I know Michael and the other folks that made this event happen and invested hundreds of hours only want the absolute best. People willing to put forth that kind of committment truly give it all they have to make it awesome for everyone involved.

Thanks to everyone who made the event what it was and all those folks who came out to support all the teams and taste all our food.

As “newbies” to the competitive world, we really apprecaite everything!

Sauced Up! Steve

Yes, the food was fantastic – but based on the statement I listed above I came to eat the competitors food – I can eat at any of the vendor’s establishments any old day of the week. It is was not the intent of this event you really need to reassess how the event was promoted. And if it was limited quantities, limited tickets, first come first serve – eat till gone, then fine – make sure the promoters state that next time, and rest assured I will be the first one there.

And yes, I regret to inform you that I will have to agree that as a ticketholder – everything outside of the competition food and interacting with them, was a total and complete cluster – as most first year events are – I get it- lessons learned, ya-da, ya-da, ya-da…. but if you advertise you are expecting 5,000 and you advertise an event lasting until 9pm – I personally feel is is reasonable for the paying public to expect amenities, hospitality, and procedures that are prepared to handle 5,000 people and an event that lasts until 9pm… 100 people turned away? hmmm… me thinks not, that line was more like 1,000, and who knows who showed up between 2 and 4 before the gates “reopened”?

And to close my 2 cents worth (hmm.. I might be up to a dim at this point) what I don’t get is this simple equation that didn’t seem to be taken into consideration anywhere:
expected 5,000 ticketholders x 5 sampling tickets = 25,000 samples. It seems from all accounts that there was no where near that amount of food available. In response to Crash and Michael – thanks for your efforts and your exceptional food – every sample I had was to die for and every booth I visited was a joy, perhaps you can now turn your attention back to the promoters of this event and question there marketing plan? And please, for the love of god, make the Scottsdale folks have a FAQ’s on their site with some basic info on BBQ comps to help educate us ignorant folk, and make them take down this phrase,

“Scores of families and barbecue enthusiasts will head to downtown Scottsdale as the competitors braise, smoke, grill, and marinate their savory fare – all of which you will get to sample.”

there are far too many “sampling events” in the Valley where you get to do just that – sample everything…. we are just spoiled children at this point and if a phrase like that is out there, guarandamnteed we are going to take it at face value….

There are some things that the general public does not understand about these events. As a competitor we are there to compete as professionals and turn in our very best BBQ to a panel of judges. There is a lot of money and pride at stake . I think many attendees think it is just a bunch of teams, cooking for the public on our own dime.

The public needs to understand that the teams out there competing have probably spent close to $1000 just for the opportunity to compete for cash and prizes. Also, most teams are up countless hours as well. For example, my wife was up for 42 hours straight and I managed a 90 minute nap early Saturday morning.

Our team managed to serve food to the public from 10am to about 4:30pm. I understand that we were in the minority and did come heavily prepared, but please understand that we are not vendors nor should we be expected to be. We are there as competitors first and sample-hander-outers second.

The public draw at these events is that they get to come out and enjoy seeing a competition in action just like they see on TV. They also get to taste samples of that competition food as long as it lasts. They can enjoy the atmosphere, the smell of 30+ teams cooking BBQ, the Music & fun stuff going on in conjunction with the event & purchase BBQ from any of the BBQ Vendors on site.

I invite you and your readers to come out to another of our events and stop by the AZBarbeque booth and talk with me. I would love to explain the passion myself & these teams have for BBQ here in AZ.