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| Pink Boots Society |
November 2008 |
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 Greetings! This issue of the Pink Boots Society e-Newsletter reports on our second meeting, which took place during the Great American Beer Festival in Denver 2008. The goals we voted on are listed below.
The current plan is to have two meetings per year: a CBC (Craft Brewers Conference) meeting, and a GABF (Great American Beer Festival) meeting.
Only the voting members active enough to be present at the meetings will be able to vote, so they carry the responsibility of representing the entire membership during these meetings. Be there and be counted!
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
Our 2008 Denver meeting was sponsored by White Labs, Hop Union, and the Siebel Institute. Please support our sponsors! By virtue of their contribution, we were able to keep the cost of our buffet luncheon meeting to ten dollars per person, which included the food, tip, room rental, microphone, corkage fees, etc.
Thank you also to our beer donors, including Denise Jones (Moylans Brewing Co.) and Sarah Billick (Klamath Basin Brewing Co.) If I missed any beer donors, I apologize. Be sure somebody writes your name down at the next meeting if you bring beer to share! |
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We met in a lovely back room at the Wynkoop Brewery in the LoDo section of downtown Denver. 34 of us gathered at round tables in front of a deeply carved antique wooden bar with mirrored backdrop. Members enjoyed the buffet as we waited for last minute attendees. Because none of us wanted to miss the awards ceremony at the afternoon session, we only had one hour to conduct our business meeting.
The above photo is the best I have as my camara's electric eye malfunctioned. If you have good photos from the Denver meeting, please email them to me at teri@pinkbootssociety.com. Thanks!
Thank you to Joanne Carilli-Stephenson (Aspen Gold Marketing) for coordinating the meeting, Sue (White Labs) for assisting with registration, Sue Smith-Troy (Left Hand Brewing) for taking meeting minutes, Jamie Martin (Dells Brewing) for counting the votes, and Cinza Wallace (Left Hand Brewing) for taking photos. |
WE VOTED: ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS These are the goals we voted in at the 2008 Denver meeting. They are now the Organizational Goals of the Pink Boots Society:
1. Encourage women to become beer drinkers.
2. Encourage women to become homebrewers.
3. Encourage women to become professionals in the beer industry.
4. Support women brewers to advance their careers through education.
5. Promote women in the beer industry to the media.
6. Increase the number of women beer judges at the GABF and other competitions.
One other goal was voted upon but did not pass as not enough members voted to make a quorum. That goal would have been to strive to increase the number of women in the beer industry to 50%. Because of a low tie vote, this suggestion did not become a PBS goal. |
 PINK BOOTS SOCIETY VISION "To encourage more women to enter the beer and brewing industry, to support them in their chosen career and help them to advance in their career."
In other words, we want the Pink Boots Society:
"To be a powerful voice for women brewers, a relevant resource for women brewers, and an advocate for women brewers."
Because the 2008 San Diego meeting vote expanded membership beyond the ranks of women brewers, the final mission statement needs to take into account all of our voting members, so in effect the term "women brewers" in the above vision does include all voting members as described in the "Who Is The Pink Boots Society" section at the bottom of this e-newsletter. |
 PINK BOOTS SOCIETY IN THE NEWS - ONLINE All women beer writers are members of PBS...
Mirella Amato's (Beerology) report on our San Diego meeting.
Pink Boots Society mentioned in the L.A.Times.
Brewing, our link to the past:
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 ACTION ITEMS DISCUSSED
1. Obtain Non-Profit Status: We voted this goal in during the 2008 San Diego meeting. Barbara Gerovac (Red Car Brewing Co.) gave a report on her work to obtain 501c(?) status. Marc Sorini's name was mentioned as possible help. Teri reports Marc will look over the final paperwork that we come up with. Marc says we'll need to form a "C" corporation, and suggested a 501c(3) (charity) or 501c(7) (education) non-profit. The Brewers Association recommends 501c(6) (business or trade association). Barbara is researching the right fit for us. We may vote on this at our 2009 Boston meeting. We want to ensure we have enough lattitude to promote other things besides education, such as a women's beer festival or other events.
2. New Website: Teri has purchased the domain name, www.pinkbootssociety.com for us. Teri will work on a new website as time permits. The current webpage includes an updated list of all the names in our database. She will be assisted in bringing us our own website by Michelle Kelsall (Failford Inn & Windie Goat Brewery in Ayrshire, U.K.). Sponsorship is needed for domain name registration and website hosting fees.
A suggestion was made to put members' bios and photos on the website to help with media development. (See number 11 below.) This idea will take time.
3. Build Database: Megan Parisi (Cambridge Brewing Co.) is our new Database Manager. Discussion included adding members' area of expertise so that a technical support network could be developed. (ie: recipe development, yeast handling, t-shirt design, beer marketing, etc.) Michelle Lowney (Grizzley Paw Brewing Co.) volunteered to develop this. Our database is used to update our e-Newsletter server database with Constant Contact. Sponsorship is needed for Constant Contact fees. See section below on Membership List & Website Update.
4. Create a Technical Support Network: As an expansion of the proposed technical support network part of the database, Michelle Lowney proposed building a 24-Hour Tech Base. The members who volunteer to be part of this team would make their personal phone number available to members only. They would be willing to take a phone call from any voting member anywhere in the world who needed technical help. This would especially support our less experienced members as they ran into brewing/filtering or other trouble during a late shift or in a distant time zone. Nobody who needs help should feel too embarrassed to ask a question that could salvage a potentially lost beer. See section below to sign up.
5. Develop an annual Pink Boot Award: To be presented to the woman (or man!) who does the most to advance the cause of women in brewing during the previous year. Processes and details would have to be determined. Maybe we need a committee. It was suggested that the award be given during the GABF Award Ceremony to bring attention to women in brewing. We'd have to work that out with the Brewers Association.
6. Encourage Media Coverage of Women in Brewing: Several of our members have been interviewed in local and national press. The Pink Boots Society even made the L.A. Times. (See section above for link.) At the meeting, a story was related about Gretchen, a brewer, who was interviewed by a woman CBS correspondent. The female reporter asked, "Are you a girlie girl?" A comment was made that as long as the media continues to ask us inappropriate and innane questions like that, it proves that the Pink Boots Society is needed, as there is much to teach the reporters as well as the general public about women brewers and/or women and beer.
7. Increase the Ranks of Women Beer Drinkers: In order to increase the ranks of professional women brewers, we have to start at the base level. You first need to have a woman who drinks beer, preferably regularly. From there she has to become curious and inquisitive about beer and how it is made. Education is key. Janelle Pritchard (Snoqualamie Falls Brewing) helped to create the Washington Beer Commission. Cinzia Wallace (Left Hand Brewing) and Sue Smith-Troy (Left Hand Brewing) created "Ales4FemAles," a women-only beer club based at Left Hand Brewery with the goal of educating women about craft beer. Non-voting brewery owner members expressed interest in the content of the Ales4FemAles' monthly meetings. This is how networking happens!
8. Develop a Mentorship Program: Several ideas were expressed, including a "big sister - little sister" team approach. The only glass ceiling in brewing is the education glass ceiling, and the PBS can become a tool for women professionals to break through that. Once we have non-profit status, we can discuss ways to raise funds for education scholarships for women brewers/cellarwomen/lab/QC/QA/sensory (ie: voting members). Sponsorships and fund-raisers, like a women-brewed beer festival were mentioned. Rubicon Brewing (Sacramento) already has a women's beer festival, and the sentiment was that we didn't want to replicate what they are doing.
9. Encourage Women to Become Professional Brewers: Young women and even high school girls need to learn that professional brewing is a career option open to them. The vision was that a "career kit," similar to a "media kit" could be developed. A stack of them could be available at PBS headquarters. Any woman brewer could order one. The kits would contain a table display and information for university and/or high school students about the skills needed for brewing. They would encourage study of math, science (especially chemistry), statistics and business. The woman brewer would staff the career day booth and would answer all questions, from both girls and boys.
10. Increase Membership: Currently there are 137 voting and 67 non-voting members in our database (204 total), with more being added everyday as emails come flying in. However there are notable absences on our list. We have less than five women listed from the large breweries, such as A-B, SABMillerCoors, etc. One large brewery employee told Teri the list would likely be used for recruitment to balance their equal-opportunity employment numbers. Perhaps the large breweries are not sending in the names of their women brewers/ cellarwomen/ lab/ QC/ QA/ sensory employees because they are afraid the women will be recruited away. At any rate, the goal is to collect the names of all qualified voting members from every brewery, of every size, everywhere in the world.
On a happy note, two international members were present at the 2008 Denver meeting: Tomoko Sonoda, Brewmaster at Harest Moon Brewery in Chiaba, Japan, and Winnie Hsu, Brewer at Gordon-Biersch Brewery in Taiwan. Welcome!
11. Tell Our Stories: A suggestion was made to add member profiles to the website. Each member has a unique story of how she became a professional brewer or brewery employee. These member profiles would be useful to the media, and could lead to discussions about what we can learn from each other.
12. Develop the Role of Non-Voting Members: Non-voting members present at the meeting included brewery owners, bartenders, beer educators, beer writers and media staff, distributors, and beer festival managers. Perhaps we'll have time at the 2009 Boston meeting to break out into like-minded groups for discussion. And/or some of the non-voting members could make a presentation of what they can contribute to the PBS, and/or what they want from the PBS.
13. Encourage the Men Brewers who Support us: The idea of including the men brewers was raised. Most of our members have always felt included by the men, and the Pink Boots Society was not formed to exclude men. However, if membership included all men, then there would be nothing special about our group. The MBAA already has the co-ed brewing industry covered.
A question was raised about re-voting on the conditions for membership in order to include men in the membership rolls. Currently qualified women are automatically members, but it would be impossible to document every human on the planet who would qualify as a co-ed member. A suggestion was made that interested men could apply for membership. However, the membership conditions will stand for two years. The issue can be reopened at the 2010 Denver meeting if enough members want a re-vote. (See section below "Who is the Pink Boots Society" for an exact description of who our current members are.)
In the meantime, the idea of a post-PBS meeting party was discussed. This would be a party where all our men brewer friends and male supporters would be invited. No one has volunteered at this point, but a PBS member would be needed to organize the space, beer and invitations for any post-meeting party. A spontaneous party might work best. There was a small one after our 2008 San Diego meeting. If any men want to show up after our meeting in Boston in April, those of us who want to stick around would be happy to party with them. |
 NEXT MEETING: BOSTON in APRIL 2009
If you qualify as a member (see Who Is The Pink Boots Society below), and we don't have your email address, please send it to megan@pinkbootssociety.com, so she can put you in the database and make sure you get an e-Vite next March.
We will be discussing and voting on many of the Action Items listed above. These Action Items will help us accomplish the Organizational Goals that we voted in at the Denver meeting. We also hope to vote on a Board of Mavens, and if we're lucky, Bylaws too.
A suggestion was made to break out into separate voting and non-voting groups in order to discuss member benefits and how we can help each other. This idea was predicated by the wonderful spontaneous discussion at the Denver meeting about Ales4FemAles, and how that idea could be spread via a brewery's non-voting members. This could be the beginning of committees. The plan for breakout group discussion depends on how much time we have after voting on Action Items to facilitate Organizational Goals.
In addition to voting, Teri will have a budget for us so we can assess sponsorship needs. These items include meeting costs, post-meeting party costs, website domain name, website hosting, email list hosting, incorporation fees, non-profit filing fees, and eventually scholarships for members, career kits, and other future Action Items we vote on to facilitate our goals. |
 MEMBER LIST and WEBSITE
Please protect your membership contact list. It is for members' personal use only. Do not give it away and do not use it for commercial solicitation or speculative sales.
As of November 13th we have 204 members listed: 137 voting and 67 non-voting.
Once you receive your list, please check your contact info. If your information is not correct or you are not the list but should be, please send your corrections and updates to member Megan Parisi (Cambridge Brewing Co.), who manages our database for us. megan@pinkbootssociety.com.
Updating the database, PDF membership lists, e-newsletter lists, and the website take a lot of time. Therefore we will only send out updated PDF membership list and the website list twice per year, after each meeting. The website member list is now up-to-date! www.pinkbootssociety.com
Please be patient as this organization is run by volunteers with full-time careers, families, and personal lives. Thank you! |
 PBS 24-HOUR TECH BASE If you have a specialty area that you would be willing to help with, Michelle wants you on her team. Tech Base teammembers are any PBS member who is willing to help other members with questions at any time. A 24-hour time frame was chosen so our International members can feel free to call for help from any time zone.
If you want to be on the 24-Hour Tech Base list, please send Michelle your specialty area (ie: DE filration, yeast handling, recipe design, marketing, bottling equipment, restaurant menus, t-shirt design, etc.). The more specific you can be, the more you can help. Also send your name, your email, and work and home or cell phones. Please provide the contact information that you are willing to answer after normal working hours, and list the hours you are not available, if any.
Send to:
Michelle Lowney
US Phone: 303-709-4420
Canada Phone: 403-688-6901
Work Phone: 403-678-9981
This is a very exciting development, and a great way for our more-experienced members to give back to the brewing industry by mentoring our less-experienced members. Please sign up now. |
 PINK BOOT SOURCES
Steel Toe Options:
Slip-ons go over your boots. Come with pink spot color.
If only we could just order the steel toe caps and insert them into our existing boots!
Myth About Amputation:
Some brewers do not wear steel-toed boots because they have heard rumors that if a heavy keg falls on your toe, the steel-toe will collapse and cut off their toes. This is a mistake and the information is incorrect. Here are the facts:
At some point we will have enough members to order custom steel-toe pink boots. Member Laura Ulrich (Stone Brewing Co.) is exploring our pink boot options. |
 PBS MEMBERS WIN GABF MEDALS
Megan Parisi - GOLD - Cambridge Arquebus
Jenn Tally - BRONZE - Squatter's Fifth Element (photo left)
Whitney Thompson - BRONZE - Victory Prima Pils
Kim Lutz - BRONZE - Maui Red Cock Doppel Bock
Devon Kreps - SILVER - Sweetwater Motorboat ESB
Jamie Martin - SILVER - Dells Chief Amber Ale
Tonya Cornett - BRONZE - Bend Hop Head (photo bottom of email) Jennifer Henckle - GOLD - Pyramid Crystal Wheat Ale, GOLD - Pyramid Apricot Ale, GOLD - Black Watch Cream Porter
Rachel Juzeler - SILVER - Alaskan Raspberry Wheat Ale, GOLD - Smoked Porter 2006, SILVER - Smoked Porter 2007, SILVER - Alaskan Summer Ale
Alison Schrader - SILVER - Dogfish Head Pangaea, GOLD - Red & White, BRONZE - Palo Santo Marion
I cross-referenced only women brewers, and I may not have got all of them. There are many other members, not brewers, whose breweries also won medals. Click here to see the complete GABF Winners List. |
 SISTER ORGANIZATION: CLEAR BOOTS SOCIETY If you are a woman distiller, or you know of one, please contact Sebbie Buhler at seb@rogue.com.
Can the Purple Boots Society of women wine makers be far behind?
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 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIESThe MBAA (Master Brewers Association of the Americas) offers several courses a year. The Packaging Technology Course is coming up in March 2009 in Madison, Wisconsin. There is a January 15 deadline for the William H Hipp Scholarship to this course. Click here for details on both. Local MBAA branches often ofter their own scholarship programs. Join and ask! The Siebel Institute (one of our Denver Meeting sponsors) co-sponsors the annual Glen Hay Falconer Scholarhips. Two per year are awarded to a brewer or homebrewer from the Pacific Northwest or Northern California. Click here for details.
Do you need to brush up on your math skills? There are several free courses online: * Whatcom Community College - several free math courses. |
 WHO IS THE PINK BOOTS SOCIETY?
We are the female movers and shakers in the beer industry. We get the beer brewed and fermented with the highest possible quality. We also own breweries, package the beer, design beers, serve beers, write about beer, and cover just about any aspect of beer, and we are all women.
Below are the conditions for membership that we voted on at the 2008 San Diego meeting.
VOTING MEMBERS
Any professional woman brewer, cellarwoman, laboratory technician past or present, from any brewery of any size, anywhere in the world, who is or was continuously employed by a brewery for no less than three months. If you qualify you are automatically a voting member. Once a voting member always a voting member. (This includes women working at breweries in wort production, fermentation, filtration, quality assurance, quality control, and sensory.)
NON-VOTING MEMBERS
Any woman anywhere in the world who does not qualify for voting membership as described above, but who derives at least part of her income and livelihood from beer. (This includes women packagers and packaging managers, women brewery owners, accountants, marketers, women beer writers, pub owners, servers, etc.) 
We make every attempt to include all members, but we can't chase you down, even if we know you personally. If you got missed and you are not on the membership database list (coming soon via email), then please email megan@pinkbootssociety.com.
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The Pink Boots Society began in 2007 as a list of every woman brewer I met or heard about during my 13,000-mile cross-country road trip (www.roadbrewer.com). We had our first meeting in April 2008, where the women on that list voted to become a membership organization and not just a list.
At our second meeting, in October 2008 in Denver, we covered a lot of ground in only one hour. (See above for details.) Both meetings were inspirational and it was so fun and exciting to connect with women I had only heard about or been in contact with via email.
If you are a member of any kind, I encourage you to attend our third meeting. It will be held during the Craft Brewers Conference in Boston, April 21-24, 2009. Stay tuned to future editions of this e-Newsletter for details.
Sincerely,
Teri Fahrendorf, Founder
Pink Boots Society |
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