On a sunny day in September 2007, I was with two friends at the Heritage Gardens in Florida. My dear friend Alex brought up the Amalgamated Fraternity of Philanthropic Oxen, and suggested we set up a chapter at
SUUSI, a conference we attend every year. (Alex and I run beer tastings there. They're really his creation, and I'm his elf.) The following week, I found that just getting into AFPO would be tough due to geography- so I decided to start a parallel group. The intent wasn't to compete with the AFPO, but to take its great concept, and make it more accessible.
I brought up the idea to The Veg, and he showed great enthusiasm. That excitement helped get the idea moving. The biggest hurdle was to find a name for the group. After brainstorming for hours, I e-mailed Veg. Within minutes, I got a reply suggesting Pax Brewitas. As soon as I read it, I knew Veg had named the group.
I decided the group needed a web presence, so I contacted my friend Michael. He owns a web server that already hosted my
Size Nine Syndicate. Michael had already done me many favours, but still happily agreed to host Pax Brewitas. (The deal involved my driving down to visit him, with a few good beers in tow.)
I set about creating a logo so Pax Brewitas could be printed up on T-shirts and pint glasses and such- but quickly realized why I don't do art for a living. Fortunately, I found my dabbling in photography really could be productive, and led to the photo banners you see at top. Looks like those shirts and glasses will have text logos only, unless a graphic designer comes to my rescue!
That's the simple story. There's more to it- but you'd probably rather have a good beer than read much further. To bring it full circle I'd also like to thank my good friend Yamile, who got me down to Florida that September weekend to help Alex celebrate his birthday. If she hadn't done that, Alex and I might never have had the conversation that got this started.
Thanks to everone who made this happen- and will continue to make it happen.
Uncle Flip
Founder, Pax Brewitas
