Despite the last couple of months of prep for this week, it’s still been down to the wire for Seattle. I’m heading to SCA Expo and am quite excited to see my other 12,000 best friends in coffee. Okay, I lied, I’m super introverted and will be just as excited to make 20 new friends.
There are many different ways you can utilize Facebook Advertising for your coffee business. In this piece, I’m going to provide three strategies on ads you can run for your cafe. I’m focusing specifically on cafes for this piece, because location-based advertising can be incorporated.
I met Elizabeth Chai in real life last year in Kansas City (the qualifying event). But I first knew of her when I learned she was doing a big camper coffee crawl across the US from Atlanta to Portland, where she is based now. Liz is a “coffee + design” graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer. We also have shared interests in donuts, dessert, and craft sodas. If you run into her at a coffee event, she’ll likely be dressed up in a colorful vintage fabric dress with a camera in hand.
In the last year, we’ve been fortunate to run into each other often enough that I could set up a short photo session and interview. It’s not often that I’m able to photograph and interview someone else who does similar work as me. I think highlighting other fellow freelancers in coffee can help others realize that there are other careers in coffee that may be outside the “norm.”
On a side note, while we do have some similar interests, I hope this interview also highlights how we are not the same person (please stop mixing us up at events).
Like many of my real-life coffee friends, I first met Bethany on social media. Her sassy, brutally honest tweets were a refreshing escape from the carefully curated streams many of us (myself included) have adopted.
I met Bethany in real life this year at USCC sectionals in Kansas City. She qualified for nationals & I was fortunate enough to run into her in Atlanta. I took a quick snap and sent over some interview questions.
Another Expo over with and I’m only just now feeling back to my regular self.
Collaboration appeared to be the main theme for me this week. Over and over again, I found myself collaborating with others or finding inspiration through other collaborations. I’ll give you a couple of examples:
The countdown to SCAA Expo is 7 days and I’m just now getting to posting my photos from Kansas City USBC and USBrC regionals in February. I met some wonderful new people! The coffee community is a fun one and it was nice to go with no real intention except to work and hang out with coffee people!
We’re staying in New Orleans for this second installment of Boss Ladies of Coffee. There was a real sense of community when I was there in the Crescent City. As you may well know, service industry workers are the true insiders on the food & drink scene. When I asked Reneé of Church Alley for other cafe recommendations, she pointed me to Sólo Espresso.
Communities are difficult to build & difficult to maintain. With a solid foundation & the right people believing in the same vision, you have a higher chance of succeeding. In Chicago, the New Gotham Coffee Community is a strong network of individuals who wanted to create a community of coffee professionals. When a board was first established, I served as their Web & Social Director. Unless you have all the time & resources in the world, you will want a board. Talya Strader, the founder of New Gotham, wrote about her experience for the BGA blog.
I’m going to go into more detail on how you & others can start your own community. These are not in a particular order.
This is Part 3 of my #seapdxsfo vacation, dedicated to the coffee & food of Portland. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
In the second leg of my #seaPDXsfo trip, I rode into Portland on a cheap bus ticket. Nearly immediately after I went from one bus stop to wait for the city bus, it began hailing. Yes, hail. I thought, in April, that I had escaped hail. After all, I had left Chicago in search for warmer parts.
I'm a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, I munch on donuts & hang out with my dog Zoey.
You can reach me here or on Bluesky.
Life goal:
eat / drink coffee / write / travel
>>>> all in one.
about
Jenn is a San Francisco-based writer & photographer. On the side, she munches on fun flavored chips & hangs out with her dog Zoey. You can reach her via the contact page or on social media @thejennchen.
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There’s an uprising that is happening around New Orleans. I recently visited and was told by a local friend, “Ladies dominate the industry here.”
This was a must-see. During my stay in the city, I visited two of his suggestions & was fascinated by the atmosphere of community this city supported.
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