Kenneth Olson, Barista Magazine and Camp Coffee Shop
Barista Magazine's Co-Founder Kenneth Olson reflects on the magazine's recent IRL Camp Coffee Shop gathering.
Role(s): Co-Founder and Publisher
Company: Barista Magazine and Camp Coffee Shop
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Hey everyone, this is the first of many future Coffee People podcasts that are going to be recorded as in-person chats over a cup of coffee. I met Ken Olson of Barista Magazine on the patio of a NE Portland, OR coffee shop. There, we had sunshine, car alarms, fighter jets overhead, and a lovely chat about the experiences had at Camp Coffee Shop.
Camp Coffee Shop is an intimate, high-impact gathering designed exclusively for new and existing café owners and coffee professionals...To build and strengthen the community of independent coffee retailers.
Camp Coffee Shop convenes the buyers, managers, and strategists shaping the future of specialty coffee retailing and provides a focused and reinvigorating environment where leaders can learn, collaborate, and advance their careers and businesses.
• https://www.campcoffeeshop.com/about
This was the second cup of coffee I enjoyed with Ken this summer. The first was about a month before the Camp event, and this one a month after. I'd like to say the difference in his demeanor was noticeable, but for all the anxiety he must have had and worries he references in the podcast, he seemed cool as a cucumber during both chats. Publishing and coffee media is not for the faint of heart.
As business moves into an ever-increasing virtual world—often whether we like it, or not—in-person events that offer space to expand knowledge, worldviews, and hear first-hand experiences serve as a reminder that hospitality is for the humans.
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PODCAST
- Camp Coffee Shop was a three day, overnight all-inclusive experience in Napa, CA, for coffee shop professionals.
- The event was held on the grounds of the Enchanted Hills summer camp property that operates as a summer camp for blind children, teens, adults, DeafBlind, seniors, as well as families of the blind.
- Camp Coffee Shop wasn't an introductory program. The programming focused on how to better run an existing business, not launch a business.
- The camp setting provided an environment where people felt that they could be honest and vulnerable.
- In addition to the learning sessions, there were three pop-up coffee shops on the grounds.
- The desire to be away from our phones contrasts with the absolute anxiety of being without them. Limited phone service on the property offered more opportunity for engagement and community during the in-between moments, like walking from a class to lunch or to the bunkhouses.
- The anxiety of running a small business can be paralyzing.
- Keynote speakers included Ian Williams (Deadstock Coffee), Trish Rothgeb (Wrecking Ball Coffee), and Andrea Allen (Onyx Coffee).
- One common message was that small business operations are often about managing numerous failures to get to the successes. No one outside your operation will really understand or know the state of your business. They only see what you share.
- The event felt like therapy! Part of the relief, or the difference from a convention setting, was that there was no selling. The experience wasn't transactional.
- There was a lot for Ken to stress about, not the least of which was asking people to stay together in a bunkhouse and wildfires. The latter will always be a stressor, but the former was not a problem. The people came with great attitudes and a willingness to work through things that might make them feel uncomfortable or might be a challenge.
- The camp, initially a push from Ken's partner in life and business, Sarah Allen, fits the mission of Barista Magazine. They serve people who serve coffee.
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Coffee Smarter: From Ken by way of Jared Truby (Cat & Cloud) at Camp Coffee Shop: There is no finish line in business. You just keep going. There are no whistles ending the game. The only way to win is by the reward you take from your work.
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