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PULL JOURNAL OF JAMS, COMPETITIONS AND BARISTA EVENTS BARISTA NATION PORTLAND SALUTES DR. ILLY Just how much love can come from a group of people when their passions ignite? Enough to fire up the traveling barista empowerment event known as Barista Nation. Barista Nation was born out of a desire Anastasia Chovan of Unic had "to create a space for learning where regional baristas, café owners, roasters, and other coffee professionals could go to take workshops from industry leaders, see the industry's latest products, and get to know one another in an informal setting," according to Barista Magazine's editor, Sarah Allen, in her opening remarks. From the start, I had a strong feeling that this was going to be one awesome day. The lineup of local and industry sponsors told me Barista Nation was not messing around. So as the weeks went by, my anticipation grew with daily talks to friends and coworkers about Barista Nation PDX. Portland weather typically goes hand in hand with coffee, and fittingly, a slightly chilly day, overcast with on and off showers, met me the morning of April 17. Driving across town to northeast Portland, my destination came into view with sponsor David Rio of San Francisco's sunset orange vintage Chai-mobile parked out front of the Wonder Ballroom. Springing from my car and up to the sign-in table, I was greeted by an attendant as happy to see me as I was to be there! Checking off my name, she handed me a Unic goodie bag complete with gifts from every sponsor, and the day had just begun! As I stood there taking it all in, many people were either standing or clusters sitting in small talking quietly amongst pastries from our local area Delphina's bakery and illy coffee wafted up the stairway from the downstairs room, beckoning me to partake. Passing two young gentlemen discussing Chemex techniques and scooping up my treats, I was inspired by their conversation and began thinking about the choices of sessions to attend throughout the day. Heading back upstairs, I set my breakfast at my seat and looked around the workshop areas and the many people, some meeting each other for the first time, some taking the opportunity to network, others reacquainting themselves with vendor reps and people in the industry. Megan O'Connell of Portland was more than willing to share her story of why she was there. Megan said she started as a barista at age 16, in a coffee shop in Duluth, Georgia. "I had an overwhelming feeling that the coffee business was exactly where I needed to be, and this is what I wanted to do with my life, " she said. In spring of 2009, Megan moved to Portland upon hearing that there was great coffee being produced in the Pacific Northwest, and she had a deep desire to learn as much as she could. She currently works at a local bakery and is seeking to learn all about roasting, the next step to her adventures in coffee. The Barista Nation PDX event was in honor of the late Dr. Ernesto Illy, considered the father of coffee. His research revolutionized the coffee industry, paving the way for new innovation and understanding. Ernesto Illy was an excellent example of a purist in entrepreneurship. With the intro session closing, themselves. Introductions were taking place, new friendships and partnerships were already budding. Professional as all get out, the room took on a sleek look with long solid covered tables in rows along the north side and west side in front of the stage with the debut of the Viper system by Stella di Caffe flanking the south walls, already warmed up and showing off its new moves with Sauro Dall' Aglio, Italian Cup Champion of 2008 on bar 22 pulling espressos, and making macchiatos, and lattes. The aroma of fresh barista magazine At top, Barista Magazine Publisher Kenneth R. Olson delivers his popular class, "Decoded: Using Historical Coffee Advertising to Inspire Modern Day Marketing Strategies," at Barista Nation Portland, which took place on April 17 at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, Oregon. Below, Barista Nation Portland attendees had plenty of time to play around on Unic's new VIPER system, which stands for Variable Infusion Pressure and Extraction Regulation system. The VIPER was a hit with the baristas present for the all-day event in Portland, especially when the lights went down for a rowdy, intense latte art throwdown! I surveyed the invitation card and chose the Development I workshop entitled "Embracing Our Origins" led by Heidi Rasmussen, Senior Manager of Education and Quality of illy caffe, and Lori Eastes, NW Regional Manager and West Coast National Account Manager of illy caffe. With notebook in hand I walked up a staircase to a mezzanine level where the women from illy had set up the "Embracing Our Origins" station across the long countertop of bar. The four stations, with three different single origin coffees and a blend, each had a Chemex brewing system, scales, cups of ground coffee for smelling, and canisters of the coffee represented to use in our workshop. Heidi began with an introduction of illy's single origin beans, what she does with illy and why. And she really showed her knowledge. As her slide show concluded, we were encouraged to come up to each coffee and smell the grounds PHOTOS BY TOM VINCENT