NBBQA's 18th Annual Conference & Expo

The National BBQ Association is hosting its 18th Annual Conference and Expo in Austin, Texas February 17-21. The NBBQA has long been an association that strives to unite the bbq community - bringing together bbq enthusiasts from cooks to saucemakers to manufacturers of bbq pits.

With the growth of competition bbq, this year's conference will put a stronger focus on competition bbq topics. Many of the top cooks on the KCBS circuit will be speaking on panels and sharing their knowledge on several different topics. There is even going to be a competition cooking class held by Rod Gray and Johnny Trigg - their Old School vs. High Tech class is the most popular competition cooking class offered. Rod and Johnny walk you through how they prep and cook for a KCBS competition, sharing their recipes and cooking methods and answering all of your questions. For more information check out the Pellet Envy website.

My friend Pat Martin of Martin's will be speaking on one of the panels that will focus on opening your own bbq restaurant. As we've seen from BP's ongoing extensive review, Middle Tennessee is slightly flooded with bbq restaurants - yet Pat has opened a unique, successful establishment with an excellent product. If you have never read Pat's blog, you should check it out here. He is a no-holds-barred kind of guy and I am sure that he will be taking the same approach on the panel. There are 23 panel topics ranging from How to Select a Competition Pit to Public Relations and Leveraging Your Competition Success. If you are looking to start a bbq business, a competition cooking team, or just have some spare time to hang out in Austin, go check out the NBBQA Conference.