the committee turns you down and gives you advice on what you are missing as requirements to be hosting club. This give you a list of things to work on, and upon completion of them, you can submit a new bid and maybe host a few years later.

Now, I do agree that there are some clubs that just can not host the event. Mine for example could not feasibly do it. The city I live in is too small to host a convention of that size, and our club accepts that and will not put in a bid, at least not for a very long time (most likely in my life time, yes, that long).

I guess I should have an * by the part about "a club". If your club is not extreamly large, logistically its not feasible without the coordination of serveral other clubs. Most homebrew clubs around the country are under 50 people and from what I have heard from most of the folks who have put it on, you need way over 100 people working on it. There are several clubs out there that could possibly take it on who have either extreamly large numbers, or moderate size (50-100) with extreamly efficent and talented members. The main thing I was trying to convey was that to have a good conference, you need good support from all the local clubs. Make nice with the locals and pool resources.

Those sentiments I can agree with, probably a good idea to give clubs an estimation of the resources needed to host the NHC if they are considering putting a bid in. That information will help them in there efforts to judge whether they have the resources available to pull it off.

PS: Thanks for the information about the dates of the conference. I have only been to the last two and it has been a real pain in the arse being the weekend of fathers day. I am glad to hear that this is not the trend and that they do not hold the conference to the same weekend as fathers day every year. Had to leave way too early in the morning this year in order to be home to see the kids. Nice to know next year that won't be a problem, especially having so far to travel.