In 2020, everyone went digital to some extent. COVID-19 forced our hand when it came to all the normal in-person activities, including using our own to shake someone else’s. When work and education had to go virtual, Andrew Coplon was prepared to offer the beer industry exactly what it needed at just the right time. In 2022, it’s clear how that has paid off.
Craft Beer Professionals was already established as a Facebook group and online information source for staff, brewers, and owners across all three tiers of the U.S. beer industry when it held its first virtual conference in April 2020. But two years later, it has cemented itself as an indispensable outlet, where many go for help procuring ingredients; troubleshooting technical questions; or understanding the latest in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
Coplon, its founder, is at the center of it all, moderating conversations that take place on social media, live over video, and now in person. He says the success of the group is because people “crave intimate and interactive events,” which Craft Beer Professionals offers in abundance—and none of which would have happened without his guidance. Coplon has helped Craft Beer Professionals accrue more than 500 educational sessions, including several hundred in 2022 alone. With 16,000 Facebook members, the group has now also gone real-world, holding two in-person conferences in 2022 which welcomed a combined 300 people from 25 different states.
The success of the beer industry is tied to members’ abilities to learn, grow, and hone their craft. The platform that Coplon built and manages has become a valuable virtual water cooler where people take a break from work to talk shop and get better at everything from taproom food options to freight logistics. “I’m always clocked in and engaged,” he says about the time he spends moderating and curating.
Craft Beer Professionals became an essential outlet for many in 2020 and 2021 when virtual info-sharing was the norm, but in 2022, it has become what industry professionals have so often called for: a 24/7 place for peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing that’s always on, and always growing.
Words,Bryan Roth