Virginia Spirits BarPro Schedule

BarPro Conference 2024 | Richmond, VA | October 6-9, 2024

Registration for BarPro is now closed. 

Registration 

You have two opportunities to pick up your registration materials:

  • Welcome Reception: taking place at Cobra Cabana at 901 W Marshall St on Monday, October 7th, from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.
  • Conference Check-In: At the Virginia Museum of History and Culture at 428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd from on Tuesday, October 8th, from 10:30 to 11:00 AM. (Note: A limited supply of coffee and donuts will be available during registration, so come early to get your caffeine and sugar fix!)

Location 

The majority of BarPro will take place at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture on Tuesday October 8th from 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM. The full schedule is below.

Complimentary parking is available in the museum’s parking lot at the back of the building. You will be given a sticker for parking validation with your registration materials, so be sure to bring your parking ticket with you to the conference, otherwise you will have to pay for parking on your own.

Tuesday Morning Pre-Conference Activities 

  • If you signed up to participate in the pre-conference Hike on the Historic James River with Savannah and Jas, please plan to meet your guides at the Freedom Statues on Brown’s Island at 9 AM. Parking is available at the Belle Isle lot at Tredegar St. and Brown’s Island Way. You will proceed straight to the museum at the conclusion of the hike.
  • If you signed up for the Morning Stretch, Meditation and Discussion (now with an added sound bath!) with Jim Morgan, your session will take place in the Byrd Meeting Room at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture starting at 9:00 AM. This session will not be strenuous, so you can wear whatever you plan to wear for the conference that day because you will already be at the conference site!

Sustainability 

We strive to make all of our events as sustainable as reasonably possible. To that end, there will be no single-use plastic water bottles allowed at the conference. We encourage you to bring a reusable water bottle to help support our efforts to make this an eco-friendly event. Water refill stations will be available on-site. We will also have non-alcoholic beverages and snacks available all day long.

Hurricane Helene Relief 

As you are well aware, portions of SW Virginia and much of western North Carolina were significantly impacted by Hurricane Helene. In particular, the towns of Damascus, VA and Asheville, NC were both hit very hard. Hospitality workers in both of these areas will be significantly affected for some time to come. To help support our colleagues in these areas, we will be collecting funds during the conference to send to organizations that work directly with hospitality workers and are on the ground in both jurisdictions. Please come prepared to make whatever donation you can to help our friends and colleagues in these areas. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Get Session Descriptions

BarPro Sessions

Monday, October 7 

5:30 – 7:30 p.m. | Check-In and Welcome Reception (Cobra Cabana)

Join us for your first round of Virginia Spirits at Cobra Cabana. If you aren’t able to check in here on Monday, please check in on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, October 8

9 – 10:30 a.m. | Morning Activity

Choose one of the following

  • Morning stretch and meditation with a discussion on strategies for a post-shift wind down that don’t involve a cocktail, by Jim Morgan (VMHC Byrd Meeting Room)
  • Hike along the historic James River with Sav and Jas (weather permitting) (Meet at Freedom Statues on Brown’s Island – parking available at Belle Isle Parking Lot)

10:30 – 11 a.m. | Check In

Check in at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture (VMHC Wall of Faces)

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. | Opening Session and Keynote by Deb Freeman

  • Welcome and opening remarks from the Virginia Spirits Board (VMHC Halsey Family Hall)
  • The Lost Spirits: The History of Distilling and Brewing in Virginia Focusing on the Legacy of African American Brewers and Distillers and the Impact they have made in Virginia and Across the United States, presented by Deb Freeman (VMHC Halsey Family Hall)

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions

Choose one of the following

  • Using Liquid Nitrogen Behind the Bar by Jas Singh (VMHC Byrd Meeting Room)
  • Infusion Workshop- Spirits, Syrups and Tinctures, by Beth Dixon (VMHC Reynolds Meeting Room)

1:30 – 2:45 p.m. | Burritos and Banter

Let’s gather for lunch and an informal discussion of topics relevant to Virginia’s bartending community (VMHC Halsey Family Hall). Want to know more about the US Bartenders Guild or Virginia’s distilling industry? Looking for an opportunity to network with other professionals from around the state? Or maybe you have an issue that’s been plaguing you at work and would like to get feedback from colleagues? This is your opportunity for all of these things and more!

3 – 4:15 p.m. | General Session

Building a Profitable and Efficient Bar Program, presented by Roger Beaudin, Founder and CEO of Restaurant Rockstars. (VMHC Halsey Family Hall)

4:30 – 5:30 p.m. | Breakout Sessions

Choose one of the following

  • Breakout #1: Competitive Craft: Strategies for Entering (and Winning) Mixology Competitions, by Eric Kozlik (VMHC Byrd Meeting Room)
  • Breakout #2: Say Cheese (and booze)!, by Joshua Franklin and Steve Yang (VMHC Reynolds Meeting Room)

5:45 – 8 p.m. | Virginia Spirits Tasting and Dinner

Join us in Halsey Hall at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, featuring dinner from Redemption BBQ, recently recognized as one of the country’s best BBQ by Southern Living Magazine, and tastings from the following Virginia craft distilleries:

  1. A. Smith Bowman Distillery
  2. Catoctin Creek Distillery
  3. KO Distilling
  4. Reservoir Distillery
  5. Springfield Distillery
  6. Virago Spirits
  7. Ragged Branch Distillery

Wednesday, October 9

11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Distillery Tours

Reservoir Distillery (specializing in bourbon made from Virginia grains) and Virago Spirits (specializing in unique premium rum and gin) will both hold tours of their distilling operations followed by tasting flights of their signature products JUST FOR YOU on Wednesday, October 9th!  We highly encourage you to take advantage of these unique opportunities to get a behind-the-scenes look into the production of some of Virginia’s finest distilled spirits before you head home on Wednesday. Each session will last approximately 90 minutes, allowing enough time in between to attend both sessions.