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No Free Samples

P

Papa Hogg

Guest
This weekend at the Big Pig Gig in WI, my wife told me something I have never seen before & I could not really believe it. We had some friends come to the contest on Saturday & while they were all walking around she told me that one of the teams had a sign up that said "No Free Samples". Now if you do not want to give out samples to the crowd that's fine, I do not agree with that & I will touch more on it in a minute, but then just don't put anything out. But to give a big FU to the crowd is just plain wrong IMHO.

We are the embassadors of Q and alot of these people come out to taste our wares & SUPPORT our sport. Obviously our entrance fees do not cover the prize money so in order to hold these events sponsors are needed & crowd suppport for the extra-curriculars is a must. I have seen football, baseball, tennis, golf players all toss ball into the crowd. NASCAR from my understanding allows a lot of access to the drivers ect. to the fans.

I always bring some of what I cook home with me but I love to put out samples for the crowd to enjoy, & enjoy they do! I know that you occasionally get some jag that tries to grab a rib out of your turn in box or something, but for the most part the people are just interested in what we do 7 might be interested in trying something at home themselves. I love to talk with the crowd, I'll talk about my pit, the time it takes to cook the different cuts we turn in, staying up most of the night, ect. If I am busy working on a turn-in I will politely tell someone that I am under a tight time crunch & I would love to talk with them some more in greater detail & share some food with them once I get done what I need to get done, so stop on back.

I personally will put out my samples after each category is turned in, but I understand if you wait until all categories have been turned-in before you put something out. Like I said above if you are really against putting anything out that's your choice, but you do not need to advertise that you could care less about the fans that come out to support our sport, just don't put anything out, if they don't see a tray of food out by you they typically just walk on by.

Am I off base here or what are others thoughts on this???
 
I would imagine that the team that hung that sign got sick of people coming up and asking them for food when they were busy trying to get stuff done, and we all know how annoying that can get.

And BBQ isnt a sport.
 
If the event has vendors then I am totally against giving out samples. They pay a fee to be there and I do not wish to take anything away from them.
 
After I take off my gloves, I always toss one to my fans.

I do not think that the sign was such a great idea but I have had people biotch at me because I didnt feed the masses. That is not my job.
Plus food poisoning and lawyers take all the fun out of giving.
 
Around these parts, samples are not the norm. Of the 20+ contests I'll do this year, only one encourages samples. Some prohibit it for reasons of other vendors or public food safety.

That still didn't stop a family from walking up at the MO State Fair a few years ago and taking brisket right off of our slicer as we turned away.
 
Many organizers will not allow “public samples” for various reasons (vendors or health dept regs). We as teams have to explain it to almost everyone that comes by expecting to get samples. We are even threatened with disqualification. I would love to give out tastes but I am not going to risk getting kicked out. I can understand the frustration of dealing with the public and think this sign was a way (maybe not the best) to deal with it.

Maybe this should fall to the organizer? If they are so insistent on not letting teams give to the public maybe they can post a sign at the event. I always feel so guilty having to turn people away.
 
Sledneck said:
If the event has vendors then I am totally against giving out samples. They pay a fee to be there and I do not wish to take anything away from them.
Click to expand...

That should be a policy decision by the organizers. It should be up to them to protect their organizers. If they tell the teams not to give out samples, then we should respect that. In this case, the organizers told us that samples were permitted, so then it is up to the team. While I disagree with putting out a sign, I think mds2 is right. They were probably tired of being bothered. For me, talking to the people walking around is a lot of fun. If I need to get busy I just excuse myself and tell them why. They always understand.
 
Ron_L said:
That should be a policy decision by the organizers. It should be up to them to protect their organizers. If they tell the teams not to give out samples, then we should respect that. In this case, the organizers told us that samples were permitted, so then it is up to the team. While I disagree with putting out a sign, I think mds2 is right. They were probably tired of being bothered. For me, talking to the people walking around is a lot of fun. If I need to get busy I just excuse myself and tell them why. They always understand.
Click to expand...

Spoken like the embassador of Q that you are.
 
Plowboy said:
That still didn't stop a family from walking up at the MO State Fair a few years ago and taking brisket right off of our slicer as we turned away.
Click to expand...

That's pretty bold! Although, if you were in Sedalia it may have just been a hillbilly that doesn't get to town much........
 
Once when we had turned our backs we had a person reach in and pickup a very expensive and clean knife and start cutting meat we had sitting out. Other times we have had people just start picking up food that was sitting out without the courtesy to even ask. Another team had someone pull meat out of their turn-in box. This being said I think it is great fun to talk with the crowd and help encourage them to get involved with Que.

We use to give alot of our leftovers out as samples. After all we have a bunch in our freezer already, but I truly believe it hurts vendors. We have became friends with teams & vendors that pay good money to sell their BBQ and work hard to provide a quality product and make a profit. When we feed the crowd it takes money out of the pockets of the vendors.

Just my thinking.
 
OC PIG ASSASSINS said:
I say it takes away from the vendors who pay a hell of a lot more than us to be there.
Click to expand...

Even with our hand outs according to the people coming thru the competition area & verified by my contigency, Florida Skin & Bones had a 45 + minute wait at their vending booth, the Silver Spur had a 30+ minute wait at their vending booth, the custard vendor had over a 45+ minute wait and all the vendors were there from Friday night thru Sunday evening. So I don't think 49 teams handing out a couple hundred pounds of bite size samples for an hour & a half really made a dent in what the vendors were doing.
 
jbrink01 said:
That's pretty bold! Although, if you were in Sedalia it may have just been a hillbilly that doesn't get to town much........
Click to expand...

Ya know, I TRY not to take offense :wink: ... but I think we can find a more appropriate term than hillbilly because I certainly am not a thief and my heritage is as "hillbilly" as it gets! :roll:

Anyway, to address this thread, I am not opposed to providing samples if the organizer allows, but as was pointed out, many organizers around these parts do not allow it because of vendors and health department regs. We did not allow it here at the Pleasant Hill contest... the Cass County Health Department barely let us do people's choice! :roll: Plus we had two vendors out here that it would steal business from. Not sure the people's choice didn't do some of that anyway.

In regards to the sign saying "No Free Samples", I agree that's probably a bit harsh. I agree that we owe at least friendliness and hospitality to the public because without the public coming out, there are no sponsors who would be willing to support the contest and thus, less payout and support to teams. In many cases, though, I have sponsors to whom I promise all the leftover turn-in meat in return for paying my entry fee. I can't give away all that's already promised to a team sponsor. But I believe that it's always the responsibility of the organizer to let the public know if samples are not allowed. Too many times, I've seen local advertisements that deceive the public. While not intentionally done, the public arrives thinking they get to eat free BBQ from teams. If you ARE going to allow free samples at your contest, there should be notice that not all teams will be participating and instead of leaving it up to teams to be the bad guy and advertise that they aren't giving free samples, the organizers should make it a positive by providing some sort of sign to teams that ARE willing to share, indicating this willingness so that teams that cannot or won't share aren't hassled and made to look like the bad guys.
 
Jeff_in_KC said:
Ya know, I TRY not to take offense :wink: ... but I think we can find a more appropriate term than hillbilly because I certainly am not a thief and my heritage is as "hillbilly" as it gets! :roll:
Click to expand...

Sorry if I offended your delicate sensibilities! I grew up in a cultural and social backwater as well, and therefore feel a certain "entitlement" to poke fun......just havin' fun!
 
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Papa Hogg said:
Even with our hand outs according to the people coming thru the competition area & verified by my contigency, Florida Skin & Bones had a 45 + minute wait at their vending booth, the Silver Spur had a 30+ minute wait at their vending booth, the custard vendor had over a 45+ minute wait and all the vendors were there from Friday night thru Sunday evening. So I don't think 49 teams handing out a couple hundred pounds of bite size samples for an hour & a half really made a dent in what the vendors were doing.
Click to expand...

Maybe they could have had an hour line!!! Couple hundred more pounds of meat they could have sold and turned a better profit. We are there to compete and perform as cooks not hand out free samples. You can get paid to do that at costco is you think that is your calling.
 
Papa Hogg said:
Even with our hand outs according to the people coming thru the competition area & verified by my contigency, Florida Skin & Bones had a 45 + minute wait at their vending booth, the Silver Spur had a 30+ minute wait at their vending booth, the custard vendor had over a 45+ minute wait and all the vendors were there from Friday night thru Sunday evening. So I don't think 49 teams handing out a couple hundred pounds of bite size samples for an hour & a half really made a dent in what the vendors were doing.
Click to expand...

No wanting to argue, but a couple hundred pounds of meat could mean a bunch. If people walked around and sample just a 1/4 lb or so each and then decided to eat later on the way home instead of there that would be 600 to 800 potentail customers.

You would not have to visit many teams to eat a 4 ozs. of meat.
 
Jeff In KC said:
That still didn't stop a family from walking up at the MO State Fair a few years ago and taking brisket right off of our slicer as we turned away.
Click to expand...
At Elk Grove this year we had a couple that came up to us after turn ins and ask for samples. I politley told them we were not allowed to give samples to the public. I turned my away and went in the coach to put the remaing meat away. I then wacthed her grab a tray of biscuts that had been left on the table from breakfast that morning and stuff them into her bag...:shock: (musta been rock hard at that point) Some folks just don't know how to take no for an answer no matter how polite you try to be.
 
at the 2007 Maryland BBQ bash in BelAir the organizers passed out the signs and made us all hang them up.."official competitor no free samples" this was to protect the vendors who paid big money to get their spots. I personally didnt mind the sign, not that I would hang one up on my own.
 
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