Barista Pen Pals From Around the World
By Jessie May Peters and Ever Meister
How would you like to exchange letters with someone around the world by email or old-fashioned paper post? We wanted to give our community a chance to speak to each other directly and so we’re offering to pair up pen pals.
We’ve created this form where people who are interested in having a pen pal can submit their information. This form includes preferences for the form of communication (email, snail mail, etc), hopes or goals (a coffee buddy, a mentor, or to mentor someone), and indicate coffee topics they’d like to discuss.
Tips for getting started:
Your first letter should introduce yourself (name, pronouns) and tell your pen pal who you are and what you’d like to write with them about to start.
Both pen pals should set expectations and boundaries (“I can only write once a month” or “I would love to send you a bag of coffee but you don’t have to return the favor if you can’t”)
Pen pals should also be clear about the tone and content of their letters: in your introductions, mention what you would and would not like to talk about in your correspondence. (For instance, you may want to mention certain language or topics that are off-limits for you.)
If you’re uncomfortable sharing your personal location for snail mail, consider something like e-mail correspondence, or arrange to have your mail sent to a different location than where you live, such as your workplace.
Is all of the above clear but you’re not sure where to begin or what to talk about?
Here are some simple conversation starters:
What's your coffee story?
Tell me about your favorite cafe where you live!
What does "a day in the life" look like for you at your job?
Who's your favorite regular customer and why?
What coffee books or podcasts have inspired you?
Have you traveled to a coffee-growing country, and what was it like?
Happy writing!
If you’d like to know how your information will be processed, read on.
The Fine Print
This privacy notice provides information on how we shall collect and process your personal data when you sign up for this project. Led by BGLC members, Jessie May Peters and Ever Meister, we’ll gather basic contact information and details about pen pal preferences via a Typeform. Jessie May and Ever Meister will review the submissions, select the pairs, and send each person the other’s contact information.
More information about the SCA privacy policy here.