I love my kids. I really do. However, six snow days in two weeks can really test your resolve as a parent. If school had just been canceled for snow, I’d put both kids in their winter gear and send them outside to build snowmen, go sledding, or whatever kids do in the snow these days. However, when the temperatures outside will kill you in a matter of minutes, sending the kids outside for a while in order to regain your sanity isn’t an option.
Here’s hoping for a nice, long spring, followed by a temperate summer. (Who am I kidding? Neither of those things happen in the Midwest. We’re bracing for six weeks of bugs followed by three months of swampy humidity.)
I’ve had plenty of quality time with the kids over the last couple of weeks, which should more than make up for my trip today to Chicago for CiderCon and the Cider Summit. Over the past few weeks, the folks who run CiderCon have been sending information on some of the breakout sessions. I’ve signed up for a couple of themed tastings, but the majority of the sessions that I’ve picked should have some great content for someone relatively new to the cider industry. I’ll be doing a full recap of events when I return to eastern Iowa, but here’s what I’m looking forward to attending:
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Overcoming Legal Hurdles for Direct-to-Consumer Sales – One of the big future plans for Cider Finder is to help streamline alcohol laws between different jurisdictions. Why should ciders be classified as wine one place, beer another place, and something else in yet another? Why can you sell cider between certain states and not others? Even though we’re planning to partner with another company on the logistics of sales right now, I’d like to learn more about it for future expansion.
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The History of Alcohol Law – Current liquor laws are antiquated and stupid, but you can’t truly change the future without a deep understanding of the past.
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What Does “Natural Cider” Even Mean? – I don’t know, but I’d really like to find out.
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How to Stay Small – Small cider makers are the bread and butter of Cider Finder. This will be a great opportunity to connect with some of the smallest cider makers in attendance at CiderCon. Those personal connections are going to be the key to our success in the smallest markets.
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The KISS Method: Keep it Simple, Stupid, with Marketing and Media – I’d like to find out what cider makers are currently doing to market themselves, and see how I can dovetail what I’m doing with what’s working for them.
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Perfect Pairings: Culinary Trends for Modern Cider – Cider Finder isn’t always going to just be the app. At a certain point in the future, it would be great to have more content on the Web site, which will work as another way to bring people into the app’s ecosystem. Learning how to pair food and cider will help to further that content in the future.
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Grand Tasting: Canada and Final Toast – I’ve never had any cider from Canada, and while it’s not currently part of the Cider Finder app, it won’t be a difficult market in which to expand the app once we’re on a good footing here in the United States.
Of course, with any conference of this size, there will be opportunities to network and socialize. This is going to be the most important part of attending CiderCon – the ability to meet cider makers from all over the United States and to craft the types of relationships that I will need as Cider Finder gets off the ground. I’ll have the opportunity to sign on a few more cider makers to beta test that end of the application, and get plenty of others to sign up on the enthusiast end as well. This will be critical for finishing version 1 of the app and getting everything pushed out where it needs to be over the coming weeks.
While I’m finishing Cider Finder, things are moving forward with both 1 Million Cups Iowa City and Startup Weekend Iowa City. We’ve had to cancel 1MC the last couple of weeks due to snow and to cold, but we’re ready to start up again today with our next presenter. I’ve been talking with some of my friends who haven’t presented in Iowa City to make the trip over in the spring and pay us a visit. I’m also trying to put together a panel of entrepreneurial activities taking place in Iowa this spring, possibly to take place the first Wednesday in April. Stay tuned for more information on that.
Startup Weekend Iowa City tickets are on sale, with one small hiccup along the way – somehow, the integration between Techstars and Eventbrite broke for about a week. Luckily, it’s back up and running now, so we didn’t lose too much time. Tickets are only $15 through the end of February, when they go up to $20 – what better time than now to get your ticket! We’ve also begun signing on corporate and community sponsors for the event. Once everything is finalized with the first round of sponsors, look for those companies on our Web site. If you’re interested in sponsoring Startup Weekend Iowa City this year, let me know!
For now, I’m waiting for the eastbound train to make its way to Mount Pleasant, so I can make my way to Chicago. I’m probably going to end up missing some of the festivities tonight, as the train looks to be delayed by a couple of hours. I’m going to make the most of the other days that I’m there, and try to connect with as many people as possible. Wish me luck!