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“Mike, is that you by that beautiful car?” I’m stealing a line from one of my favorite movies, “American Graffiti,” when Toad is driving Ron Howard’s white ’58 Chevy Impala and pulls up to a stoplight. Another car pulls up, and a kid says “Toad, is that you in that beautiful car?” Toad responds, “Yes,” and the kid says “What a waste of machinery” and drives off. Well, this is our Toyota Prius. We have had it about two years, and it is a blast to drive. It is a gadget car and is a wonderful piece of machinery. It even has a global positioning system (GPS). Plug in an address, and a woman with a very soothing voice tells you where to make every turn; it certainly helps when I can drive to where I need to go without asking for directions—something my wife appreciates, since I was never good at asking for directions, as I knew we would get there eventually. Why a hybrid car you ask? Well, you should also know we have a 4.4-kW solar system sitting on top of the south side of our home; there are 21 solar panels up there generating electricity in DC current, which goes through an inverter, ends up as AC current, and is fed back to the grid. What we generate is monitored via a net meter, when we generate more than we use, the meter runs backward. Our long-term plan is to eventually make our hybrid car a plug-in, have our solar system charge the batteries, and hopefully drive back and forth to work without using the gas motor very much at all. Alright Mike, we know you like cars, and now we know you are into solar power, but what does that have to do with the ASBC?

I’m glad you asked, because we have World Brewing Congress (WBC) 2008 around the corner, and one of the segments that will be covered will be sustainability. The world is waking up and saying we all need to play a part in protecting what we have, and this applies to the brewing world as well. WBC 2008 is shaping up to be the premier brewing event of the year, with cutting-edge brewing information from the science side to the process side to the final packaged product. I encourage everyone to attend, as we continue to build on the successes from our previous WBC years. There will be plenty of science- and process-related venues, and plenty of state-of-the-art brewing exhibits for everyone to select from to optimize their WBC 2008 experience. The WBC 2008 Planning Committee has been doing a fabulous job putting together a stellar program; there have been many long hours and much thought put into the planning of WBC 2008 so there will be something for everyone who attends.

Your current ASBC Board also has been very busy. The Technical Subcommittees, led by Dave Maraydn, have an aggressive schedule, with many subcommittees working this past fall and into the new year—look for completed reports at WBC 2008. The Publications Committee, led by Cindy-Lou Dull and Sue Kay, has numerous projects in motion, including updates to the ASBC Methods of Analysis, the ASBC Craft Brewers manual in CD-Rom, several new book publications in progress, and additions to the successful compendium series. Vice President John Engel, in addition to his new responsibilities, also continues to help lead the Program Committee, along with Cindy-Lou Dull, for WBC 2008. President-Elect Xiang Yin has taken over the reins of co-chairing the ASBC/MBAA Collaborative Steering Committee, along with John Engel and Mary-Jane Maurice; Xiang is also playing a pivotal role in introducing ASBC into China. Treasurer Rebecca Newman is doing a fine job mentoring incoming Treasurer Fred Strachan, along with offering her insights to the Craft Brewers segment of the ASBC. Our International Director Paul Hughes is doing a great job representing ASBC on the international front. Secretary Joyce Carr continues to keep us all on track with well-documented minutes from all our monthly conference calls, in addition to our numerous offsite board meetings. Karen DeVries has been invaluable; completing her last year on the board, she brings a wealth of both brewing and ASBC knowledge, along with a sense of calm and common sense when addressing ASBC issues. The support from ASBC staff continues to amaze me; they are there with a positive attitude, quick responses to issues that need to be resolved, and, as always, are a pleasure to work with. There are also many ASBC members who continue to volunteer their time to make ASBC a success. I encourage everyone to visit the ASBC website often for upcoming events and updates on issues that affect ASBC members, both on the national and local levels. I hope to see many of you in Hawaii for WBC 2008.

—Michael J. Joyce
President

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