A CBC Primer with Brewers Association CEO Bart Watson

About this episode

Bart Watson discusses the Craft Brewers Conference and its significance for the craft brewing community.

Brewers Association president and CEO Bart Watson believes the Craft Brewers Conference works best when it's "the big-tent event that everybody is coming to and connecting with." On the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast, Watson explained that he views the largest annual gathering of craft brewers (April 20-22 in Philadelphia) in four buckets: Commerce via the BrewExpo trade show, where brewers connect with suppliers and learn about trends; Education, with a host of new voices on the speaker roster this year; Networking, with a more intentional approach and dedicated sessions; And fun. "CBC should be that week where you do all four of those things," he said. "But you come back recharged, energized with new ideas, new energy." The BA's membership base is primarily made up of brewpubs and taprooms, making hospitality and customer traffic "the thing that makes or breaks their businesses," he explained. "Craft is gonna win or lose with people wanting to come into breweries and then having a great experience or not having a great experience," Watson continued. As such, hospitality will be a key theme of this year's event, and the BA has tapped restaurateur Will Guidara, author of…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jess, Justin

Guest: Bart Watson

Topics covered

• Craft Brewers Conference
• Brewers Association
• Commerce
• Education

Keywords

• craft brewing
• trade show
• speaker roster

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Unreasonable Hospitality

Places: Philadelphia

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