Crises innovate a virtual beer industry
A Virtual Brewgaloo supplementing a physical event later in the year is a wonderful idea. Everybody needs cultural focus and social togetherness at this critical time.
It’s a great opportunity. Introducing North Carolina and NC Beer to a much wider audience, national and global:
We booked an April trip from Europe to NC for Brewgaloo, although that is no longer possible. Cancelling was the right thing to do. A virtual event thus allows not only us, but also a global audience, to learn about the NC Craft Beer experience.
The only thing global participation will lack is the beer. Although there a lot of NC Craft Beer in the Netherlands, thanks to All Kinds of Beers. So, a virtual beer experience relies on vivid imaginations and colourful descriptions.
Besides online entertainment streaming and beer-app engagement, virtual beer events need other features. For example: real-time question and answer ‘chat’ sessions with breweries at specific times. And other beer industry representatives ‘discussing’ their activities and roles. Opportunity for global exposure is immense, adding value to both participants and ‘visitors’.
Virtual Brewgaloo and other events need nothing more than simple, real-time text-based interactions. Which also minimises the necessary amount of global internet bandwidth. Thereby leaving spare capacity for commerce and critical services.
International beer journalists like us could ‘attend’ virtual events anywhere on the planet. We could sample beers from participating breweries if they’re available in distant locations. And professional activities (interviews and questions) could happen in public. But that’s no problem; in fact, in may be preferable to beer-lovers interested in what breweries say.
So, yes, we are ‘game for’ virtual events, both now and for evermore. It’s a model we’re keen to replicate in all areas of the beer industry.