New guy with a question

Good luck. I will be watching this thread, as i have contemplated trying to start one in my home town. I am sure you will get some great help.

I'm not experienced from the organizational end, but I do remember a thread not too long ago along the lines of "What are the 5 most important things you'd like at a comp, and what are the 5 least important?" There were so many good ideas there!

yes, you've found the right spot...ask away I'm sure people will chime in with answers...but first go to cattle call and tell us about yourself:mrgreen:

Hey, How bout writing the IBCA to get them to sanction a contest in your area. LOL

God I would love to see that. A contest in Kansas with no garnish. What would they do?

Glad to meet and see you here. WE will have some fun. This is the best forum on the net for BBQ.

I'd suggest cooking at least one contest yourself first. Put yourself in the cook's shoes and I think that will give you the best insight.

Hi,

Go to www.homeofbbq.com and click on Comp Tools.

You can download a program that will allow you to input how many teams you have and will spit back how much of what that you need to have on hand. How many judges, how many chairs, how much water, how many tables, how many tents, how many saltines, etc.

There is also a fairly comprehensive document that provides an overview of expenses you can anticipate and possible revenue drivers.

Good luck and let us know if you need any help.

Eric

Podge said:

I'd suggest cooking at least one contest yourself first. Put yourself in the cook's shoes and I think that will give you the best insight.

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I agree with Podge - partially. The cook's experience is obviously important, but only one piece of the puzzle an organizer must be concerned with. The perspective of the public, judges, vendors and sponsors must also be understood if you wish to produce a successful event.

You absolutely should attend every nearby contest you can! You'll get all kinds of ideas from this, get to observe first hand what works and what doesn't (be sure to attend the awards presentation) and if you're lucky you can score contact info from one of the organizers. They'll likely be too busy then to really talk with you much, but give them a call a few weeks after the event and pick their brain. Like several others here I am an event organizer and can offer you some help, but there is no substitute for the special insights and local resources other organizers in your immediate area can assist you with.

Best of luck!

-Gowan

Doesn't Kansas already have like a bazillion contests? :biggrin:

There a few contest promoters that post here. Arlie, ThomEmery and Jeff-in-KC just off the top of my head. I'm sure they will chime in or you can send them a PM.

Feel free to pm me with any questions. I have some experience helping to run the Battle of the BBQ Brethren and a couple of others.


Eric

Babyboomerboy said:

What kind of prize money am I looking at for the first contest?

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A typical start-up contest computes prize money based on team entry fees. Figure out how many teams you have room for and work from there, making sure entries will more than cover your prize money. For example, if you plan for 25 teams and will charge a 200 entry, you would have $5000 if you fill your contest. (Don't count any funds from extras like private porta johns, electric upgrades, etc.)

Since you can't be certain you will get all 25 teams, back off from that number a bit. You can always increase your payout, but KCBS requires that you guarantee whatever prize amount you declare when you request sanctioning. You don't want to have to come up with the cash to cover your prize money if you don't have enough entries! So in the example above let's say you settle on a $4000 guaranteed prize pool. If you book all your cook team slots you can simply announce that the payouts have increased if you choose to do so. Your cook teams won't complain. :icon_wink

Your sponsors should be covering your other costs of putting on the event. Assuming the purpose of the contest is to raise money for a charity, sponsorships should cover your fund raising target as well. If you will be charging admission, that money is icing on the cake - but don't count on it! There are too many factors that can wipe out ticket sales (especially weather) so you don't want to be depending on the public turning out to keep you in the black.

Good luck on your adventure. We are also trying to start an event in a nearby small town in Michigan. KCBS requires that you work with another organizer and follow the process in person at an actual event. Great experience and one of the sanctioning requirements.

Just a thought here. When setting the number of teams, how much space are you allowing for each team? One comp that I judged this summer only gave a 20' x 20' area which made it kind of tight (or impossible) for a lot of teams to fit in their own spot. Also figure that you need extra room for late arriving teams to drive to their spots. The guy who has two EZ-Ups & the back of his mini van can get in any where, but some one who has a 30 foot fifth wheeler might have a problem here. :biggrin:

Babyboomerboy said:

Rookie'48
If I mark off each space 20'x20' and someone needs space for a 30' trailer, would they use two spaces, or do we extend the space further into the infield and leave it at 20' wide?

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No matter how large you make your spaces you will have teams show up with more cookers, tents, RVs, trucks and cars than will fit. You have to make your best plan considering your available space and utilities and be prepared to be the bad guy when some clown rolls in with a 45 foot gooseneck horse trailer despite the fact that you clearly advertised 20 x 30 spaces for six months.

How many spaces should we mark out? We have no idea how many teams will come. How far in advance do teams sign up for the cookoffs they plan to attend?

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Predicting turnout is very difficult. I suggest you first canvas known local teams to get a straw count of how many will attend. Then figure your prize money based on the prize money you can afford to cover out of pocket if no other teams sign up. In the end you're just going to have to make your best guess, because teams are going to wait until the last minute to sign up. A soft economy and/or new contest intensifies this effect, so be prepared for some stressful days leading up to the last two weeks before your event.

Having an expandable site plan is helpful, though this isn't always practical if you are contracting for temporary power.

Finding a team to work it with you is a huge part of it
Check your PMs

One thing to keep in mind, also, is that a lot of teams, especially ones that travel quite a distance, want to come in on Thursday night and stay until Sunday. Can provisions be made for this? Since you are in Kansas, that may not be as much of an issue as it is around these parts. Some of us have to drive a long way to get to contests. Although that is improving, lately!

Babyboomerboy said:

judges for our cookoff in July.

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Make sure you check your dates for competing contests in Kansas in July. Great Bend is the weekend after the Fourth, Dodge City is July 25, 2009, Anthony Downs contest is in the middle of July. Just outside of Kansas Tulsa Art of BBQ and Warrensburg MO are on the same weekend as Great Bend. KCBS may not sanction the contest if it is too close to an existing contest.