Biodiesel Coops Conference - July 15-16 Colorado

Local Biodiesel: A Biodiesel Co-ops Conference

July 15-16

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

We are organizing a biodiesel groups/co-ops conference in Colorado near
Denver this summer, at Colorado School of Mines . This event will
present stories and information about homebrewing in groups, as well as
distribution, advocacy, small-scale biodiesel business, and other kinds
of biodiesel group activities.

Web page (still in progress, check back for a list of participating
groups/speakers)
www.b100.org

We'll put up a registration page this week and will keep you informed
about developments for this event. In the meantime, there is an
announcements-only mailing list (ie not a chat list) for anyone who
wants to receive updates by email- at
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselconference

At this event, presentations will discuss homebrewing and the law,
technical topics relevant to homebrewers and small-scale biodiesel
businesses, organizational aspects of biodiesel co-ops/biodiesel
clubs/biodiesel outreach groups, oil collections and other feedstock
availability issues, cooperating with other biofuelers in your local
community, commercial biodiesel distribution, taxes, bulk-buying clubs,
educating others in your community about biodiesel, and many other
topics. Best of all, we have an extensive lineup of speakers who are
coming to present 'case studies' about their local efforts in biodiesel
groups- telling the story of biodiesel grassroots efforts in North
America from their own experience.

Official conference session themes are:
case studies,
biodiesel education and advocacy,
distribution,
homebrewing and the law,
feedstock (oil supply),
and technical topics

We want to hear from you! If you have biofuels group experience and
would like to speak at one of our panel discussions (Case Studies) or
lead a discussion session that fits into the above themes, please get in
touch: conference@b100.org . You do not need to be an experienced public
speaker (that's why some of the presentatoins are moderated panels, to
help get non-professionals speaking about their experiences, and we can
help you organize your presentation).

This event is organized by people who've been involved with the Colorado
biodiesel organizations at Denverbiodiesel.org, Boulderbiodiesel.com,
Colo School of Mines Student Council on Sustainability, along with many
others from outside of Colorado: various members of the BIodieselbasics
and Biodiesel Yahoogroups, Utah Biodiesel Co-op, folks from Biofuel
Oasis and Berkeley Biodiesel Collective, and more from around the
country. I'll update the 'who we are' section of the web page soon with
all the guilty parties' names.

The conference will be held at Colorado School of Mines.

Conference accommodations:
We have (optional) dorm housing available Friday-Sunday (unfortunately
can't provide dorm rooms for couples as the school segregates dorm rooms
by gender- we'll try and make a list of hotel accommodations for those
who won't stay in the dorm) and we will be serving breakfast and lunch
as part of the event and using the mealtimes and the evenings as
additional networking opportunities.

Cost: We are charging only as much as the space rental will cost us, and
expect that the weekend's registration costs will be under $100
including dorm housing. We should have more details on the exact amount
on the website within a couple of weeks.

Discussions and networking:
The event will be discussion-based, with audience participation
encouraged for the speakers' sessions, and we will provide ample
opportunity for networking and social time so you can get to meet each
other and share ideas.

Assorted info for those making travel plans:
There will be a free Friday night introductory session for the local
general public, which would run around 6-8 and kick off the event,
although it is not listed on the conference web page yet. Actual
conference orientation/dorm room check-in will take place at the Atrium
tea/refreshments social after this Friday event. (you can also check in
on Saturday morning). Friday evening will be a mellow 'social' before
bedtime, and Saturday night will be a larger party for which we're
renting a facility on campus, with some kind of entertainment. Sunday
night you're on your own as most folks are likely to travel back then.

For more information, join our updates list at:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/biodieselconference
or email conference@b100.org