SCAA

Anne and I went to this year’s SCAA Leadership Summit not exactly knowing what to expect. The leadership summit has been going on for many many years, and Anne and I haven’t been to even one of them. This year, however, things were going to be different. The SCAA is undergoing a big revamp of their organizational structure, and one of the major changes is in how they are handling education.

So this year, Ellie Matuszak and the rest of the training committee organized a 2 day seminar on adult education, in order to accredit those who pass to teach classes. In the past, there has been a problem with ensuring high quality instructors at SCAA classes and events. Now, because of this weekend, it shouldn’t be a problem.

But first, let’s talk about the Barista Guild of America. Anne and I showed up a day early in order to be accredited by the BGA to administer the BGA Level I exam. So, leaving early early in the morning from Seattle so we could get to the SCAA’s Long Beach office by 11 am to meet the rest of the BGA folks for our test/class. Turns out we didn’t need to be there until 1. Oh well. Luckily Peter Guiliano of Counter Culture was there to give us a tour of the offices and introduce us to everyone. Peter G always shows up at the right time to save the day.

When everyone arrived, Heather Perry led the group to talk about the last set of exams and discuss the future of the BGA exams. Hint: they will be in a town near you soon. If your town is New York City, they will be happening on Saturday.

Then we broke into teams and administered the test to two likely candidates; Phuong Tran and Scott Lucey. As one could imagine, Phuong was a model student and scored nearly perfectly on her exam. Scott, however, was another matter. Scott was messy, aloof, and unsure of himself. Scott’s tasting notes on his espresso was of “rocketship,” and “BOOM.” Needless to say, Scott failed. I am currently trying to find out how to revoke his competition standings.

After we finished, we all piled in cars and headed to Anaheim to party down at the Anaheim Hilton, where the SCAA Expo will be held this year (conveniently next to Disney, if anyone needs some incentive to go). However, Anne and I needed to go, because we were staying at Anne’s cousins’ house in downtown LA.

The next morning, we woke up early to get to Anaheim so we could get started. Coffee and breakfast was served, introductions were made, and there was a presentation about the new organizational structure of the SCAA (councils replace committees, and make everything more streamlined). We also learned that Ellie had monopolized about 3/4 of the attendees for the weekend. Perseverance Ellie.

Next we went to our room and started learning about adult learning. This was one of the more helpful courses I’ve ever taken. We focused on learning about the different learning styles (visual, audio, and kinetic), and how to create classes to best utilize all three styles. Then we talked about how to create classes that work and how to test their use, using beta tests and useful objectives.

All of this worked towards the next day, when we re-wrote nearly all the curriculum across the SCAA, including BGA classes, Roaster’s Guild classes, and brewing and cupping labs. Many of these classes haven’t been updated for years and were out of date, some had only existed in theory, and some we so loaded down with information they were far too unwieldy to actually teach effectively.

So the next day we all assembled again to rewrite some curriculum. I was partnered with Heather RIngwood and Scott Lucey, and we spent the morning rewriting BGA Milk and Latte Art. Expect to see a better, sleeker, and more interesting class at the next SCAA Expo. In the afternoon, Scott had to go do BGA Executive Council stuff, so Heather and I wrote the new BGA Station Maintenance class. It’s going to be great. I think there’s some important information in there, and everyone will learn something new from it. Also, look for our take on the class on October 18th.

After we finished, brains melting from all the new information, we were all shuttled back to the main room where beer was served, and congratulations were made to everyone. Thus concluded our weekend with the SCAA, and Anne and I headed off the the airport to go home for 24 hours or so, before heading to Iceland!