Introducing the Beervana Community
About three months back I revealed the nuts and bolts behind this site, surfacing some of the (comparatively minor) challenges writers are confronting during the pandemic. My own work has shifted, and Beervana is going to occupy a more central role in my writing over 2021. At the time I mentioned a few things writers do, including a Patreon-style membership for especially engaged readers. That wasn’t something I was actively considering because I want everyone to feel equally welcome here whether they’re paying for the content or not. Over the 14 years (!) I’ve maintained this blog, it has developed into a conversation with readers. I have never wanted to create a tiered website where some readers get more than others.
I’m glad I wrote that post, though, because readers changed my thinking on the issue—as you so often do. A number of you said you’d be happy to support the site, and in fact would like to be able to support it. You told me you understood my situation and appreciated the site enough to want to donate to keep it going. In some cases you just said you’d like a way to express your appreciation. That was an enlightening reframe of the issue, and I started thinking about it more deeply.
So, with that preamble…
The Beervana Community
Let’s give this community thing a shot. I’ve set up a membership option through Ko-Fi , where the fees appear to be lower than Patreon, so that’s good for everyone. You can contribute at any level, letting generosity and your pocketbook be your guide. And what will the community entail?
Something Gained, Nothing Lost
This site won’t change.There won’t be a paywall, and everything posted here will be public. In most membership arrangements, writers offer bonus material to subscribers. As it is, however, I have more to write than I have time to write it, so I can’t commit to producing extra-special bonus content for subscribers alone. What I can do is create an opportunity for more connection and, for those who want to support the site, the warm glow of satisfaction knowing you’re helping me out.
Instead, think of this an invitation rather than a burden. There are a lot of cool things we can do—and I’ll follow your lead about what seems most fun. The pandemic has had the one incredibly positive effect of showing us how to connect even when we live halfway around the world. Zoom offers a fantastic way to create community, and we can harness that tech to do a lot of cool stuff. Just spitballing, we could get together to for one or more of these periodically:
Guided tastings of specific styles.
Educational meet-ups to talk about the history, culture, and brewing techniques of particular regions/types of beer.
Group blind tastings. (How? We can figure it out!)
Guest speakers.
Happy hours.
Your ideas here.
At some point we’ll actually exit this damnable pandemic, and then we could even do some in-person gathering for more of the same. Maybe we could do some group brewery visits so you can experience the in-depth tours writers get. Maybe we could even find a brewery willing to do a collab beer with us. The ideas, once you start letting your mind run with them, multiply encouragingly.
Beyond Zoom events, I could probably figure out how to get you signed books at cost, scare up some unpublished rarities, perhaps even offer a Beer Bible sneak peak. Your interests will be our guide.
How to Join
This should be easy-peasy. Start by going here: https://ko-fi.com/beervana. Click the Support button, set to “monthly,” choose your amount, and click “donate.” That’s it. You select your own level of membership, as little as a buck a month and up. Although my finances are currently stable, the Community will help a lot in terms of creating that dedicated revenue stream each writer needs to survive. Equally, I would love to see a robust little community develop because I think we could have a lot of fun.
I will give you a week or two to sign up—along with periodic reminders—and then we can discuss what you’d like to do. Give it a think, consider the possibilities, and join us if it sounds fun.
Finally, I’ll leave you with a moment of Zen from the master Kurt Vonnegut. I was looking around for a quote about community and ran across this. It is hilariously inappropriate, and that somehow makes it seem perfect:
“Electronic communities build nothing. You wind up with nothing.”
Let’s prove him wrong.