Wow.
That’s all I can really say about the movement for #HB660 thus far.
In the last 24 hours, a Facebook page I created for the bill has already accumulated 364 “likes”.
Yesterday was the most viewed day in the history of this blog, with 520 unique hits. (For reference, the most hits I received prior to HB 660 discussion was 121… in an entire week).
My number of twitter followers has increased by approximately 33% since I started talking HB 660, and I doubt it’s for my hard-hitting soccer commentary.
Monday, an industry contact sent me an email letting me know that the Governor’s Office had contacted her asking about HB 660.
Today, I’ve been contacted by four different media outlets asking for interviews.
Bottom line: the movement is growing. HB 660 is getting the attention it deserves. But we have a long way to go.
In about an hour I’ll be headed to Austin to meet with my industry peers as we discuss ways we can better organize our efforts for HB 660 passage. I will have more information tomorrow, but I can already tell you about one event:
Saturday February 5th was already scheduled as our winter bottle release at Freetail (Old Bat Rastard, Barrel Aged Old Bat Rastard and Fortuna Roja) and since I call the shots at Freetail I’ve decided to leverage the crowds that event will bring by also making it an Official HB 660 Rally. More details on what this rally entails are coming, but at the minimum expect a petition to add your name to and letters to send your Representatives. Expect someone working a camera as we interview you, the Texas consumers, about why this bill is important. I hope we can also convince some Representatives and the press to come out as well. If you have an ideas of what we should add to the rally, let me know – this movement is as much about you as it is my brewpub, or any Texas brewpub. And of course I plan on hosting more rallies around the state.
On the Web
This is a new feature I’d like to add when necessary – a section where I can link to stories about our bill. If you come across any, please share and we’ll including them in the following days’ blog.
In his weekly San Antonio Current column, Travis Poling busts out some poetic justice on the importance of the bill.
These were actually published last week but Ronnie Crocker of the Houston Chronicle and Lee Nichols of the Austin Chronicle both have good write-ups of Texas beer legislation, each with lively comment sections.
UPDATE: this one popped up right as I published. Eater has a story on HB 660 as well.
Tomorrow: Feedback from tonight’s meeting
