Sunday, April 03, 2005


the annual obligatory & ridiculous pro-forma advisory

yuppers, less than 2 weeks to conference in seattle -- still plenty of time to make arrangments to attend, coffee lovers! -- and i'm here to post the usual obligatory & ridiculous advisory notice about altie/c-member/coffeegeek behavior on the show floor and at the show.

here goes:

  • please remember that while we are members, it still behooves us to behave as ultra-polite guests at all times when interacting with pro members
  • when on the floor whether on the tour or no, please be ultra-polite and don't provoke any difficult conversations with pro members: don't, for example, remark how any monkey with a home bbq can roast better coffee than any member of the roasters guild. instead, enthuse about the joys of first crack as you both experience them
  • except during monday's official consumer exhibit floor tour, the pros on the show floor are there for business, not for our education. if you catch a consumer-friendly pro member at their booth during a slow moment, they will probably be happy to speak to you briefly. i.d. yourself as a consumer, so they know who they're dealing with. but at the first sign of a real commercial customer, bow out and step aside. please allow the pros to do business first. and please don't importune them for schwag. if they don't seem too interested in talking with you even at a slow moment, please thank them anyway and just quickly move on. if the booth is busy, please let the pro members do business and go on your merry way
  • please attend all our consumer workshops, if possible. a good turnout shows the association that we support the program and will encourage more workshops for us in 2006
  • please remember that that pro you are talking to could be a board member, a current committee member, a past president, a barista guild director, or a roasters guild director, etc. you are representing all consumers at every moment. therefore, please keep all comments about the scaa and the specialty coffee industry in the generally positive direction. conference is a lovefest. share your passion and love for specialty coffee freely! but don't act like a "fanboy."
  • if you have problems or questions, track me down or go to the membership booth and try to find maria curiel, wendy jensen, or mike ferguson. let us help run interference so we won't have any misunderstandings or negative miscommunications.

this stupid schoolmarmish post is completely unncessary, i know. it's a purely pro-forma c.y.a. kinda thing.

i am completely assured that all consumer attendees will be on their very best behavior! or else the cosmic powers will stuff all your karma into the mazzer robur of life.

conference is fun! be happy and enjoy it!

posted by fortune | 6:17 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments