Eggtoberfest Survey

nealcr1

Wanted to get everyone's thoughts on Stone Mountain as the venue. This was my first year to attend and had a blast. It was so close to my house compared to Hampton where it has been held in the past. Do any of you that have attended a lot of Eggtoberfests have any thoughts? I would love to know how each site compared.

Crimsongator

We have been to more than a few and had a blast. I know some said that they had a few suggestions for improvement (and there will always be some). I thought the location and atmosphere was great. The rows were wide and it was very easy to move around, even in large crowds. The food was really tasty and the company was fantastic.

Lit

The camping was better at the speedway due to it being all eggers. We got noise complaints at stone mountain since there are families around. Inside the event I have no clue never left our canopy was busy cooking.

tybeelucy2

We went a few years ago when it was at the mothership, but didn't venture down when it was held in Hampton due to the distance (we live in Atlanta). We went back this year, wasn't too bad of a drive. The only negative thing I can say is the line for beer was too long.

SmokinTiger81

I attended one at the speedway as a taster, cooked at Hiawassee in May, and cooked this past weekend.

I think I liked Stone Mtn a little better than Speedway--but both are essentially parking lots.  Thought meet and greet at Stone Mtn was great site, had heard complaints from others about Speedway M&G although I never went to Speedway M&G..

On Stone Mtn--my thoughts and notes are:

1.  Speed limit is 30 mph in the park on wide 2 lane roads and lots of cops in the park running radar.  Someone was pulled over already at 6:45 am Saturday morning as I drove from hotel to cooks check in--so someone going to cook or some volunteer started their day off bad.

2.  I did have trouble getting refill on charcoal--had to send someone to ask twice.  They need to put a full bag out in every 12 spots or so cooks could just grab and refill and put bag back.  Or put one or two at each shade canopy they had for tasters.

3.  They don't provide any tablecloths, so bring your own or some plastic to roll out.

4.  Volunteers were great and efficient for unloading.  I had to leave about 2:00 to head back for a close friend of family wedding in Greenville, and a volunteer got a golf cart and helped transport my stuff to parking lot and my car.

5.  Did not get around much when cooking.  I was too short handed, so that was my problem.  Just keeps me from commenting on other aspects.

6.  Before the event opened at 9:00, I think they were giving free/no ticket drinks/water for cooks and helpers.  Later in day, lines were long and drinks being iced as you walked up, so not real cold.  Get your drinks early and put in your own cooler. 

Hiawasee in Comparison:

Without a doubt, the Hiawasse Ga Mtn Fest is a premier site. Tree lined wide walking area in the state park and cooks have sort of a half size mini warehouse space with concrete floor and lighting and electricity.  Just a very friendly venue.  Also, they let you in Friday night to unload, and you can do an overnight cook--I did pork shoulder to use for Cuban sandwiches.  There is all night security guards on site so you can get back in to check on things if you need to.  I also thought crowd at Hiawasee had more folks wanting to ask questions than in Stone Mtn.  (maybe more folks there just to eat at Stone Mtn).

Just my thoughts.

EGGATL

THE GOOD:

My first visit to Eggtoberfest. I don't own an egg yet but my wife and I were there to check it out.

Location was perfect....I live in roswell.

Registration moved along well as did the t-shirt/ goody bag pickup. No complaints.

Food by the cooking teams was fantastic and we managed to time our arrivals at each tent when the food was being served. Can't pick a favorite everything was so good.

Everyone attending (cooking teams included) took time to answer my questions about the egg and how it works ....really great group of people that  I would be happy to call my friend.

THE BAD:

The only negative experience was with what I assume is a BGE employee. After walking around for three hours I started to get overheated and needed to sit in the shade fast (medical issues). My wife and I were near the Store Tent and saw a seating area by the tent. We walked in to get the shade and as soon as we entered we saw the reserved seating signs on all the tables. As we turned to leave and find shade elsewere someone sitting at one of the tables (there were plenty of empty seats) got up and started to almost yell at us that these seats are reserved for employees you have to leave. At that point I didn't even try to say I needed the shade fast. We just thanked her for her guidance and found seats elsewere.

I do understand that the employee was probably just as hot as I was, but this lack of professionalism and courtesy might cost BGE a customer for life. It sure dampened the whole BGE experience.

 

 

 

Terrebandit

EGGATL said:

THE GOOD:

My first visit to Eggtoberfest. I don't own an egg yet but my wife and I were there to check it out.

Location was perfect....I live in roswell.

Registration moved along well as did the t-shirt/ goody bag pickup. No complaints.

Food by the cooking teams was fantastic and we managed to time our arrivals at each tent when the food was being served. Can't pick a favorite everything was so good.

Everyone attending (cooking teams included) took time to answer my questions about the egg and how it works ....really great group of people that  I would be happy to call my friend.

THE BAD:

The only negative experience was with what I assume is a BGE employee. After walking around for three hours I started to get overheated and needed to sit in the shade fast (medical issues). My wife and I were near the Store Tent and saw a seating area by the tent. We walked in to get the shade and as soon as we entered we saw the reserved seating signs on all the tables. As we turned to leave and find shade elsewere someone sitting at one of the tables (there were plenty of empty seats) got up and started to almost yell at us that these seats are reserved for employees you have to leave. At that point I didn't even try to say I needed the shade fast. We just thanked her for her guidance and found seats elsewere.

I do understand that the employee was probably just as hot as I was, but this lack of professionalism and courtesy might cost BGE a customer for life. It sure dampened the whole BGE experience.

 

 

 

I'll bet if you had told them you needed some shade for a medical reason, they would have reacted differently. It's difficult to read someone's mind.

mr toad

i have been to all the eggfest - loved this site the best - well, maybe the first time was the best - 10 or 12 eggs and few more cooks - but the stone mountain site was so beautiful - friday night was just perfect - - good to see old friends - but not enough time to see all - loved the organization - we did not have a charcoal issue, the charcoal cart came by enough times - - did have a "one egg missing" problem, but we shared the eggs and all worked out - food around our area was spectacular and we picked up few new recipes or three - - made a few new friends - - - - only one negative - not a complaint but a negative issue - it seemed as we finished a cook - a crowd would gather - make a rush at the serving and then as quickly as they came the crowd disappeared - - i wish there was more conversation - - but times change - - we are so looking forward to next year

mr toad

milesofsmiles

There will always be Vultures.

Crimsongator

It was about 4 years ago when I was making a small portion of bbq chicken nachos to serve, a lady kept telling me what she wanted me to leave off. I politely told her the all the ingredients were necessary and she could take it or not  :-)

Little Steven

Gino were you in Florida when people were walking through the cooks area? Guy took about six sticks of satay. I didn't tell him they were raw. >:)

Lit

We were making smores sandwiches. They weren't one of our cooks we were just putting them out randomly to fill gaps then people started standing around waiting for them. We had one kid that I bet spent 3 hours at our canopy waiting for each time we made some.

jfm0830

This was my first Eggtoberfest. I have attended some regional Egg Fests. From the perspective of someone coming in from out of town (Massachusetts) I don't think they could have found a better site. The fact this place had other attractions was the main reason my wife agreed to come. She never would have attended if it was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The fact that this was a resort and there were other things she could do if she got bored with the Eggfest was a big attraction. As it turned out , she had a ball at the Eggtorberfest: taking in the sights, meeting folks and tasting great food. As a bonus she now "gets it" and knows I am not crazy (at least regarding the Egg) after meeting a bunch of other like-minded folks. She even told me she would like to go to some of the regional Eggfests with me next summer in addition to this one.

Some random pluses and minuses in no particular order:

+ As I said before I loved the location and the other things it offered for folks who aren't Eggheads.
+ It was great having the Meet and Greet right at the hotel. It doesn't get more convenient than that.
+ The employees of the Hotel and from BGE whom I met were friendly and courteous, and went all out to be helpful.
- The information about where things were was a little lacking. Some of the employees weren't sure where things were either. I was told the wrong way to get to the Meet & Greet and a BGE employee took me through some back rooms to get me to the right place,
- There was some confusion about the time of the Meet & Greet. Some places it said 5:00 to 9:00 and others 6:00 to 9:00.
- Either have some additional signage in the main lobby with times and little maps or have a printed handout you get when you check in.
- When I got my swag bag nobody mentioned the drink tickets were well hidden in the map inserted into the BGE Lifestyle magazine. The tickets were stapled to the back of the site map. Like many others, I took my swag bag back to the car. The only reason I knew about the tickets was I saw a kid find them in his bag. I saw many folks making a second trip to their cars to retrieve their tickets. Either make them painfully obvious or tell folks when they are handed the bag.
- I hear the Eggers who camped out wanting to be able to party. But I also get the complaints of the families too. I didn't see the layout of the campgrounds, but I am wondering if it would be possible to have an area of the campground reserved for people attending Eggtoberfest who want to party and keep them away from families who are there just for camping.
- The beer lines were way too long.
- I didn't experience this personally, but it sure sounds like they need a lot more folks helping out with the distribution of the demo Eggs.
Bottom line: my wife and I had a great time and would love to see it back at Stone Mountain next year.

Jim

SmokinTiger81

Crimsongator said:

It was about 4 years ago when I was making a small portion of bbq chicken nachos to serve, a lady kept telling me what she wanted me to leave off. I politely told her the all the ingredients were necessary and she could take it or not  :-)

I can relate--At Georgia Mtn Fest, I was doing Mexican Street Corn--1/3 ears of grilled corn coated with sour cream/mayo/cumin spread and rolled in grated cotija cheese, then sprinkled with smoked paprika and drizzled with lime juice.   I had a lady ask if she could just have a plain grilled corn.  I am too nice, I gave her one since it was for her kid.  Should have said no--be willing to try something new or move to next cook--plenty to choose from.

Hic

I liked the new venue. This was our third time cooking and the one negative I have is they used to have "cook" bags. So the cooks got a little something extra. It's just a nice gesture. The last couple of years they haven't don't that and there isn't appreciation from the mothership for the cooks.

There was a guy that walked around and thanked us for cooking. Said he's been a cook the last couple of years and could appreciate all the work that goes into it.

All that being said, we cook for the love of cooking, socializing and fun of it.

Hogman348

First time attending and have had my egg for just over a year. Didnt know what to expect really but had a blast with just me and my girlfriend chatting with people in the shade and eating. I was a bit worried she might get bored after we got there at 9:15 and felt full bellies by 10am. whats next i wondered? 

Sit, drink a beer, (next time we will bring bloody mary's for breakfast samples), talk with egg lovers, and walk the lot again, repeat... we stayed until 2:45 and never felt bored. 

I felt the $40 entrance fee was a good value with drink tickets, the nice gift bag and shirts, and food food food. The mountain view in the background with smoke rising from all the eggs was really nice.

I heard a lot of good things about the North GA eggfest in hiawassee and will definitely make sure to attend next year as well.

good times!

henapple

Ron White.... Coupins.

Gator_Man

 

Eggfest

This was our 2 nd Eggtoberfest, last year we were tasters and cooks this year. We loved the Speedway venue and were sad to see it moved. Last year to food at the meet/greet was cold and not very good so we did not go to this year’s M/G, stayed at the camper and cooked great EGGED food. I can agree with most of what the others have said above and for those close to Stone Mountain I'm sure they loved it. For us the Camp ground was a bit on the pricey side, internet was so slow it was useless, cable TV was so fuzzy I disconnected the cable and went with air antenna.

As far as the fest I'm sure all staff wanted things to go well but the inability to answer questions asked by the cooks at check in left us in the dark, the help unloading in the morning was AWESOME, the lack of help getting our stuff back to the cars was not so good we asked for help and were told we can't help you load up your stuff. Then after we lugged all of our stuff back to our car the staff that 40 minutes earlier couldn’t help were shuttling others to the parking area!

We could not hear any announcement of raffle numbers as the cooks were far away from the main stage.

We should have been told that we needed to bring our ID for beer as all of the women in our group left their purses at the camper thinking they did not need them.

Last year they ran out of all beverages and it happened again this year! Cooks should have water available to them and should not have to wait in line for water…….. BGE knows how many drink tickets they gave out and should plan for that many beverages and have some extra as well.

We did not cook as much food as planned due to only having one egg for two people to cook on and when we asked for more lump we were told that they could only dump more in the egg!

Needless to say my wife and I invested a lot of money for food, but the lump was being rationed.

We have attended other regional fest and there is always at least 1 egg raffled for the cooks only! But not at the Eggtober fest and I’m sure without Cooks there would be no Eggtober Fest.

I completely understand that any event like this will have problems and it is not possible to make everyone happy and my comments are intended to help BGE improve for next year’s Eggtoberfest. We do appreciate all that BGE does do to support the Egg Nation.

BulldogHerself

Random comments from a first-time Taster: 

 

Loved the venue.  It was a five-hour drive for us, but we didn't mind.  We've visited Stone Mountain before and loved it.  I hope they use the same spot again.

 

When I chose my clothing, I did not take into account that we'd be on asphault, nor that all those grills would be HOT.  Next time I'll have a pair of shorts in the car. 

 

I also agree that it would've been good to point out where the drink tickets were.  Actually, I didn't get the point of the tickets.  We drank two drinks each while we were at the event . . . and we collected the other three that were "coming to us" at the end and took them home.  If drinks had been unlimited, we might have taken a bottle of water for the ride home, but we wouldn't have had the feeling we had "paid for them and were going to take them". 

 

My husband would agree that the beer lines were too long.  He would've drank more, if the line hadn't been such a barrier.  But he became a little sick from the heat mid-day, so perhaps that wouldn't have been such a good thing for him to have had more.

 

I almost sat in that "reserved" section.  If I'd done it by mistake, I wouldn't mind someone politely pointing out I was wrong . . . but I'd also be upset if someone treated me the way they treated the above poster.  I personally didn't observe anyone being anything but polite. 

 

I want to try that recipe for Mexican Street Corn!  We often eat corn-on-the-cob at a local BBQ place -- love it because they use this great sour-cream-based sauce, and I cannot figure out what's in it.  I'm going to try your recipe this weekend. 

 

Especially as a first-timer and a brand-new Egg owner, I very much appreciated the cooks.  It occurred to me that next time I'm going to bring something small -- homemade cookies individually wrapped, perhaps? -- to give to the cooks as a thank you. 

 

In defense of the people who planned the event, they DID make it clear that you needed your ID at the door.  If memory serves, when you bought the tickets, you had to initial something saying that you understood that ID was required. 

 

 

Hallfamily

Under managed. Lack of planning. Come on BGE Get up and speak at the meet and greet. Have more beer lines

SmokinTiger81

BulldogHerself said:

Random comments from a first-time Taster: 

 

Loved the venue.  It was a five-hour drive for us, but we didn't mind.  We've visited Stone Mountain before and loved it.  I hope they use the same spot again.

 

When I chose my clothing, I did not take into account that we'd be on asphault, nor that all those grills would be HOT.  Next time I'll have a pair of shorts in the car. 

 

I also agree that it would've been good to point out where the drink tickets were.  Actually, I didn't get the point of the tickets.  We drank two drinks each while we were at the event . . . and we collected the other three that were "coming to us" at the end and took them home.  If drinks had been unlimited, we might have taken a bottle of water for the ride home, but we wouldn't have had the feeling we had "paid for them and were going to take them". 

 

My husband would agree that the beer lines were too long.  He would've drank more, if the line hadn't been such a barrier.  But he became a little sick from the heat mid-day, so perhaps that wouldn't have been such a good thing for him to have had more.

 

I almost sat in that "reserved" section.  If I'd done it by mistake, I wouldn't mind someone politely pointing out I was wrong . . . but I'd also be upset if someone treated me the way they treated the above poster.  I personally didn't observe anyone being anything but polite. 

 

I want to try that recipe for Mexican Street Corn!  We often eat corn-on-the-cob at a local BBQ place -- love it because they use this great sour-cream-based sauce, and I cannot figure out what's in it.  I'm going to try your recipe this weekend. 

 

Especially as a first-timer and a brand-new Egg owner, I very much appreciated the cooks.  It occurred to me that next time I'm going to bring something small -- homemade cookies individually wrapped, perhaps? -- to give to the cooks as a thank you. 

 

In defense of the people who planned the event, they DID make it clear that you needed your ID at the door.  If memory serves, when you bought the tickets, you had to initial something saying that you understood that ID was required. 

 

 

With regard to trying the mexican street corn recipe, here is the link to the post where I attempted to recreate it after a NY trip and dining at Cafe Habana--with recipe and photos for cuban sandwiches and the mexican street corn (Note, the recipe has the corn lightly sprinkled with chili powder at the end after rolling in the cheese, I now use smoked paprika to sprinkle on rather than chili powder):

 

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1260730&catid=1#

 

 

blueinatl

Terrebandit said:

I do understand that the employee was probably just as hot as I was, but this lack of professionalism and courtesy might cost BGE a customer for life. It sure dampened the whole BGE experience.

 

 

 

I'll bet if you had told them you needed some shade for a medical reason, they would have reacted differently. It's difficult to read someone's mind.

Then again, is it really necessary to yell at someone?  How about approach and explain the seating situation which would have allowed them to explain the medical necessity. 

Just saying, communication goes both ways.  They don't need to read minds, and they don't need to be hostile.

blueinatl

mr toad said:

- - - - only one negative - not a complaint but a negative issue - it seemed as we finished a cook - a crowd would gather - make a rush at the serving and then as quickly as they came the crowd disappeared - - i wish there was more conversation - - but times change - - we are so looking forward to next year

mr toad

I would have loved more conversation!  I was one in the crowd simply because it was the only way to sample and it seemed to many of the cooks were a bit stretched so other than a compliment, I didn't want to take away from what they were doing.   Being my first one I didn't want to intrude, next year I think I will go back in between cooks to learn more.  So many wonderful things to learn.

KennyLee

Just curious, but can you bring in our own beer cooler?

Little Steven

Sorry guys and girls but I have a little problem with all this. I think I've been to Atlanta (for Eggtoberfest) five times. I have always flown, as it is a 16 hour drive. I have always cooked, probably way too much, and spent a load of money doing so. BGE has a pretty unusual thing going from a marketing aspect here. Customers, who have spent damn good money on their "egghead family" is a little lopsided in this regard. I don't think that the cooks, or the attendees should want for anything at this event. If you think about it, they are paying for the venue, too few beer trucks, the meet and greet dinner(which is probably at cost from Le cordon Bleu) and the entertainment. In return they get, probably a hundred thousand dollars plus worth of food provided by the cooks and the sell a load of eggs on the site at a higher price than they get from their distributors. That is not taking into account the paying forward sales with attendees. Ed Fisher pulled it off OK but I think he was a good guy and when he was at the helm the sales were not off the charts as they are now. Just sayin'

RLeeper

Loved this venue over Hampton. The only difference was the long line of cars to enter the park around noonish. Beer line was ridiculous and they ran out of beer. Great event IMHO. Great food and great people. I'm good friends with everyone in the mothership and everyone there is awesome. My guess is the person that was rude was a volunteer of some sort. I vote for Stone Mountain again next year.

Fireman_Joe

My thoughts on the first Eggtoberfest I have been to:

1. I thought the venue was very nice.
2. We got there early and there was a huge line to get into the gated area but was well managed and did not take long.
3. We also did not find out about the drink tickets until after I put the bags in the car and then had to go back and get them.
4. I think the layout could use some work, I would like to see the spaces marked and on the diagram put what team/cooks are in each spot as it was hard to find people on the forum. Also let the teams know what spot they have so they can post in advance.
5. The same comment above about charcoal, I could not believe that teams had to wait to get extra charcoal. There should of been a extra bag for every 3-4 tents.
6. Cooking teams are what makes the fest, you need to take care of them. They should be given bags with extra stuff in them, drinks, and make some prizes just for the cooking teams.
7. I came there to purchase a couple of eggcessories to only find out you did not have the handlers at the fest and the prices were retail. I would have thought as a payback some sort of discount should of been given.
8. I have been to other smaller fest they gave away more door prizes then they did at this fest.
9. We stayed to the very end when they were doing the egg roundup, I felt very bad for the people that had to move the eggs in the gravel sections like where Dizzy Pig was. You had a bunch of room still that this could of been avoided with proper planning.
10. I agree the beer line was way, way too long. With that many people you need more then one location for beer.
11. The demo tent was way too small.
12. All of the cooks were AWESOME !!!

BulldogHerself

Can't wait to try that corn! My vegetarian child is home, so this'll be welcome on multiple levels. RLeeper, I'm surprised to see you say they ran our of beer. I know I saw a couple people carrying out multiple unopened cans at the end of the event, and I thought to myself, "They're using up their drink coupons."