So, we've got a smattering of people down here in Costa Rica--ticos and gringos and other extranjeros--who have a taste for more flavorful beer than we can generally buy locally. I'd guess that we number in the hundreds but not the thousands. Thing is, we don't know each other. We really ought to get together sometime.
I don't mean we should meet for lunch or throw a party (although we should do that too). I mean we need a way to communicate. We need a way to say things like, "Dudes, I just saw that this beer is available in that place," and "Yo, I know where to get homebrew stuff without paying an arm and a leg." That sort of thing.
We probably need a new website. I might as well be the one to get it rolling. The thing is, we have too many options. I'm just trying to sort out which one might work best. A Facebook page? A forum? A Twitter feed? Combination Twitter feed and blog? To make things more interesting, we ought to do it in both English and Spanish.
You're an international audience of intelligent people. Help us out. Post your ideas here.
And for you thirsty types in Costa Rica who are ever-so-gradually stumbling across this blog... stay tuned. Hell, drop me a line. Maybe we'll have lunch.
Pictured: The pilot system at Costa Rica's Craft Brewing Company in Cartago. I'm heading back down there Tuesday to help brew a batch. Hopefully it will be less exciting than last time.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Beer Geeks in Costa Rica, Such as We Are, Could Use Your Advice.
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My personal opinion: start an official forum for Costa Rican beer, then suggest each member to start their own blog/twitter/facebook/whatever.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with the Spanish/English double thing...
I second the forum idea. We had a similar idea a few years ago and started a website for Irish beer enthusiasts. It was just a few of my incoherent ramblings on the front page and a forum, but it gave us somewhere to talk about beer. It has since evolved into beoir.org which is much slicker than the original flat HTML I did.
ReplyDeleteA forum works well because people can pop along and read the comments, before deciding to join or post.
Our Business news and info website posted a story about the new brewery in Cartago and I'm getting a tour and an interview in about 10 days. There's another micro brewery going up in Dominical, or so I hear. You are welcome to submit articles to us for publication. I can be contacted via our website. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI agree that a forum seems like the best way to get things going. Then if people use Twitter, blogs, etc they can start using those to stay in touch.
ReplyDeleteA forum seems like the best way to have multi-way communication going though.
OK then. Early consensus is for a forum. In that case I'm thinking a Facebook page could be the right vehicle, since there's a forum tool there. It's also relatively easy to attract people to a FB page, versus another lone forum that's just sitting in cyberspace.
ReplyDeleteObvious downside is that there are still plenty of people who don't use FB, or who use it occasionally but generally try to avoid it.
But I think the ease of setting it up and attracting people wins out. Thoughts?
FB is without a doubt the easiest. I'm in the process of setting up a page and if I can do it.......
ReplyDeleteI think that a FB page or group is the way to go... enough people have profiles now and it is a very user friendly application. It's great to hear that there will be a place for us Beer Geeks to unite. We have had a few folks stop by facebook.com/craftbeercostarica but it will be nice to have a more general place to go. Keep up the good beer vibes...
ReplyDeleteFB is cluttered, RateBeer already has a great platform and forums we can use easily: facebook.com/craftbeercostarica
ReplyDelete