Save Hunahpu's Day! (positive/constructive feedback only)

I would like to say I give my full support to Cigar City. I want to be part of the solution by showing my support and assisting them with anything I can do to make this awesome event not go away. This is my vacation from life every year and I do not want it ruined by the few people who exploit it.

There way too many great beer people out there for this to never happen again. There are multiple ways to make this the best event in the beer community. I would even use my free time and resources to help out in any way possible. My father once told me," You need to learn to tame the beast. Not let it loose for others to get hurt.

My opinion is that distribution is not a good idea. I'm more fun a small private event/party where the people there get 2 or 3 bottles a person. And maybe limit the event/party to 500 -1,000 people. And that's it. No extra Hunahpu or anything like that. There are multiple solutions to make this event great and I don't like seeing it going to distribution personally.

I want to see people who actually enjoy the beer get it. I want to see the people who enjoy going to these events with their friends and meeting new ones because of such a great respect for the beer and the beer community. Now is the time to show your support and stand up with Cigar City in this time of need for them. They did not intend for Hunahpu's Day to turn out anything like it did. Let's not the the few assholes ruin it for all the great great people out there from Florida to Washing State and from the United States to China who know what great things Cigar City has done and will do in the future.

Do not let the enemy win in the craft beer world. They is way too many good people out there than bad. So now is our time to stand up and show our support and let Cigar City know we will not give up on them in this dark hour. I will do nothing but stay positive and say nothing but positive things and not let the assholes prevail. I know things went horribly wrong but let's not let "them" get to us. I will send out of towners CCB beer out of my own pocket to let you know how much Cigar City has given me without question and helping me out endlessly when things did not go their way in the past.

If any of you on Beer Advocate know me I would not stick my neck out for too many. But please support me with this stand. Please no negative comments. Stand. Smile. Be the solution.

Cheers,
Stephen Himick

 

If Huna Day were to survive, it would have to change drastically - like not even recognizable from what it has been in the past.

I've been every year but the first, and I can say that the 2013 event was a giant mess. I came back this year because I believed that limiting attendees to 3500 would make it a kickass event - and it would have if the limit had been respected.

I'd be down to try again next year if they could legitimately figure out how to keep the crowds down. I don't think it will happen, but I'm in support of CCB figuring this thing out instead of giving up if that's what they want to do. If not, then as long as they brew kickass beer and work to do right by their customers, then I'll keep enjoying their beers.

 

It would take some effort and money on CCBs part, but Ive never been to it. I know it takes some serious logistical planning, but it can be done. No reason to nix it just yet. Go forward with some big plans, then do some serious volunteer training. Put your best people at the door, then go forward.

Id love to see Hunahpu Day survive. Its a big piece of the BA community!

 

Obviously there are measures that can be taken in order to make this a great event. This was my first year going and despite all the flaws I had a wonderful time. Met great people in lines and drank some incredible beer from both taps and people popping bottles while waiting. I did not get my 3 bottles but hopefully CCB will make it right.

As long as they make some changes I would be more than willing to go back for another HD.

 

I'm with you man, this is just too much fun not to happen again. Despite the jerk stories you hear, I treasure the commraderie and have had an overwhelmingly positive experience, even this year. There was a lot of anger right at the end on Saturday, and the situation got a bit out of hand, no doubt. But by and large my experience this weekend was a bunch of like minded people having a great time. I was there when the doors shut, but not in the line anymore, and I didn't even realize what had happened until encountering some drunk chick at the Hilton screaming and cursing about it. Point is, even this Hunahpu Day was mostly a great time for everyone I met. There is certainly room for improvement, but a lot of these fixes are not rocket science, I just hate to see the event come to an end.

 

It sucks that things went down the way they did. CCB needs to dust themselves off, patch up them scratches, and get back on that horse. I do agree with a smaller cap and professional, vigilant, staff. I also like the 2 - 3 bottles per person and that's it. Or just make a special little release for El Catador Club members.
I support CCB and the resurrection of Hunahpu's Day.

 

Save Hunahpu! I went and had a great time with my BA people! This is for you Steve!

 

Had a blast at Hunahpu day. First time going and was already planning on going again next year. Until the news today... Sucks that people took advantage of CCB. Long live Hunahpu day!

 

Allow people to pick up bottles the week leading up to the event
Separate Tickets for bottles and entry with names on both.
Names on the tickets for entry and bottles must match the ID presented at the time of redemption
No announced times for special tappings just randomly put the "whalez bro" on tap with no announcement
Enforce line integrity

 

Give "actual" tickets like they do at movie theaters rip the ticket stub and all no print out at home tickets or anything of the sort. But rumor has it the city of Tampa is pissed about the amount of people that came and we're in line again. We will see I go every year but if it was the last had fun the first half of the day, but when the scummy scammers came in then it sucked.

 

Also, legit ticketing equipment (not cell phones) that verifies and reconciles the ticket presented against the database of tickets sold. No valid ticket no entry, no exceptions.

 

it doesn't seem like this should be all that difficult

- use an actual ticketing system
- limit #'s
- hire security
- at the very least consult with an event planning company

start small - sell 2,500 tickets and make sure you only have 2,500 people in there. make sure security takes care of the overserved. and limit the hoarding to 2 bottles of Huna

that would eliminate all the problems

 

I hope this isn't the end of hunahpu's day. I think CCB can learn more and make it right next year! Don't give up @gunhaver !

 

Is this where we talk about how damn tasty this batch is?

 

I really hate to see giving up being an option for anything. Give the bottles out when people come in via some kind of bag that is easy to carry around. Of course that goes along with having a ticket tied to a real human or at least a way to prevent scamming. Do not sell cases this day. It only leads to the hoarders coming out. Sadly, they seem to be the most rude of everyone.

DO have some kind of other events like a Q+A with the brewers and maybe invite some other breweries from the state to come out and take part in a panel discussion. I came from out of state, would have been cool to hear you guys talk about the local scene. Breaks up the day and gets people out of lines for something.

Great beer this year. Didn't get my bottles, but had a taste. Luckily I have some good friends who were able to get some and look forward to having more over the year.

 

Using an event planner should help fix most if not all problems.
Maybe a change of venue that can better control the number of attendees.
I enjoyed myself very much and got my 3 bottles early and there were NO lines to fight thru.
I would definitely attend again and I hope to see this event live on forever. Even if Huna does go I to distribution.
Limiting access to great beer is one of the reasons that problems like this occur.
I did get extra bottles and I promise the entire beer community that I will NOT be exploiting them for ridiculous amounts of money. They will be going to friends at cost and maybe one or two traded for equal value beer that I have heard about but never had the good fortune to try. I hope that doesn't offend anyone. Just trying to enjoy things not available in my area.
By the way,when I was waiting in line for extra bottles I stood respectfully off to the side and let all wristband holders by.

 

I agree I am sad to hear that they are giving up. I also agree that I will not be the least bit surprised if it's eventually confirmed that the City of Tampa was royally pissed and had a major hand in the decision. How could they not be when there were literally hundreds, maybe close to 1,000 people at one point standing along the side of a city street?

If CCB does change their plans, the first thing they need to do is move it off site, OR rent a fence to enclose the parking entire parking lot so people can't easily jump the ditch and skip the line.

Second thing they need to do is hire an event coordination company that has experience with drunken crowd control and that uses a LEGIT point of entry ticketing system.

I think it would also be cool if they gave each person a 'special' ticket / bracelot upon entry that they can use to get a single pour of one of the whalez, and make sure they have more then enough total volume of the most sought after beers to ensure that everyone gets a single pour of one of the uber rare beers of their choice. Have those special lines open the first 4 hours or so of the festival, and then open up whatever is left to the masses. If someone chooses not to get the special pour they can use the ticket to get an extra bottle. I got lucky this year and managed to get a pour of the DB Hunahpoopoo. We got in line a little after 12 noon, and managed to get a pour from the very last pitcher that they pulled out of the keg.

I also agree that they need to seperate the bottle pickup from the event. IF they have to do the beer festival on site, make people designate a day the week before or after that they will pick up their bottles, and only allow a specified # to sign up each day. Yes this would suck for the out of towners but somethings gotta give.

Finally, here's an idea that will never happen but it might be the best thing they could do... Choose a handful of their 'regular' customers and/or El Catador members to be on a committee that provides input from a different perspective. Can you imagine how this conversaion might have ended.... Joey says to a theoretical customer committee member "so, we told everyone to not come early, but to prevent some chaos we're going to go ahead and silently release DB Huna bottles to whomever is in line at 11, and by the way we're going to sell them a case if they want it until we run out". Pretty sure (unless they choose some of the deuche canoes who went ape shit on Sat) that most rational non-self serving customers would have said that was a HORRIBLE idea.

 

1/x the number of tickets, x times the price (x=4 seems about right). Attendee must be the one who originally purchased the ticket. Admission gets you Huna bottles, pours, food and breathing room. Rest of Huna released later at brewpub and through usual distribution.