Big Brew Beer Fest---Unmitigated disaster

Discussion in 'New England' started by kaisersling, Feb 19, 2013.

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  1. kaisersling

    kaisersling Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2013

    The Big Beer Brewfest took place at the Morristown NJ Armory. The organization of this event was a joke. I was near the front third of the line and it took me an hour to get in. Those nearer to the back, were in freezing temperatures for 2 to 3 hours. Hundreds at the end of the line never got in or gave up due to the temperature and frustration. There was an estimated 2700 to 3000 people on line, all of whom were going through a single standard size door. There was one, ONE!, person person checking IDs and two manually checking in attendees. There No ticket scanners were in sight.

    Once inside, it got better...sort of. The selection of beer was very good, so much beer was consumed. Which would be great except for the fact that the wait for the bathroom was 40 minutes long. In the men's room, there were 3 urinals and 2 stalls. As such, people began going to the bathroom outside. The U.S. Army vehicles outside provided a convenient place to use the bathroom, at least for those wanted to brave the temperatures. All of the indoor traffic was funneled into the "lobby". So the main entrance funneled right into the line for the men's room, creating a hazard.

    The volunteers, one of whom was a close friend, did the best with the limited resources they were provided. There were no garbage cans for empties, no dump buckets, no water for rinsing, no rags, no bottle openers etc. The main organizer, Allison Kohler who is the president of JMK Events, mismanaged this event at best. Apparently the volunteers were treated poorly. They were told if they were found away from there table, except for a quick bathroom break (remember 40 minute lines), they would be escorted from the building. She never once thanked the volunteers. Her apology to the attendees was riddled with excuses. I would warn vendors, volunteers, and attendees to think twice about attending one of there events. Oh, they were also censoring Facebook comments prior to them taking the whole event page down.

    Sorry for the long windedness...just though y'all should know.
     
    #1 kaisersling, Feb 19, 2013
  2. GennyCreamAle

    GennyCreamAle Initiate (0) Feb 25, 2009 New York

    Adult diapers = no minutes in bathroom line
     
    #2 GennyCreamAle, Feb 20, 2013
  3. jlenik

    jlenik Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2009 New Jersey

    Sounds like a venue problem. They sold too many tickets for the facility and it wasn't run well. I'm not sure how you can tell volunteers to not go to the bathroom and expect to have anyone on your side.
     
    #3 jlenik, Feb 20, 2013
  4. ajfa531

    ajfa531 Zealot (686) Jun 2, 2007 New Jersey
    Trader

    May I suggest that you and the other estimated 2699 to 2999 people research events and promoters before spending money on a ticket? If it's the first year, do not go unless the person/group running the event is reputable. Since your account was born yesterday, learn from your experience and move on.

    - Joe
     
    #4 ajfa531, Feb 21, 2013
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  5. Keyes88

    Keyes88 Zealot (634) Jul 19, 2011 New Jersey

    I avoided this as soon as I saw they were having a beer pong tournament. That's usually a sign shits going to suck. What beers did they have?
     
    #5 Keyes88, Feb 21, 2013
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  6. ajfa531

    ajfa531 Zealot (686) Jun 2, 2007 New Jersey
    Trader

    Milltown plus that picture equals Stuff Yer Face in Nbruns?

    - Joe
     
    #6 ajfa531, Feb 21, 2013
  7. Keyes88

    Keyes88 Zealot (634) Jul 19, 2011 New Jersey

    I'm actually not a huge stuff yer face fan, I grew up at Old Bay. I took that at Zeppelins in Jersey City.
     
    #7 Keyes88, Feb 21, 2013
  8. ajfa531

    ajfa531 Zealot (686) Jun 2, 2007 New Jersey
    Trader

    Boo. I did SYF through college and, then, Harvest Moon and Old Bay for the few years I lived in Highland Park after college. I was huge on liters of Weihenstephaner Dunkel on spring and summer days.

    - Joe
     
    #8 ajfa531, Feb 21, 2013
  9. mdfb79

    mdfb79 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,757) Jan 11, 2010 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    I wouldn't blame this on the people going for not researching a beerfest. Research most likely would not have told them the amount of bathrooms that would have been available, that they would handle the lines/letting people in like that, etc. Sounds like it was just pourly handled which is a shame.

    To the OP; that stinks. Looks like they've addressed it a bit right on their site's main page:

    http://www.bigbrewbeerfestival.com/

    Good news for those who never got in is that they will refund your money.
     
    #9 mdfb79, Feb 21, 2013
  10. m100

    m100 Zealot (535) Feb 13, 2011 New Jersey
    Trader

    Further info on the poor management of the event:
    http://morristown.patch.com/articles/brouhaha-for-big-brew-beer-fest-at-armory?logout=true

    I attended, and it was a god damn nightmare. Spent an hour and a half in line outside in the cold, missing precious beer drinking time. If you run an event, at least get the attendees in the door. Pitiful.

    That said, had a good time once I got in. I however, will not be attending any future events by JMK productions... amateur hour over there.
     
    #10 m100, Feb 21, 2013
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