Cheese-A-Topia, 2010

As most of you already know, the American Cheese Society’s Annual Conference will be August 25-28th in Seattle, WA. This will be the 26th year for the conference which culminates with the Judging and Competition Awards Ceremony followed by the Festival of Cheese, Saturday, August 28th.

Several of us, from New England Cheesemaking Supply Co., will have a table, in the registration area, at the beautiful Sheraton Seattle Hotel, during the entire conference. So, drop by and say hello!

If you aren’t already a member of the ACS, there is still time to join and to register for the conference.
In fact, you can walk into the conference, join the ACS and register right there.

The agenda for the conference should be explanation enough of the reasons to attend:

Wednesday, August 25th
All Day Multiple Seattle Tours (Cheese and Tourism)
All Day Portland to Seattle Cheese Tour
All Day Vancouver to Seattle Cheese Tour
3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Registration
3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Networking Salon and Bookstore
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. First-Time Attendee Reception

Thursday, August 26th
7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Registration
7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Merchandising Competition
7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. Breakfast
8:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. President’s Welcome and Opening Keynote with Laurie Demeritt
9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Networking Salon and Bookstore
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Networking Break / Author Book Signings
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
11:45 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Networking Break / Author Book Signings
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Meet the Cheesemaker
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Opening Reception at Seattle Aquarium

Friday, August 27th
7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Registration
7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. Breakfast
8:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Town Hall Meeting with Steve Jenkins and David Gremmels
9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Networking Salon and Bookstore
9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Networking Break / Author Book Signings
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
11:45 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Business Lunch
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Networking Break / Author Book Signings
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board Event

Saturday, August 28th
7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Registration
8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Networking Salon and Bookstore
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Networking Break / Author Book Signings
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions and Scholar-In-Residence
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Closing Keynote with Michael Pollan
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Special Networking Break and Michael Pollan Book Signing
5:00p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony and Festival of Cheese – Benaroya Hall

Sunday, August 29th
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Public Cheese Sale

Or, maybe you only have time to attend the Award Ceremony and Festival of Cheese. If so, there are still tickets available. You can purchase them at the ACS website, cheesesociety.org or by clicking here.

This year, the Festival of Cheese has been combined with the Awards Ceremony in Seattle’s famous Benaroya Hall. This way, after you have heard who the winners are, you can immediately proceed to the hall where you can taste the cheeses (literally thousands of them!).

5:00 pm – Doors Open

5:30 pm – Award Ceremony Begins

6:00 pm – Restaurants, Wineries and Beverage services open

7:00 pm – Cheeses unveiled for tasting, including all of the award winners

9:00 pm – Event ends

Note that during the hour between the Awards Ceremony and the unveiling of the cheeses, some of Seattle’s best restaurants will be serving bites of their favorite dishes. A selection of Washington’s best wineries will also be pouring their award-winning wines.

This year, there will even be a VIP tasting, hosted by Michael Pollan, the closing keynote speaker. (Michael Pollan is the author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemna” and “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.”)

So, join us at this fabulous event and be sure to come by our table. We’ll be looking for you!