Creating a Hub for Voices in the Roasting Community
By Joe Marrocco, Membership & Communications Committee Chair
Twitter, Facebook, blogs, forums: the list goes on and on. There seems to be an endless list of places for a roaster to go these day to connect to other roasters. The strange thing is, for all of our resources, I am asked over and over where to go for solid answers. It seems as though the more information and conversation we have access to online, the more diffuse it all is, and the more voices there are to wade through.
So what is a roaster to do?!
Joining the Roasters Guild (RG) is a great step. However, it is only just that. It is a step toward more meaningful connections with other people that also happen to roast. It is also a step toward more meaningful conversations with these people about roasting, roasters, buying, tasting, and so much more.
Here, on our new website, we hope to not only provide to portal into what is going on, but also to provide a touch point with each other and a hub for you to go to for information.
For many years, we have had a forum where members can go to ask questions and converse. This has served as a great space to focus roaster’s conversations. However, over the years the site has been underutilized and the voices on the site have begun to draw quietly to a dull murmur. The information and exchange have been fantastic, but the voices have become fewer and fewer and the topics more and more narrow.
Enter, the Roasters Guild Blog. We want this to be YOUR blog. Write your thoughts, theories, and what you are doing in the roasting world. We want to know! Comment! Share! Engage! You can submit articles for the consideration through the Content Submission Form.
We do not want this to be just another blog. We hope to once again provide a hub where many voices can come together toward the pursuit of better coffee. Thank you for being a part of the Roasters Guild, and for bringing your voice to our community.
Joe Marrocco is a husband and father of two. He has been in specialty coffee for over a decade, and has roasted on just about every type of machine that turns coffee brown. Although he is a nerd, the culinary aspects and educational opportunities provided by coffee are what keep Joe engaged every day. You can talk roasting with Joe by calling him at Cafe Imports, where he is a Sr. Sales Associate and the Dir. of Education, or listen to his thoughts via his YouTube videos with Mill City Roasters, or his podcast, Opposites Extract.
