Carlsberg don’t do conferences. But if they did, they’d probably be the best conferences in the world… Actually, Carlsberg do do conferences. They have a rather lovely museum and business centre in Copenhagen. I can’t comment on the quality of the conferences though. The Drinking Studies Network, meanwhile, had an absolute banger in March 2024. This was in the humbler surroundings of the University of Bristol. The theme was “Writing Alcohol” and we went a bit wild with elaborate titles for panels. “Good Measures? Evidence and Values in Alcohol Policy Research”. “Through a Glass, Darkly: Alcohol and Reputation”. You get the idea.

Sam Goodman and I, as conference organisers, summarised the key ideas to emerge from the event. The overall tone and atmosphere are more difficult to capture, but no less important. I think an important reason why the Drinking Studies Network continues to grow and thrive is its vibes. Open, relaxed, friendly and fun. The Network started life in 2010 with about 10 academics largely based at 1 university. Then it was called the Warwick Drinking Studies Network. Now, it has over 400 members from 20 different countries around the world. Writing Alcohol was its fifth international conference. Over the years it’s held dozens of smaller events and initiatives,. It’s made collaborative publications and supported the development of funded research projects. It has an operating budget of zero.

Everyone volunteers their time to run the DSN. We keep event costs low to make it easier for more people to participate. We’ve gotten small sums of money from the Universities of Warwick, Leicester and Bristol, the Economic History Society, and Alcohol Research UK. We used these funds to subsidise conference and event fees and provide small bursaries. At one conference we provided 2 days of lunch, 1 sumptuous conference dinner, and 1 night’s accommodation at very low rates. £45 for postgraduate students and other unwaged participants and £80 for everyone else. Alright, the dinner probably wasn’t that sumptuous. But it did include a substantial allocation of wine to those who wanted it. I’m fairly certain somebody got into a row with the lead singer of Kasabian in the hotel bar that night. But these two facts are definitely unrelated.

It will take me a while to get out of the habit of saying ‘we’ when discussing the DSN. It’s been such an enjoyable and long-standing role to be the co-Director. For 14 years, I collaborated with Mark Hailwood to develop this community. We handed over the reins to a new and fabulous leadership team at the Writing Alcohol conference: Pam Lock, Emily Nicholls and Sam Goodman. Mark literally wrote the book on ‘good fellowship‘. So he knows more than most how to build a convivial and collegial space to explore new ideas. A gratifying aspect of stepping down in March was seeing Pam, Emily and Sam make the conference organisation look so effortless. Their efficiency, grace and good humour shows that everything is in super brilliant hands!