At last night’s monthly meeting of the San Diego chapter of the Pink Boots Society (PBS) at Guadalupe Brewery‘s tasting room in Vista, members in attendance cast their votes to elect individuals to serve as officers for the next two years. The open positions included a pair of co-chapter leaders, secretary and membership coordinator (a singular dual position), marketing chair and Collaboration Brew Day liaison.
Returning as co-chapter leader will be Lia Garcia of Fast Forward Ventures (pictured above, second from right) who will team with newly appointed co-lead Romi Rossel of The Bountiful Bag, San Diego Brewcycling Collaborative and Kilowatt Brewing (second from left). Kaitlin Peters from Athletic Brewing (far left) will assume the secretary position, Lauren “Lu” Moceri from Laguna Beer Co. will serve as marketing chair, and Esthela Davila from Kilowatt and the San Diego Brewers Guild‘s Board of Directors (far right) will head the chapter’s Collaboration Brew Day efforts.
This was the first election to fill vacant positions within the chapter since 2019. When it came time to replace leaders elected during that cycle in 2021, only three members volunteered to fill leadership spots. That trio was approved as opposed to elected, and included Garcia and Joey Hanna of Hoppy Beer Gear as co-chapter leaders, and chapter secretary Magie Brennan from Lost Cause Meadery.
“When we came into office in January 2022, we were coming out of the pandemic and it had heavily impacted our chapter. Zoom-only meetings and happy hours to try and keep membership alive was tough, and I applaud our previous leadership for doing the best they could with the resources they had,” says Brennan.
“There was a definite learning curve, but I’m proud of what we accomplished. Now that Pink Boots is open to all fermentation styles, we were able to extend our educational reach and able to have meetings at some of the amazing non-beer businesses we have in the county. And we made sure that we reached all parts of the county, and covered various educational topics for a range of jobs our members may be slotted into.”
Current officers will assist incoming electees to set them up for success and ready them to start their two-year terms beginning January 1, 2024.
Upcoming, high-priority initiatives for the chapter will include getting a head start on next year’s Collaboration Brew Day. Now in its seventh year, that March initiative involves local breweries producing specialty beers made using a specialty Pink Boots Hop Blend from hop supplier, Yakima Chief Hops, which in turn donates a portion of sales of that product to support the organization’s educational efforts. Coordinating with participating breweries and setting up release events and tap takeovers to maximize visibility for Pink Boots, its mission and initiatives will be key.
“A survey went out in 2023 asking if local chapter members would be interested in single-day or multiple-day chapter retreats, so we hope the planning process for those activities will continue,” says Garcia. Single-day retreats may include visits to fermented-beverage locations in Orange County or Los Angeles, while a multiple-day affair that’s been discussed would involve visiting former San Diegans in Arizona. The latter would build off of Pink Boots’ Arizona chapter members’ 2022 retreat in San Diego.
“In 2023, there were a few requests to make local scholarships available for our San Diego chapter members. While the effort was put in to start the process, assistance from PBS National is required and there were delays,” adds Garcia. “The hope is that the new leadership can get the ball rolling ahead of time so that application deadlines can be met for our members to apply for requested programs and scholarships.”
Officers will also work to maintain engagement among the chapter’s members, while increasing membership as well as attendance at its meetings, educational seminars and other events. Additionally, Brennan says Pink Boots would like to become more involved with the San Diego Brewers Guild and work with that volunteer non-profit to expand its reach to members of the local brewing industry.
For more information on Pink Boots or to join the San Diego chapter, visit the organization’s official website