These days community and connection are needed more than ever. There can be many hurdles to creating opportunities for having events whether in-person or online, but how we go about planning and execution those events does not have to be one of them!  For 6 years The Barista League has been at the forefront of what it means to produce a community driven and community connecting event in specialty coffee. Today we will be talking with the founder of The Barista League, Steven Moloney.  Steve Moloney is a two-time Swedish Barista Champion and founded The Barista League in 2015. Since then, his team has grown The Barista League's original coffee competition concept into a global brand across three continents. Whether it's throwing wild coffee parties, producing reality competition shows or running barista competitions, every project that The Barista League creates follows their three core values of Accessibility, Sustainability and Community. Steven is also the author of the organization's brand new book The Barista League’s Guide to Planning Better Events - a practical guide of how to run coffee events for your community. In todays discussion with Steven we will be talking about how things have evolved over the years and in response to COVID, plus we will dive into some of the most important points in this new book.  We wil cover:  How they have grown and pivoted in 2020 Connecting the barista community Producing a great event in-person and online Balancing entertainment with content Breaking down and focusing on the details Focusing on who you are serving Keeping everyone's attention Communication Staffing and delegation Links: www.thebaristaleague.com Instagram   Related Episodes: 163 : Lessons from Crush the Rush w/ Josh Little Field 195 : Organizing the Community w/ Espresso State of Mind founders Javier Alvarez and Joseph W. Gonzalez 146 : How to Host a Throwdown w/ Justin Shepherd of Spencers Coffee, Bowling Green, KY     Starting a shop -or- want to level up you operations? KTTS Consulting can help!  |  Email me: Chris@keystotheshop.com   The BEST in commercial coffee equipment! www.prima-coffee.com/keys   Want the best plant based beverage for your coffee drinks? www.pacificfoods.com/food-service