ASBC Newsletter

The World Brewing Congress is just a few months away, and I would like to invite you to take part in this superb international event. It promises to be filled with the latest technology and research and an abundance of networking opportunities. Rob Maruyama and Kathy Kinton, along with the St. Paul staff, have done an outstanding job of organizing the congress. Dirk Bendiak and Mike Sutton have put together an incredible program highlighted by 99 oral papers, more than 100 posters, five workshops, and a keynote speaker on nanotechnology. In addition, multiple opportunities to connect with suppliers will be available at the exhibits and the supplier sessions. We are also very excited that top executives from the brewing industry have taken the time to be part of this event. They will open the congress with their insights on the issues of alcohol consumption, the environment, operations, and globalization of the industry. Just before WBC 2004, two professional development opportunities are available to you. ASBC is sponsoring a short course on experimental design, and MBAA is sponsoring a flavor workshop on oxidation. Of course, the location for the WBC cannot be beat. San Diego is one of the world’s great vacation spots, offering perfect weather and an abundance of magnificent places to visit and tour.

Society business involving technical subcommittee meetings and various other committee meetings has been scheduled outside the hours designated for WBC activities. You will find the schedule inside this issue or on ASBCnet. Everyone is invited to the Technical Subcommittee meetings to learn about what has taken place over the past year and to give input for future subcommittee work.

Your Board of Directors met in sunny California the first week of March at La Quinta Resort, the site for the 2006 Annual Meeting. Staff has found yet another great location for an ASBC meeting! The Board would like to thank Publications Chair Mike Joyce along with his committee, the Technical Committee, and countless Headquarters staff for all of their hard work in finishing up the ninth addition of the Methods of Analysis on CD. This has been quite an undertaking and will prove to be very valuable to our membership.

The Nominating Committee brought forth excellent candidates for president-elect, vice-president, and secretary. They are Greg Casey, Karen DeVries, and Xiang Yin, respectively. These candidates will be approved by membership ballot prior to WBC 2004. Please watch your e-mail and return your ballot. Several Board members will complete their terms; they are Past-President Dirk Bendiak, Secretary Mary-Jane Maurice, and International Director Katherine Smart. I thank them for all of their contributions.

The Board continued its strategic planning by reviewing the two surveys that were recently conducted, the Membership/Emerging Issues Survey and the Young Professionals Survey. These results have been extremely valuable in helping the Board define the ASBC of the future. With the vision of the future clearly defined, the Board will develop strategies to address the four mega-issues that were identified at the fall Board meeting: 1) How do we, as a Society, provide greater value to our membership? 2) How can we expand our participant base and scope? 3) How can we increase volunteerism? and 4) How do we develop a plan for long-term financial health? Our plan is then to task new or existing committees with accomplishing these strategies.

One item that came out in the surveys was the need to be able to access information easily and quickly. To make it easier for our membership to locate information that has been published in the Journal, 20 more years of back issues (including abstracts and full text) will be digitized. Upon completion, Journal articles back to 1976 will be at our members’ fingertips through ASBCnet. Plans are to have this complete by the fall of 2004.

I can’t believe that my term as president is almost up. It has been a privilege and a lot of fun serving as your president. I would like to thank the Board and the St. Paul staff for all of their dedication and enthusiasm, as well as the many ASBC member volunteers for their time and hard work. You have all contributed to the success of our Society.

Again, I invite you to San Diego and look forward to talking with you over a nice cold beverage!

In This Issue

Board of Directors spring meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1
Kneen Award winners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	1
President's column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	2
Nominating Committee report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	5
WBC registration form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	59
Winners of ASBC scholarships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	61
Industry news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	61
WBC housing form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	62
Local section news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	64
Member information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	66

In This Issue