British BBQ Society Forums

Thanks for the speedy reply, I know you have a lot on, but if you can let us when we can obtain a copy or where, it would be great.

Eddie

i think it's a great idea in principle, the one thing that would prevent me from doing it is the pressure of knowing that a personal mistake could potentially ruin a teams comp.

i would be happier paying for a fully involved 'dress rehearsal' for a comp, so a cook under comp regs where i would get all of the hands on experience with not so much pressure, and a bit part at the main event - mainly observing and gophering, but helping out to the degree that the team having assessed my capabilities would be comfortable with

don't know how cost efficient that would be for the teams, but reading the posts it seems that most teams have a pretty full on practise before an event.

great idea though, and i would definitely be involved if it took off

DrSweetsmoke wrote:I don't know of any teams that would charge someone to join in for the weekend I know I wouldn't but perhaps that's just me. I wouldn't even consider having someone join to mainly go-fer I would rather show them some things like cooking ,prep wise etc and do the running myself.

hup, hup, heads up!
you've got a pair of fairly competent hands here whenever you need them then doc!

DrSweetsmoke wrote:I don't know of any teams that would charge someone to join in for the weekend I know I wouldn't but perhaps that's just me. I wouldn't even consider having someone join to mainly go-fer I would rather show them some things like cooking ,prep wise etc and do the running myself.

its all very well showing some things, but this is to show people everything.

those who consider £200 to be expensive should check out the prices being charged for master classes in the USA. Those of us competing today have incurreed great financial costs along the way and continue to do so on our quest to become better cooks. those prepared to give everything become the best whilst those who just take what they can get for free remain quite average. no gain without sacrifice. no satisfaction without effort.

Hear hear, Jedi master

British BBQ Society wrote:
its all very well showing some things, but this is to show people everything.

In order to show 4 people everything you would have to have more than 1 pitmaster surely? With regards to getting things for free I mean it as a method for getting people interested, once hooked we all know the BBQ obsession quickly turns in to spending sprees on equipment and resources.

In my opinion £200 to spend on a master class would be better spent on a ProQ and accepting the offer from Big Al, I can't see why there is a need to spend money on teaching, as far as I am aware the majority of the big teams have not and have learnt as they went along, surely thats all part of the fun. Now the idea about renting equipment is excellent for those with just one smoker who would love to compete but know that it's just not practical with limited equipment, that sounds like a sure fire way of generating income for the society. Charging for pit master courses alone will not save the society, a multi faceted approach will

Just my 2 cents worth as I'm sure you will all have different opinions

I would disagree there. A lot of very successful U.S. teams have at some point taken (and paid good money for) classes from other, more successful teams. We spent a day with a major team whilst over there recently who told us they had taken nearly every class going. IMO you can never stop learning and I for one will always be on the lookout for more classes whenever we get to the states again.

JEC wrote:In order to show 4 people everything you would have to have more than 1 pitmaster surely? With regards to getting things for free I mean it as a method for getting people interested, once hooked we all know the BBQ obsession quickly turns in to spending sprees on equipment and resources.

4 to 1 is actually an excellent ratio. The cooking courses I mentioned earlier cost 289 for a weekend course (ingredients included, but accomodation extra) and was one instructor + one kitchen assistant for 12 pupils. This worked fine, and at no point did I feel neglected.

As you say, there will be many people who will prefer to muddle through and learn themselves, and would much rather spend the money on new kit. That is their decision, and is right for them, but that is not a reason for Toby *not* to run his scheme. The reason I did my (non-BBQ) cooking courses was as much social as anything else. It was a fun weekend, where I met new people, and learned some stuff.

I guess if you can afford 200 quid for a weekend away, the idea may be attractive, and if you can't spare the cash, it won't be.

Note also that self-funding BBQ fans are not the only market Toby is aiming at - his article also makes mention of media. I can think of the following different possible attendees, just off the top of my head.

1. BBQ fan wishing to learn something
2. Journalist, wishing an insight in the world of competion BBQ.
3. Corporate teambuilding - send 4 of your employees off for a bit of fun, but also learning to work together.
3a. Corporate reward - similar to 3, but selling it differently.
4. Competition prize
5. Gift, sold in a similar fashion to Virgin Experience, Red Letter Days etc. (or, I would suggest, actually sold through these companies).

I don't think I need to tell Toby who to sell this idea to , but if it were me, I'd be approaching companies in these areas, once I had the thing established and tested a few times.

On the subject of promotion, Toby, are you familiar with the ASAO? It's the association that represents virtually all agricutural shows in the UK, and their website has a ton of contact information for organisations that might be conducive to either hosting cookoffs or BBQ demonstrations.

http://www.asao.co.uk/