Hosting a BBQ Comp

[dgaddis1]

First off, I know nothing about BBQ Competitions. The only one I've ever been to is Banjo B'Que in Augusta, which is a BBQ Comp / Bluegrass festival.

I was recently elected to an officer position for the local mountain bike club and we're kicking around ideas to raise some funds and I thought a Bikes & Que festival would be fun. Here's how I envision it:

• Event would be held on private property - no idea how that affects health code rules/regulations/etc
• Partner with someone who knows and can run the BBQ Competition
• Event is open to the public. A $X entry fee gets you in
• BBQ teams can sell food
• Throughout the day there will be bike games for folks of all ages (including kids), supported/guided trail rides of various length/difficulty, and at some point a race. No charge for the bike games/trail rides, but racers will have to pay to race.

Basically I think this would be a fun event that would draw a good size and very diverse crowd. And it should help raise some funds for the MTB club too.

So. Thoughts? Where would we look to find someone to run the contest? KCBC folks I assume?

 

[cpw]

First off, I know nothing about BBQ Competitions. The only one I've ever been to is Banjo B'Que in Augusta, which is a BBQ Comp / Bluegrass festival.

I was recently elected to an officer position for the local mountain bike club and we're kicking around ideas to raise some funds and I thought a Bikes & Que festival would be fun. Here's how I envision it:

• Event would be held on private property - no idea how that affects health code rules/regulations/etc
• Partner with someone who knows and can run the BBQ Competition
• Event is open to the public. A $X entry fee gets you in
• BBQ teams can sell food
• Throughout the day there will be bike games for folks of all ages (including kids), supported/guided trail rides of various length/difficulty, and at some point a race. No charge for the bike games/trail rides, but racers will have to pay to race.

Basically I think this would be a fun event that would draw a good size and very diverse crowd. And it should help raise some funds for the MTB club too.

So. Thoughts? Where would we look to find someone to run the contest? KCBC folks I assume?

Hit up Dave Amend (Uncle Bud's) or Randall Bowman (DeepSouth (I think)) here on the Brethren. They both have tons of experience putting on BBQ comps, and Dave is a KCBS rep so he can help with that side of things too.

 

[Gowan]

First off, I know nothing about BBQ Competitions. The only one I've ever been to is Banjo B'Que in Augusta, which is a BBQ Comp / Bluegrass festival.

I was recently elected to an officer position for the local mountain bike club and we're kicking around ideas to raise some funds and I thought a Bikes & Que festival would be fun. Here's how I envision it:

• Event would be held on private property - no idea how that affects health code rules/regulations/etc
• Partner with someone who knows and can run the BBQ Competition
• Event is open to the public. A $X entry fee gets you in
• BBQ teams can sell food
• Throughout the day there will be bike games for folks of all ages (including kids), supported/guided trail rides of various length/difficulty, and at some point a race. No charge for the bike games/trail rides, but racers will have to pay to race.

Basically I think this would be a fun event that would draw a good size and very diverse crowd. And it should help raise some funds for the MTB club too.

So. Thoughts? Where would we look to find someone to run the contest? KCBC folks I assume?

Producing a competition is way more complicated and expensive than you would imagine, but here are some of the titles from the organizer book:

Chapter One: A Pro BBQ Contest is a poor way to raise money for a non-profit.
The expense and effort needed are greater than most other fundraising options, which is why events created for this sole purpose usually don't last.

Chapter Two: Sponsorships should pay for everything.
All your costs must be covered before the event happens. Ticket sales, team entry fees, vendor fees, all this will be gravy if the weather and turnout are good. If the weather is bad, you better not be depending on this revenue to pay expenses.

Chapter Three: Paying an Organizer will not solve your problems for you.
Their job is to organize the contest portion of the event, and this typically means only overseeing recruitment and deployment of teams, judges and Reps. You will still have to sell the sponsors, sign up volunteers, prepare the infrastructure etc. etc. Frankly, in the overall scheme of things, organizing the BBQ contest is the simplest and most well-defined set of tasks in putting on the event.