Contest Announcment Bear's Smokehouse New England BBQ Championships - Hartford, CT - 9/5-6

[Skip]

As I understand it, the contest is close to being sold out.

I think it's not the organizer that's causing the weird costs and issues, but the fact that they are using a venue controlled by the city, and with city control comes all kinds of government red tape.

Charlie Meyer has been responsive to me when I have asked questions. PM me if you want his email.

Sled, I got the same speech about being dropped if they find teams willing to do PC. I think the time slots, timing, and volume requirements make PC a bad option here. (Plus it's open People's Choice - which is nothing more than a crap shoot anyway. You just know some Hartford team throwing a party or a local restaurant that's been advertising the event for days is going to win it.)

Yeah Chris I didn't think it was the organizers just dumping on fees but the fact is that the fee issue was raised back in February. A change of venue was suggested. A meeting to hash out the expectations was suggested. When the cost of ice was pointed out and the opportunity to get ice donated was offered they never pursued it. When options were given to alleviate it they weren't heeded. When suggestions were made they were misunderstood and changes were attempted that didn't need to be. I have worked on the organizational side of it so I understand there is a textbook way and then the "discussion and compromise" aspect of any local government. Rules and regulations are written to a generic umbrella. That umbrella may not be necessary in individual instances and thus can be waived. Also the city if Hartford is not that large and a simple move of a couple of miles could have changed a lot of the byzantine type legislation. This reminds me of the event in CT by the water. It had a great prize pool and an established event but in the two years it ran there was nothing really good about it and it went away. Maybe its just frustration in seeing another contest basically ignore the competitors suggestions and convey an attitude of not caring. This was the impression that was received from the contest I mentioned above as well. It seemed there that because they offered a good prize pool they didn't need to listen to the teams because "we'll get the teams no matter what because of the prize pool". It worked for 2 years at the other contest so maybe they'll get 2 years from this contest.

As we can see from the comments and suggestions here the prize pool isn't the only draw to a contest and dare I say its never the most important one either. Many new organizers think that the only way to lure a team is money and for the most part that isn't true. a 7500 dollar prize pool will draw the same teams as a 20K prize pool. When the contest falls in the schedule is much more of a deciding factor than money and yes two contests inside the same travel circle with large variation in prize pool will sway some. But if the more lucrative contest has a multitude of questions raised about it by competitors you will see seasoned teams choose the safer less lucrative contest to avoid issues they have seen before.

As I said before I hope this works out and these red flags are nothing more than party favors. I want this contest to do well but I think the organizational staff should look at other contests and pick the brains of other organizers and listen to the teams. I am still considering it and I am searching for some solace in it all. I hope all those who choose to compete are pleasantly surprised not scared to death by what they find.

 

[CBQ]

This reminds me of the event in CT by the water. It had a great prize pool and an established event but in the two years it ran there was nothing really good about it and it went away.

Norwalk? They had 14 different competition categories one year. I counted. Way too many People's Choice events, and all of them loaded with problems (timing, location of ticket sales, numbers of tickets sold)

Many teams dropped out of the People's Choice after one year's event had teams throwing out hundreds of portions of food. The organizers then cancelled the BBQ event at the minute.

Hartford seems to also share the same problem: too much of a focus on People's Choice as a fundraiser. It's a burden for competition teams to compete and serve 600 portions of food. Most teams are set up for competition, not catering. My rib cooker holds 6 racks of ribs. :becky:

:mod: Merrimack is NOT my favorite contest, as many of you know. Stand by to be shocked, I'm going to say something (somewhat) nice about them. :mod:

They do raise a LOT of money with NO People's Choice events. (Probably because they don't want people to notice there are BBQ teams there :becky: )
There are ways to do it. Merrimack puts on a nice event for the public with lots of vendors, lots of space, lots of beer, craft vendors, and a nice kids area.
They promote the event, drawn a huge crowd, and sell lots of beer.

Certainly becoming so good at fund raising that you think you don't need BBQ teams at a BBQ contest creates other problems, but least there is no People's Choice. :thumb:

 

[BasicPatrick]

The Harvard Ma contest runs Peoples Choice about as good as it can be done. Teams turn in a specific and reasonable
amount of food to a tent where volunteers serve and the public casts blind voting.

 

[Skip]

Norwalk? They had 14 different competition categories one year. I counted. Way too many People's Choice events, and all of them loaded with problems (timing, location of ticket sales, numbers of tickets sold)

Many teams dropped out of the People's Choice after one year's event had teams throwing out hundreds of portions of food. The organizers then cancelled the BBQ event at the minute.

Hartford seems to also share the same problem: too much of a focus on People's Choice as a fundraiser. It's a burden for competition teams to compete and serve 600 portions of food. Most teams are set up for competition, not catering. My rib cooker holds 6 racks of ribs. :becky:

:mod: Merrimack is NOT my favorite contest, as many of you know. Stand by to be shocked, I'm going to say something (somewhat) nice about them. :mod:

They do raise a LOT of money with NO People's Choice events. (Probably because they don't want people to notice there are BBQ teams there :becky: )
There are ways to do it. Merrimack puts on a nice event for the public with lots of vendors, lots of space, lots of beer, craft vendors, and a nice kids area.
They promote the event, drawn a huge crowd, and sell lots of beer.

Certainly becoming so good at fund raising that you think you don't need BBQ teams at a BBQ contest creates other problems, but least there is no People's Choice. :thumb:

I think that's the one Chris. Team sites were flooded. The Peoples Choice was whole hog one year I think or they had a whole hog same day as KCBS. The organizers wanted all this extra money for larger sites. They made a hoopla about a lobster dinner on saturday night and then relegated the non fish eaters to some chicken nuggets. I think my comment was "Oh goodie the non seafood eaters can get happy meals while the seafood eaters eat high on the hog." lol

But oddly enough you were able to link something for me that explains a lot about these failing first year contests. When I was just buying my house I had a gentleman I hold in high regard tell me "remember kid your new house isn't going to look like your parents house as soon as you want". I didn't understand it until we settled in. He was right. We weren't going to have the dinette or the new couches and new TV's in every room. We may need to hold off on painting some of the rooms for a while. So many things that come over time and hard work. Well it seems some organizers think that their event should be as great as other events with history. That their event should make money right from the get go. To use an old adage from BBQ "The best way to make a small fortune at BBQ is to start with a large fortune". I think that's why the charitable events I work on do well. There is no expectation from anyone organizing to make money. If all we do is pay our prize pool and our support costs while being able to give a donation to the charity we are happy. The other mistake I see here and in other contests is the attitude that more is better. "If we offer more money than less mistakes will be noticed". Again the most important part is making the teams happy since they are your laborforce basically. Third is the lack of willingness for the teams to steer the contest. An organizer with just one venue in his experience will learn so much from seasoned teams. Issues the organizer may not even consider will be brought to his attention.

Still hoping for the best.

 

[Skip]

The Harvard Ma contest runs Peoples Choice about as good as it can be done. Teams turn in a specific and reasonable
amount of food to a tent where volunteers serve and the public casts blind voting.

The blind judging is a great deterrent to home field advantage but it takes away the one aspect of peoples choice that drives the public year after year and that's visiting the sites. Maybe Harvard is beyond that because they have conditioned the public but I have seen events where this is tried only turn the public away.

I really think that the outlook on People's Choice needs to change. It should just be considered a mandatory fundraiser that teams participate in strictly for the support of the event. People's Choice should be an award and no monetary compensation. Save the money for the event or the BBQ prize pool. By removing the money the hometown teams have less of a reason to invite friends or post on their FB page for electronic votes. If there is money involved have two types of judging. Open field peoples choice judged at the site and blind judging in a tent with the public. Each team submits a specific amount of ribs so quantity doesn't play a role. But its gotta drop the competition from its name. People's Choice Fundraiser instead of competition.

 

[CTSmokehouse]

Yeah Sled thats what they are saying. If you applied today they could pull your spot the day before because they got someone to do PC and you wouldn't. That's rough and potentially a blemish to a contest. If thats the case figure your number of spots and figure how many you want doing peoples choice and only release the remaining number of sites for non PC teams.

You know what the shame is in all of this. These questions were raised in February and nothing was done it seems. All the issues can be dealt with or removed completely but it seems no one is interested. I think quite possibly the organizers felt the prize pool would be enough and everyone would just grin and bear it. Seems that train of thought was wrong. Hopefully the organizers will pull a rabbit from their hat and make this contest as good as it potentially can be but its going to take work and a lot of saving face it seems. I wish them luck. We see fewer contests each year it seems in New England. It would be nice for this one to get off the ground. CT has always been hit or miss on contests.

Hey Skip... Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival 4/30/16-5/1/16, Ridgefield, CT has been re-sanctioned by KCBS. We are not hit or miss and have been the first BBQ Contest in New England for the past 2 years. We have attracted BBQ Teams and CBJ's, MBJ's and KCBS Reps (5) from 8 states and Scotland. We had some of the best BBQ Teams in the country the last 2 years, including some great BBQ Teams from LI. We would love to have you at our contest next year along with more LI BBQ teams!

Yours in BBQ,

Cliff

 

[Bear'sBBQ]

Have to apologize to everyone for my absence. I had thought I would get notified when folks posted on here but don't seem to get them. Had no idea there were so many comments. I will try to address a few of the concerns.

Prize pool is 20k, I am personally guaranteeing that level regardless of sponsorships.
Peoples choice- this is a ticketed event, so I do not foresee this being a popularity contest. It would cost the team more in tickets than the prize is worth.
We continue to work with the city to try and alleviate some of the burdensome fees, I can honestly say no fees have been arbitrarily added.

For peoples choice, based on conversations with some of the teams I am familiar with we have settled on ribs, these will be provided to the teams at no cost. I will be providing all extra food for the attendees. Sides, extra meat, etc. I will also feed all teams that night.

We will absolutely not take anyones spot from them for not participating in the peoples choice. I did not realize that was put on the site and will be changed. However I would like everyone to consider it, I choose ribs as they are a quick cook and probably do baby backs so you all can fit more vs spare. trying to make this as small a burden to the teams as possible. Just realize that this is strictly a fundraiser for an organization that does a lot of good in our area. Bear's will never make a dime from this event.

For the WFC the Grand Champion wins a spot and a $2500 travel stipend for WFC 2015. We upgraded to a preferred qualifier to be able to give the stipend as I realize that Comp BBQ is an expensive sport especially when travel is involved.

We are also now affiliated with NEBS.

Winnings will now be paid day of the contest.

Personally my entire goal for this contest is to make it as smooth as possible for the teams, raise some money for Riverfront Recapture and grow and improve each year. I have no hidden agenda, just looking to grow BBQ in New England.

Thank you,

Jamie
Bear's Smokehouse

 

[Skip]

Hey Skip... Ridgefield Gone Country BBQ Festival 4/30/16-5/1/16, Ridgefield, CT has been re-sanctioned by KCBS. We are not hit or miss and have been the first BBQ Contest in New England for the past 2 years. We have attracted BBQ Teams and CBJ's, MBJ's and KCBS Reps (5) from 8 states and Scotland. We had some of the best BBQ Teams in the country the last 2 years, including some great BBQ Teams from LI. We would love to have you at our contest next year along with more LI BBQ teams!

Yours in BBQ,

Cliff

Thanks Cliff we'd love to do your contest. I apologize for lumping all of them into a single category. I am usually so aware of making such a fallacious remark. All or nothing statements are always false. I think its a flaw I must compensate for :becky:

 

[Skip]

Have to apologize to everyone for my absence. I had thought I would get notified when folks posted on here but don't seem to get them. Had no idea there were so many comments. I will try to address a few of the concerns.

Prize pool is 20k, I am personally guaranteeing that level regardless of sponsorships.
Peoples choice- this is a ticketed event, so I do not foresee this being a popularity contest. It would cost the team more in tickets than the prize is worth.
We continue to work with the city to try and alleviate some of the burdensome fees, I can honestly say no fees have been arbitrarily added.

For peoples choice, based on conversations with some of the teams I am familiar with we have settled on ribs, these will be provided to the teams at no cost. I will be providing all extra food for the attendees. Sides, extra meat, etc. I will also feed all teams that night.

We will absolutely not take anyones spot from them for not participating in the peoples choice. I did not realize that was put on the site and will be changed. However I would like everyone to consider it, I choose ribs as they are a quick cook and probably do baby backs so you all can fit more vs spare. trying to make this as small a burden to the teams as possible. Just realize that this is strictly a fundraiser for an organization that does a lot of good in our area. Bear's will never make a dime from this event.

For the WFC the Grand Champion wins a spot and a $2500 travel stipend for WFC 2015. We upgraded to a preferred qualifier to be able to give the stipend as I realize that Comp BBQ is an expensive sport especially when travel is involved.

We are also now affiliated with NEBS.

Winnings will now be paid day of the contest.

Personally my entire goal for this contest is to make it as smooth as possible for the teams, raise some money for Riverfront Recapture and grow and improve each year. I have no hidden agenda, just looking to grow BBQ in New England.

Thank you,

Jamie
Bear's Smokehouse

That's good to hear Jamie. I was hoping this wasn't what it appeared to be.

 

[Scottie]

Good luck Jamie. Wish I didnt have a conflict or I would be out there.

 

[CBQ]

That's good to hear Jamie. I was hoping this wasn't what it appeared to be.

I have it in writing from Charlie Meyers that teams not participating in People's Choice will be bumped if they get enough PC teams. In fact he and I engaged in several back and forth emails in which I explained in great detail why we don't participate in People's Choice any more.

I'm not sure who has the final say here, but Jamie and Charlie are not saying the same thing.

I will say that ticketed People's Choice doesn't make it any better. How many tickets they sell and where you are positioned vs. the ticket sales determines your results more than the product you produce.

 

[Bear'sBBQ]

As the person that has to supply the extra food to make up for teams that are not participating that call is mine

 

[Cue's Your Daddy]

So couple questions. How many racks of ribs does each team get to cook for peoples choice? U still taking applications?

 

[Bear'sBBQ]

Yes still have 6 spots I believe, I would love folks to be able to do 15 racks. going with Baby backs so less space and faster cook than spares

 

[Skip]

I appreciate you willingness and want to help the teams but I will say that babyback probably aren't the way to go. Temperature will mitigate any time differences. Babybacks are more expensive than spares and will reduce your charitable contribution. Spares are what most teams cook regularly so their end product has the potential for being a better rib. I may be wrong but I think any team willing to cook the PC isn't going to worry about what they are cooking. The time consumption is dealing with the public. If you do spares and trim to St Louis you could have rib tips to offer as something other than PC and generate more money for the charity.

Were you able to get the ice donated uder the 501C3 charity? Most ice companies will donate as much as a half ton of ice for the tax letter Thats 40 lbs or more per team. Do you have hosing to pipe water to the sites or is it still a lug your own contest? The local ACE hardwares normally are helpful in this aspect.

 

[Bear'sBBQ]

I appreciate you willingness and want to help the teams but I will say that babyback probably aren't the way to go. Temperature will mitigate any time differences. Babybacks are more expensive than spares and will reduce your charitable contribution. Spares are what most teams cook regularly so their end product has the potential for being a better rib. I may be wrong but I think any team willing to cook the PC isn't going to worry about what they are cooking. The time consumption is dealing with the public. If you do spares and trim to St Louis you could have rib tips to offer as something other than PC and generate more money for the charity.

Were you able to get the ice donated uder the 501C3 charity? Most ice companies will donate as much as a half ton of ice for the tax letter Thats 40 lbs or more per team. Do you have hosing to pipe water to the sites or is it still a lug your own contest? The local ACE hardwares normally are helpful in this aspect.

skip thanks for the input, working on the ice now, in contact with the guy you turned me on to. will work the water situation. Can definitely do spares, was just worried about number of racks folks can cook

 

[JimmyDAL]

How many teams so far entered for the KCBS Comp?

 

[Bear'sBBQ]

believe we are now at 24, will have a better count monday

 

[CBQ]

We advanced in Sam's, so will be dropping Hartford, however I know several teams that did not advance that expressed an interest going to Hartford now.

 

[Bear'sBBQ]

Thanks to Skip's advice I am pleased to add that we will be able to provide ice free of charge to all teams