Great Taste of the Midwest in-person ticket sales!

I have yet to see either my check clear or a letter back.

If anyone is interested in not gouging, I'd love to buy a ticket for face+beer or markup+shelf beer.

 

See avatar for my Great Taste 2013 experience.

 

I have a question, what is everyone's feeliings on the whole saving spots in line for tickets when the mules are too lazy to get up early enough to get in line in time. IMHO it is messed up if you want the tickets be there the same time as your friends and claim your rightful spot in line, as I see people who get there the same time and don't have friends in line already and get jipped out of tickets

 

The people who do that should be beat unconscious with an empty Corona bottle. There's a bunch of people who do that at the Wine and Hope shop (Looking at you, people along the wall by the parking lot & back driveway)

But that's just my opinion

 

There were no spot saves at the The Malt House that I noticed. There was one group ahead of mine that moved behind us to join their friends that came later. They still got tickets, but did the right thing and moved back rather than allowing the late comers to join them.

 

Is it safe to assume at this point that no news is good news as far as mail-in (no cleared check but also no returned check)?

 

Have been wondering the same thing pawpaw....so anxious. We got one check back early last week and nothing since. Fingers crossed. We mailed them all at the same time via hand delivered mail to ensure the post mark.

 

I feel the same way, I was at the W&H shop, and I saw it left and right, I probably wouldn't feel so strongly about it if one buddy came and took a saved spot, but the people directly behind me sat down and 30 minutes later (which is an eternity on ticket sales day) about 4-5 more friends came to join them, that's ten less tickets that could go to people who didn't budge, and it really pisses me off...IMO

 

Call people out who do it. We did, and the new people went to the end of the line (like they should have have in the first place). It's amazing how many people trying to get away with something suddenly get embarrassed and apologetic when it's clear someone is paying attention.

 

Never had a problem with it at Steve's on University either. I've seen people abandon their chairs after they show up but no one joining later. Thankfully. I'd probably hurt someone.

 

At Steve's Junction there was some horrible line jumping (I don't really think it's "saving") immediately in front of us. We made comments (granted not as direct as "hey a-hole, go to the back of the line") and they clearly didn't care at all. Originally the group was about 5 people. Maybe an hour later 10 more people joined them. An hour and a half after that another 10 people joined. We were freaked out that all the jumping was going to stop us from getting tickets but luckily we were fine, it was other people much farther back getting screwed.

We had a single empty mystery chair next to us the entire time and at the very end found out it belonged to someone who had gotten there later than the rest of her group and wanted to have an official place in line in case anyone complained.

I don't mind a person or two joining 15-30 minutes later than the rest of the group, they might just have been running a little late as a friend of mine was. On the other hand, if you're having 20 people join up to 2.5 hours later that's an intentional move.

 

I agree. Sometimes I wish they'd hand numbers out even earlier. But I can understand why they don't. I'd be pissed if that happened where we go.

 

Why don't the organizers utilize Brown Paper Tickets for GTotM? Seems like the event is big enough now to warrant sacrificing a small % of income to guarantee an organized, fair system of selling tickets... I completely dig the DIY mentality of the homebrew club, but event planning starts at the ticket line.

 

I have been flagging the local CL posts which are gouging $100+.

It's blatant exploitation. Makes me sick.

 

I like that if you're dedicated enough to get there early you can guarantee tickets though. There really isn't any other way to do it that rewards dedication that directly. Plus if you have other people with you that are good company, some beer to share, and a deck of cards the time goes by pretty quickly and it's actually a fun morning.

 

GTMW has rules for the ticket sale locations. Anyone leaving their spot in line for more then 10 minutes is technically not allowed to keep their spot. They do have a representative on site mid morning to help ensure order. This is honestly one of the most organized beer events I've been to and I love it for that reason.

 

Yeah- I got caught off guard a bit this year. Just moved back to Wisco after ten years in Cali. Was thinking about going to Great Taste with a buddy as a substitute for a bachelor party. We may still hunt down a pair of tickets. If nothing else I plan on trying to hit up any parties/special releases around town.

I would argue that the should definitely do the in person releases at local shops- the allotment system seems to work well for them. But instead of the weird "mail in a check and wait and see" just pony up for Brown Paper Tickets.

 

This is the best-run beer event, hands down, of all the events I've ever been to. It amazes me every year that the Madison Homebrew Club can pull this off without a single hitch. Given the disasters that have happened all across the country at other releases/festivals, the folks who run this should be justly proud of their fine track record & not change a single thing. If it ain't broke...

 

I am going to join for the sole purpose of policing lines next year. Line cutters annoy me as much as able bodied people who park in handicapped spots.

 

I have never actually seen anyone sent to the back of the line for jumping though and that's what this is about

 

Anyone have a check cash today or over the weekend? Still waiting...

 

I'm still waiting too...no word either way. Kinda weird, but assuming I lost (or my check is) at this point.

 

We're waiting for are response on 2 so it would be quite the feat if yours was lost with ours...

 

it's really just amazing how awesome everything surrounding this event works out.

people panic about getting squeezed out by line-jumpers every year. yet there never seems to be a shortage of people on site hawking their extras at face value.

 

I too am still waiting. No check back and no check cashed. My assumption and hope is that no news is good news..........I hope?

 

Of 4 submitted by my group, 1 returned and 3 still nothing. I just messaged them on Facebook and they seemed confused that I haven't seen anything either way...they are "looking into it". I'd suggest you guys still waiting message them privately on Facebook if you can/want to.

 

No news for me here either. My parents received their check back over a week ago. Fingers crossed...

 

GT just posted on Facebook - Most of the checks or tickets have been mailed. We are still working through them. If you haven't received anything back, you should soon. If you're in "ticket limbo" it means it's in the pool of mail orders that we are working to finish processing. Chances are slim but not nil.

 

Got my check back 2 weeks ago and my buddy got his check back today so they're still sending checks back. Now to the ISO ticket board..

 

As member who does ticket sales at Junction Road I like reading feedback. I'm sorry if there is line jumping but we've always counted on the line to somewhat police themselves. This particular site got harder this year because of the new line layout. It's now, as you know, much more spread out and difficult to watch. In years past the snake method was really easy to monitor.

As far as passing out numbers earlier, we try to gauge when the line would roughly be at capacity then hand them out. We "could" do it earlier and I may bring that up. Remember we're all volunteer's and have other duties during the whole ticket sale day after everyone leaves for the day with their tickets. If we show up at 5-6 am that means the day just got very long. Just like many of you we have families we left to do this or other obligations. I wouldn't trade working this day for any other volunteer slot for the GTOM! Hope to see many of you again next year.

I'm open to ideas.
Cheers!

 

Here's an idea - I will personally volunteer to hand out tickets at the Wine and Hop shop next year starting at as early a time as I can manage to get there (I shoot for 4:30 a.m.). When I arrive, I'll start at the front, and upon reaching the end of those already staged, take my own number, and then continue on as the line grows. Yeah, long day but I'm going to be there anyways so what's the difference.

I'm not a member of the guild but I'll join -if- you can guarantee me that job. I'm not interested in free tickets or any special treatment related to the GTMW, I just want to hand out the tickets and prevent line jumping.

 

I hate to say this but that was not the case at Steve's on University - we made a game out of counting people that showed up later compared to other people and magically had a spot in line ahead of those people. We stopped counting at 26... people will always line jump, just going to happen.

 

Remember that the checks will be sent back in multiple wave - the initial wave is to eliminate the people that attempt to send in multiple entries for the same address/name. When you see the check cashed in your account, that is when you know that you will get tickets.

 

So the one and only entry I sent in was returned was because I attempted multiples? Get out of here with this.

 

I've always figured the numbers don't show up at 5am for that exact reason. Wishful thinking they could start earlier. Oh well.

Ok. Not what I've experienced. I've always counted upon arrival and been 2-4 people off as to what number I might be. Maybe the larger groups further back grow. Who knows.

I'm just glad to have the opportunity to get in line for tickets. I'd rather have control over attending than hoping for the best on BPT or some other ticket site.

 

So if you didn't send in multiple entries and got you check back - you would have been part of the secondary wave of returns. The entire event is run by a beer group and no one is paid - therefore there isn't really going to be a set of standard rules to follow except... if you see the check cashed in your account, the tickets should be on their way.

At the end of the day - this event is getting to popular and changes need to be made. Since multiple days seem to be out of the question, it's just going to continue to get worse and worse until the price of the tickets increases to a point that people are not willing to pay it.

Over the last couple years here are the times that I showed up for tickets at Steve's on University...

2010 - 10 AM - Ticket numbers in the 200's
2011 - 10 AM - Ticket numbers in the high 200's
2012 - 9 AM - Ticket numbers in the 200's
2013 - 8 AM - Ticket numbers in the 200's
2014 - 7 AM - Ticket numbers in the 100's

And as much as I don't like admitting it - I know people that sent one individual with four chairs at 7 AM to hold place in line for everyone. The other's showed up much later and got tickets that should have went to people that actually waited.

 

In case you guys missed it, MHTG tweeted earlier today:

"Mail order tickets should start arriving in mailboxes on Friday. Thanks for your patience and don't forget to bring them with you in August!"​

Already drooling...

 

I'm still in limbo.

 

I just got my tickets in the mail today

 

Does anyone have 2-4 extra tickets to this event that they may not need or maybe cannot attend for one reason or another? I am somewhat new to the craft beer scene over the last 6 months and I would love to go to this event. Obviously willing to go above and beyond the face value of these tickets! PM me and we can figure out a price!