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Leftovers for People's Choice and Shigging

Disconnect

Disconnect

Knows what a fatty is.
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I could use a sanity check from the group.. :suspicious: On Saturday after turn-ins, Gettysburg did a (voluntary) people's choice. (Well, they did a ton of them, but this one was specifically for BBQ.) We elected to use our leftover brisket (reheated and pulled) and butts. They were really well received by the crowd but two things bothered us.

The first is that the event had no way of filtering or limiting the crowd - at least 50% of the people we served had snuck in over the "fence" and so weren't voting. (Dan said they were addressing that vigorously for next year.. I don't know why they thought caution tape on a huge unsecured perimeter would work, but ok.)

The other thing was that we saw other teams come through our line pretending to be attendees. (At least one did it several times.) I didn't call them out at the time - partially due to the length of the line - but, at least to me, that screams shigging. If they had just walked up and honestly asked for a taste, or offered to swap samples, I'd have been more than happy to do so. (And I have in the past, at almost every comp we've done.) Filtering into a line full of guests and sneaking our competition food seems underhanded to me.

Am I wrong? We were giving it out to basically anyone, but that I didn't think that would include giving 3-4 samples (2oz or more each) to the competition. (We aren't winning, but mostly that is related to settling out our techniques/cooking problems - our taste scores are generally high and getting higher.) We probably won't be doing that style of event again, partially because of this..
 
Disconnect said:
I could use a sanity check from the group.. :suspicious: On Saturday after turn-ins, Gettysburg did a (voluntary) people's choice. (Well, they did a ton of them, but this one was specifically for BBQ.) We elected to use our leftover brisket (reheated and pulled) and butts. They were really well received by the crowd but two things bothered us.

The first is that the event had no way of filtering or limiting the crowd - at least 50% of the people we served had snuck in over the "fence" and so weren't voting. (Dan said they were addressing that vigorously for next year.. I don't know why they thought caution tape on a huge unsecured perimeter would work, but ok.)

The other thing was that we saw other teams come through our line pretending to be attendees. (At least one did it several times.) I didn't call them out at the time - partially due to the length of the line - but, at least to me, that screams shigging. If they had just walked up and honestly asked for a taste, or offered to swap samples, I'd have been more than happy to do so. (And I have in the past, at almost every comp we've done.) Filtering into a line full of guests and sneaking our competition food seems underhanded to me.

Am I wrong? We were giving it out to basically anyone, but that I didn't think that would include giving 3-4 samples (2oz or more each) to the competition. (We aren't winning, but mostly that is related to settling out our techniques/cooking problems - our taste scores are generally high and getting higher.) We probably won't be doing that style of event again, partially because of this..
Click to expand...


Are you sure they were on an actual team of just wearing a team shirt. I gave my neighbors shirts (Smokin' Gnome BBQ) and they wore them when they came out. Is this what you were refering to or did ACTUAL teams get in your line? fyi, my neighbors paid to get in and had every right to sample and vote. If this is what you are refering to, please pm me.

If you ever want to try some of my left over Q, just ask. Im pretty easy that way , as are most others when you get to know them.
 
I am always too afraid to go and try other teams stuff. I would love too, just to see, but I usually only try other teams stuff if it is offered. I can see where you might be a little offended at what that guy did, but all in all he was taking advantage of a great opp. I would still be upset though!
 
Definitely from another team - they weren't wearing team shirts, but we met them the day before.. (And yeah, I'd love to swap with a few more teams - directly - just to get an idea of what is out there. But that is different, at least to me..)

I don't know if I'd be happier if they were in shirts, actually. It would be more honest, I think. Interesting idea.
 
Disconnect said:
I could use a sanity check from the group.. :suspicious: On Saturday after turn-ins, Gettysburg did a (voluntary) people's choice. (Well, they did a ton of them, but this one was specifically for BBQ.) We elected to use our leftover brisket (reheated and pulled) and butts. They were really well received by the crowd but two things bothered us.

The first is that the event had no way of filtering or limiting the crowd - at least 50% of the people we served had snuck in over the "fence" and so weren't voting. (Dan said they were addressing that vigorously for next year.. I don't know why they thought caution tape on a huge unsecured perimeter would work, but ok.)

The other thing was that we saw other teams come through our line pretending to be attendees. (At least one did it several times.) I didn't call them out at the time - partially due to the length of the line - but, at least to me, that screams shigging. If they had just walked up and honestly asked for a taste, or offered to swap samples, I'd have been more than happy to do so. (And I have in the past, at almost every comp we've done.) Filtering into a line full of guests and sneaking our competition food seems underhanded to me.

Am I wrong? We were giving it out to basically anyone, but that I didn't think that would include giving 3-4 samples (2oz or more each) to the competition. (We aren't winning, but mostly that is related to settling out our techniques/cooking problems - our taste scores are generally high and getting higher.) We probably won't be doing that style of event again, partially because of this..
Click to expand...
I dunno, I actually enjoyed sharing leftovers with the crowd. I think that interaction encourages spectators and attendees and helps events grow.
My only suggestion would be to limit the #of servings that each team can put out as it impacts the vendors if the teams are giving away a ton of free food.

As for shigging, well,,,,,, what we put out for PC may or may not have been what we put in the box. We re-sauced, re-spiced and reprocessed (or did we?? bwahahaha:tape:) our people's choice food.
 
If you're "selling" your competition BBQ, I think that any one who pays as a right to buy some. If some one took some without paying, then it's wrong.

dmp
 
dmprantz said:
If you're "selling" your competition BBQ, I think that any one who pays as a right to buy some. If some one took some without paying, then it's wrong.

dmp
Click to expand...

The only money involved was for those few who paid at the door - it was open to all attendees for voting, as far as I know. (Certainly there was no money on our side - they supplied stacks of cups, forks and napkins and a sign to hang up.)
 
Disconnect said:
The only money involved was for those few who paid at the door
Click to expand...

If it were me, I would have asked the organizer for permission to sample others' food and/or I would have offerred to pay a gate charge for the priviledge. If they didn't do one of those things, then shame on them, IMO. The issue isn't the shig or not shig, it's the not paying for the priviledge like every one else (though there was an comp entry fee, and they may have donated PC meat themselves, hrmm....)

dmp
 
Cue's Your Daddy said:
Wow. People are way to paranoid about shigging. Deep breath man. I would shig from smokin gnome tho. lol.
Click to expand...

We do all our own seasonings, and (smokin gnome, stop reading :wink:) Sie and I can generally make something after only tasting it once or twice. We don't swap bites to copy anyone (we've got a good flavor profile that is working for us and we're just tuning it in better) but just to see what else is out there. (Our biggest takeaway from swapping is something simple like "we can make it spicier or saltier".. Well, and "damn thats good!" :becky:) Combining all the samples those teams got would be almost enough for a turn-in.

Our stats will show that we're not a team to be watching anyway - still pulling well below half, and this weekend was exceptionally bad for us.

Maybe the more philosophical question is whether its shigging to do something underhandedly that could have been done honestly.. We'd have happily given or swapped tastes with those teams had they just asked..


Slamdunkpro said:
I dunno, I actually enjoyed sharing leftovers with the crowd. I think that interaction encourages spectators and attendees and helps events grow.
Click to expand...

That is why we did it - they needed all the help they could get on that side. (Only 2 teams had volunteered when they got to us) It was a success on that front, and since they are talking about getting $ from bike week attendees next year it should be a lot bigger. (Half the bikers already know it was good, since they walked under the rope.)
 
1) Tasting ain't shiggin', what secret did they learn by eating some of your fine Q? Oh, by the way, there really aren't any secrets in BBQ...

2) Welcome to Peoples Choice. The ONLY ones I do now are those that do them blind, where even for Peoples Choice there is a turn-in, the entries are weighted (to a maximum of Xlbs), etc. Otherwise it's a crap shoot with one of two wins; either those with the most to hand out because they out-last everyone, or the local team who brings out the support.
 
Smokin' Gnome BBQ said:
fyi, my neighbors paid to get in and had every right to sample and vote. If this is what you are refering to, please pm me.
Click to expand...

They came by our PC table wearing their Gnome shirts, when we found out they were your neighbors we gave them extra burnt ends out of pity:tongue:
 
I doubt many teams that would do that with the intention of shigging are anything to worry about. They more than likely aren't good enough cooks to replicate what they tasted.
 
Smokin' Gnome BBQ said:
thinking about this a little, what type of competitor goes around and eats bbq after a comtest. I generally stay as far away from Q as I can for my next meal.
Click to expand...

That was a big motivator behind us participating to begin with. We got rid of a huge pile of meat that wasn't going home to be leftovers, chili, etc.. (We ended up having baked potatoes for dinner because the mess shack had closed and everything else on site was BBQ. :tsk:)

Thanks for the perspective all. :biggrin1:
 
I saw a competitor take one of our ribs during peoples choice... funny thing is we made a bad mistake on the ribs and they were understandably low scored saturday. We were coming off of our best rib placing to date as well (of course). I have no problem giving away food and enjoyed it... we also gladly swap samples with competitors but I do have an issue with bad crowd control, etc. but this was their first year and they were slammed with teams so they deserve a little slack. Next year should be better planned out I hope
 
Handing it out to the public for peoples choice is fun talking with the folks and it gives them a chance to meet the teams and helps to promote the event. But in terms of it being a fair side contest of who's stuff is better it isn't. Too many uneven variables vs each team turning in the same sized box and letting them judge it blind.
 
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