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EDITOR LETTER reimagining coffee education ON A SLOW AFTERNOON several years ago at Barista Magazine HQ, Ken and I mused how funny it would be to write a musical about trade shows. We even wrote the theme song (ask me to sing it for you sometime). Trade shows are one of those ubiquitous things— every industry has them, and whether you're at the National Pest Management Association's annual event, the Piper's Gathering (a bagpipe convention), or MATSO—the trade show for Major American Trade Show Organizers (for real)—they all have characteristics in common: windowless rooms the size of football fields populated by folding stands and rollaway backdrops; sales guys in ill-fitting suits with dazzling smiles; and even—if you're in Italy, at least—"booth babes," attractive woman hired to wear short skirts and entice would-be customers to the stand. Of course, coffee has them, too. In the United States, we have Coffee Fest three times a year, and we have the annual SCAA show. I always recommend Coffee Fest when new café owners ask me for advice on what show they should attend. Coffee Fest is affordable, it takes place in a variety of cities, and it boasts retailer-friendly exhibitors, products retailers really need, fun competitions like the incredibly popular Latte Art Championship, on-trend classes taught by industry leaders, all in a neat package: a walkable floor, a three-day event—easy. Recently, I was in Italy to attend the La Marzocco Out of the Box event and to spend a day at the famous HOST show, both of which took place in Milan. HOST is a colossus: The biggest hospitality show in the world, it takes place every other year in 20 separate pavilions on the outskirts of the city in an event space so big that it has its own postal code, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees, and lasting five days. When I got back to my hotel at the end of the day I spent at HOST, I collapsed on the bed, exhausted and also a little sad. The size, the formality, the impersonal atmosphere—it was none of the things I work in coffee to be around. It serves a purpose, don't get me wrong: Business—big business—is done at HOST and every other trade show. I'm more interested in nontraditional forums 14 barista magazine BARISTA for learning though, and lucky for me and especially you, coffee has a lot of them. The La Marzocco Out of the Box concept was developed in 2009 as the anti–trade show: It takes place at the same time as HOST but is in a beautiful, architectural setting in the center of Milan's design district. It brings together innovators to discuss fresh ideas. Check out my article on page 44 to learn more about why this model is among my favorite alternative education affairs. Given the creative and intellectual nature of baristas and other coffee professionals, more of these modern models for learning and sharing debut all the time. Anastasia Chovan invented Barista Nation, a one-day event following a specific theme and designed around the community in which it takes place. Since its first event in 2011, Barista Nation has involved thousands of baristas from Paris to Tokyo, Minneapolis to San Francisco. As I write this, I'm headed to Barista Nation Kansas City, Mo., next week, where around 100 local baristas will gather to learn from industry leaders, build their community through sharing, and inspire each other. Italian Barista Champion Francesco Sanapo reimaged what a classroom could be when he developed the Barista & Farmer Coffee Project: He brought a group of Italian baristas to a coffee farm in Puerto Rico to learn what production is all about. Read publisher Kenneth R. Olson's article about the event on page 30. I'm always encouraging people to host latteart throwdowns at their shops as a relatively simple and affordable way to excite their local coffee community, and I still do. I think it can be even bigger than that, though. All the best educational and most imaginative events taking place for coffee professionals started with a dream, with a passionate barista saying "Wouldn't it be cool if we…" I really do love the excitement I see in the eyes of new café owners when they stop by Barista Magazine's booth at Coffee Fest. I cherish the feeling of a family reunion at the SCAA show. Events that educate, that instigate community and friendship, that inspire coffee professionals to push their limits, though, rarely take place inside a convention center. Thank goodness. M AGA Z I N E Publisher Kenneth R. Olson Editor Sarah Allen Art Direction Demitri Fregosi Powers Photographer Robin Lopez Business Manager Cheryl Lueder Copy Editor Erin Meister Advertising Sales Sarah Allen 800.296.9108 Contributors Alan Andrews Darrin Daniel Erin Meister Antonio Moroleon Bethany Ng Editorial Advisory Board Christopher Nicely Abel Alameda, Menotti's Coffee Shop Joshua Boyt, Metronome Coffee Lemuel Butler, Counter Culture Coffee Trevor Corlett, Madcap Coffee Company Roukiat Delrue, World Coffee Events Sonja Grant, World Coffee Events Gerra Harrigan, InterAmerican Coffee Heath Henley, Dose Coffee & Tea Jannicke M. Johansen, 3FE Rita Kaminsky, Linea Caffe Troels Poulsen, Kontra Coffee Daniel Streetman, Irving Farm Coffee Colin Whitcomb, Madcap Coffee Company Barista Magazine 4345 NE 72nd Ave. Portland, OR 97218 phone: 800.296.9108 fax: 971.223.3659 e-mail: info@baristamagazine.com www.baristamagazine.com Barista Magazine is published bimonthly by the Barista Magazine Company, LLP. 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