Williamsburg PRO-AM BBQ Competition idea

SmartyPantz

Hey Eggers,

I want to solicit your thoughts on an event I am planning to put on here in my hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia through my Rotary club. The goal is to put on a FUN event, to raise a little money for charity, and get exposure for my (relatively) new club.

This IS NOT going to be like a KCBS event, not even close.

The gist of the event is this: sell tickets ($40-$50) for people to come and sample BBQ from area BBQ restaurants, drink some beer, and listen to some music. PRO teams would consist of 8-12 area BBQ restaurants serving SMALL samples of their chew. People's choice winners decided, multiple categories possible (eg. pulled pork, ribs, chicken, (prob. not brisket), and sides).  The AMATEUR portion will be for backyard BBQ enthusiasts (such as folks like yourselves) who want to square -off against other amateurs and see how their chew stacks up.  Amateurs would have to pay an entry fee ($75?) and supply their own product. They would not be expected to serve samples to the public, just for the "judges" (although my opinion is they should be encouraged to share whatever leftovers they may have).  Amateurs would compete for cash prizes in the various categories, but I don't think I could do "grand champion" because I'm not sure I can get amateurs to compete in 3+ proteins categories.  Or maybe we work it like fishing tournament and have them pay entry fees per category they want to enter.  Amateur teams could arrive at the event site the evening before the event to start cooking, but would not be required to do so.

There are lots of logistics to an event like this, and I am most interested in your opinions on the amateur aspect.  Thinking about having it Saturday June 30th, 2018 BTW.

Thanks for your thoughts!

HeavyG

"Featuring" is the word you are looking for on your graphic.

Sorry, that's all I got.

lkapigian

We have a lot of events like this in our area open to pros and ametuers...all are a lot of fun. Entry Fees Range from $150.00-$250.00 and the Ribs are given to the competitors. Spectators pay $1.00 per ticket per (2) ribs. We ( the contestants) usually give out with the ribs...Homemade sausage, smoked Mac and Cheese Etc..Just my 2 cents and how it is done in our area....

SmartyPantz

i caught the typo. i made this poster in 15 minutes on a sight called canva.com.  It's Pretty cool, but I just did this flyer for this post to give an idea of what I wanted to do.  Maybe if I'd have spent 16 minutes it'd have been better.

SmartyPantz

Interesting to do the a la carte thing. I've got enough trouble covering the costs with a set ticket price, I don't think I can do it with variable revenue.  BTW, as for the pro's, I am pretty sure I am going to have to pay them to be there.  I'm thinking of it as the major food expense

lkapigian

SmartyPantz said:

Interesting to do the a la carte thing. I've got enough trouble covering the costs with a set ticket price, I don't think I can do it with variable revenue.  BTW, as for the pro's, I am pretty sure I am going to have to pay them to be there.  I'm thinking of it as the major food expense

This is why the Sponsors---Tough in our area with the health department as well. If it is all "Non Profit" and you have , or use, a Non Profit ID the health department looks away. If it is For Profit Permits run the cost up. $65.00 Per Person for permits, $25.00 if only doing sampling + all the wash station/porta potties etc etc

Woodchunk

This sounds great, maybe get a couple of egg dealer sponsors/ involved, like green top up here in Richmond. Discounted eggs could be a draw.

SmartyPantz

Great thoughts. Yes, being non-profit we are exempty from health department requirements. (Was one of the first tgongs I checked, makes a HUGE difference) and my hope is that I cam get our local ACE to be a sponsor. I ran into the owner oUT amd about amd gave him a "teaser" of the idea but have yet to hit him up for $. Of ciurse, I think it wold be great if he had a demo station at the event amd sold a "demo egg" for example. BTW, I love that guy as he keeps Rockwood in stock! 

Really what I want to know is if it sounds like an event you would a) pay $40 to go to, b) want to participate 8n as an am. Competitor?

johnnyp

Brad, are you typing blindfolded?   

SmartyPantz

Drunk... I'm typing drunk JohnnyP

Carolina Q

No Pierce's?

http://www.pierces.com

Theophan

SmartyPantz said:

... Really what I want to know is if it sounds like an event you would a) pay $40 to go to, b) want to participate 8n as an am. Competitor?

I'm pretty reclusive, have never been to an EggFest, have gone to a few Ribfests in a local city, so I'm probably not typical of anybody else, but FWIW, no, I wouldn't pay $40, and as much as I love my BGEs and the food I cook on them, no, I'm not the least bit interested in competing.

And for comparison, here is the admission charges for the local "Twin City Ribfest" in Winston-Salem this past year:

Admission:
11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Thursday & Friday - Free
5 p.m. - 11 p.m. on Thursday - $5 Adults*
All other times - $7 Adults*
Children 12 and Under - Free
​
* $2 Off with can of food.

It looks to me like there's a lot more value to the Ribfest than what you're talking about, and adults get in for $3-$7, and even FREE at some times, not $40.  There are local BBQ joints there, plus national teams, lots of other kinds of food venues, plus entertainment.  Here's a blurb from this past year:

The popular summer barbecue fest was recently featured in USA Today's roundup of barbecue festivals across America. RibFest is especially loved for placing the spotlight on North Carolina-based food and beverage products, including locally headquarted Texas Pete hot sauce and Foothills Brewing craft beer. For more than a decade, the festival continues to thrive with its simplistic combination of national BBQ purveyors competing for awards and customers, and quality entertainment on its music stages.

Musical acts over the years have included local, regional and national acts including the Avett Brothers, Vanilla Ice, Cyrille Neville, Hal Ketchum and many more.  The 2016 event featured The Electric Trio with Greg Humphreys, The Legacy MOTOWN Revue, Dirty Bourbon River Show, Snake Malone and the Black Cat Bone and more.  The 2017 RibFest also will feature several rib cookers (ribbers) from all over the country as well a variety of musical and performing acts. 

I'm with those above who said you need sponsors to bring the admission tickets WAY down.

SmartyPantz

You are comparing this to other BBQ "competitions" you may have heard of. Think of this as an all you can eat and all you can drink event. There are several of those in my area and the tickets range from $30-$50, pretty standard. You still think $40 is too much to sample pork chicken and ribs from 10 different vendors and drink free craft beer? Really?

Theophan

SmartyPantz said:

You are comparing this to other BBQ "competitions" you may have heard of. Think of this as an all you can eat and all you can drink event. There are several of those in my area and the tickets range from $30-$50, pretty standard. You still think $40 is too much to sample pork chicken and ribs from 10 different vendors and drink free craft beer? Really?

Two different things:

1. I was wrong about one BIG thing that just hadn't occurred to me when I posted before: Yes, it's a very small fee that gets you IN to the Ribfest I've been to, but then you also have to pay at each place you want to sample their food!  So sure, you'd be right if I wanted to sample 10 different vendors and drink craft beer all day, I'd probably spend that much or more at the local ribfest.  I just went to a couple of places, didn't buy any beer.  I just wanted to taste some professional competition teams' ribs.
2. But what you asked was "if it sounds like an event you would a) pay $40 to go to, b) want to participate 8n as an am. Competitor," and my answer's still no, and no.  I didn't say I was necessarily a typical person or representative of others, but was honestly answering your question, so I hope your "Really?" wasn't sarcastic.  You asked a question, I answered it.  "Thanks" might have been more appropriate than "Really?"  I can afford $40 bucks, but that's still a lot of money, and no, if there were an event like this near me, that'd be more money than I feel like spending just to sample food that's similar to what I can make myself, and maybe not as good as mine, at least for my taste.  When I went to the local Ribfest, for example, I was curious to taste the ribs of national competitors, but when I tasted them, it was "meh."  I like mine better.  And I think I recall Johnny Trigg saying that he doesn't make "competition-style" ribs at home when it's just for good eating.  They're too sweet.  Nice "pop" when you take a bite for judging, but you don't really want to eat a whole plate full of them.  I thought it was interesting tasting some professional BBQ, but no, I'm not going to spend $40 to do that.  I'm sorry it's not the answer you wanted, but it's my honest answer to your question.

SmartyPantz

Thanks

WeberWho

Keep your admission cost on the lower end as much as possible. Especially with it being your first year. Get as many people attend with the lower cost so they can get the word out about how good the food and beer was. You will always have room to adjust the price as the word gets out for next year. $40 isn't terrible  but you usually aren't going to this type of event alone. $80 for a couple is going to be a tough sell. Maybe sell a pair of tickets for a reduced price. Just a thought anyways