New guy with a question

[Babyboomerboy]

Hello, I just found this site and have been reading the posts with interest. I have been elected to start a BBQ cookoff in our small town. I contacted the KCBS about being sanctioned and they have sent me their packet of information. My question is first, is this the right forum to talk about putting together a cookoff and second does anyone have information how to go about starting one of these cookoffs so it will be successful, fun and become an annual event? Thank you

[eagle697]

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.

[Alexa RnQ]

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!

[WannaBeBBQueen]

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

[barbefunkoramaque]

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.

[Podge]

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.

[motoeric]

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

[CivilWarBBQ]

Originally Posted by Podge

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.

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

[Babyboomerboy]

Thanks to everyone who posted a reply to my thread. I have never been to a real KCBS BBQ contest before, but will certainly go to a few when they come up in our area. Also we are planning on having a KCBS judging class here in April that I will attend and hopefully get others in this region to go to so we will have certified judges for our cookoff in July. What kind of prize money am I looking at for the first contest? We are building a sponsor list now and it would be nice to have an idea how much money we need to raise so that we can get some of you pro's interested in coming and showing us what a true competition is like. Thanks again, your knowledge is vast and really appreciated.

[Bbq Bubba]

Doesn't Kansas already have like a bazillion contests?

[Bigmista]

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.

[motoeric]

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

[CivilWarBBQ]

Originally Posted by Babyboomerboy

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

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.

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.

[Bud's BBQ]

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.

[Rookie'48]

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.