Chopbiscuit Interview - Meet AJ Bodden of Saratoga Festivals, LLC

Garth and AJ - Festival Gurus

Editor's note: This is a series of food related interviews with industry professionals, writers, bloggers, executives, farmers and folks who have made a positive impact on the food cosmos.

Founded in 2009 by lifelong friends A.J. Bodden and Garth Ellms, Saratoga Festivals has quickly established itself as the premier large scale event management company in the Capital Region. Saratoga Festivals is the owner and operator of Saratoga Beer Week, Saratoga Brewfest and Oktobeerfest NY. The festival company has quickly established itself as a premier outlet for beer enthusiasts in the Northeast. I had the chance to ask AJ some questions around the company, industry trends and of course...........Beer.

You've had some great luck with your festivals around supporting Craft Beer and smaller Boutique Breweries. Where do you see the Craft beer movement headed in the next few years?

 

I honestly feel that what we are experiencing locally, nationally and globally, is just the beginning of a movement that will continue to surprise people, including those of us directly involved.  Consumers are becoming increasingly more focused on “quality” over “quantity”.  They want to know a products origin; what is in it, where is it from, who made it, what is it “about”, etc.  It just helps the cause that the products taste great!  My prediction is that we will continue to see a growth in craft beer for many years to come considering beer is so complex and there is so much that can be done with it.  

 How has social media allowed you to expand your brand awareness?

Social media has played an incredibly large role in establishing and increasing brand awareness.  It is free and interactive-no brainer! Today’s consumer wants to interact with the businesses they are buying from…they crave and need that interaction.  People naturally want to feel important, special and “heard”, therefore why not give them a chance to. More important is the fact that social media is viral and our society LOVES that about it. We love to tell each other about what we are doing, where we are going and why they should do the same.

  

What's in the future for Saratoga Festivals? Are you heading in any other direction outside of Beer fest and your upcoming Saratoga Beer Week in February?

Our vision is to grow our business by continuing to provide unique, interesting and cutting edge events.  We are not married to craft beer and are always looking for new ideas, but are always thinking local.  However, we are not interested in trying to reinvent the wheel.  If something is being done we are not looking to try to do it better. But we may be interested in looking at how we can do it differently. 

We are also moving towards creating partnerships with other professionals which will allow us to continue to grow without compromising the quality of our product.  We look to partner with professionals whose expertise is different than ours.  We truly believe that success is achieved by getting the right people on your team and allowing them to do what they do best.  In the end we all win. 

There are a lot of beer festivals around the country. How do you differentiate yourselves from these other festivals?

This is a great question, and one we get often.  The truth is we do take into consideration what others are doing, (we have to) but we put the majority of our focus on looking at our event objectively and focusing on what key components we feel all festivals need to be successful.  These components include a variety of great beer (of course), rare beers that people can’t find elsewhere, live music, local vendors, a great setting and plenty of space.  Beyond that we focus on the little things like lines, bathrooms, etc.  The bottom line is we want people leaving thinking they had an awesome time, tried something new, didn’t spend all day in line and can’t wait for our next show! 

  

When AJ isn’t running a festival company, what type of beer is he drinking when he’s got some free time?

Many, many of them! HA-HA.  Not only is craft beer my business, it is a passion of mine and one that I share with my closest friends and family.  I always enjoy drinking new beers, especially the local brews when travelling. I love all kinds of brews and with it being winter I am looking for malty, nutty ales with plenty of hop character but nothing over powering.  I am loving the fact that more brewers are doing Porter, Imperial Stouts, Scottish Ales and German styles like Doppelbocks.  My favorite brewery is Peak Organic Brewing Co out of Portland, ME.  These guys are producing top tier brews while sourcing their ingredients locally, brewing organically and growing their business through grass roots efforts.  They represent what it means to be a craft brewery.  Source local, pure ingredients and brew great beer that you can stand behind.