Sam's Club Tour?

[wbook01]

It's getting kind of late for posting the Sam's Club Tour dates, isn't it? They're usually posted at KCBS in early December. Are we losing the Tour?

 

[Bigwhipple]

According to this post, it doesn't look good:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3924154#post3923621

 

[wbook01]

Ah, I hadn't seen that. Thanks for the link.

An annual early spring contest in Kansas City, Smokin' on Big Creek at Pleasant Hill, usually held the last weekend in March/first weekend in April, hasn't posted at KCBS yet, either. I hope we're not losing that one. I think it's a fund-raiser for Operation BBQ Relief.

 

[Ron_L]

I wouldn’t count it out until there is an announcement. A couple of years ago they didn’t announce the tour until late January.

 

[midwest_kc]

Ah, I hadn't seen that. Thanks for the link.

An annual early spring contest in Kansas City, Smokin' on Big Creek at Pleasant Hill, usually held the last weekend in March/first weekend in April, hasn't posted at KCBS yet, either. I hope we're not losing that one. I think it's a fund-raiser for Operation BBQ Relief.

They posted on their FB page that they had filed the paperwork to move it up a week, to the last weekend in March. The Pleasant Hill Chamber wants to continue to do it, but Stan is too busy these days to run the comp. They will be transitioning to the City/Chamber running the event. Sounds like it will happen this year, just not the first weekend in April as it has been.

 

[nautique1228]

I emailed stan a couple of days ago, all I got back was "working on it"

I did like that contest a lot so I'm hoping for the best

 

[DoctorCueNC]

It may be because the first of April is Easter this year.

 

[backdraftbbq]

I heard possible announcement of dates for the 2018 National Pro BBQ tour in January.

 

[Untraceable]

Interesting. Speculation a few months ago about it not being sponsored by Sam’s.

Either way, I’d like to know sooner rather than later even though it doesn’t make much difference personally.

Now if they start giving teams @$500 worth of donated junk from sponsors instead of cash prizes ala WFC, you might as well sink it now.

 

[Slamdunkpro]

It's done:

Since 2011, the National BBQ Tour has been supported exclusively by Sam’s Club® as a Presenting Sponsor. Over the past 7 years, this popular tournament-style series has helped KCBS grow our visibility and reach in promoting BBQ across America. Through this partnership with Sam’s Club, we have awarded over $3.4 million in prize money in the 211 total combined competitions.
KCBS and Sam’s Club are currently evaluating the National Pro BBQ Tour and exploring ways to better serve our members. We are also considering options for making adjustments to tournament-style model.
We understand the importance of keeping you informed so that you can plan your schedules for your 2018 competition season. At this time, we do not anticipate hosting contests for the National Pro BBQ Tour during the 2018 season.
As we continue to grow our organization, we seek to build strong partnerships with supporting sponsors. We value the participation from Sam’s Club with the National Pro BBQ Tour and the many other ways they support our mission of promoting and enjoying barbeque worldwide.

 

[SCSmoke]

Figured it was done based on talk I heard at the finals( and giving out a bag of charcoal vs. yeti coolers the and much other nice stuff in years before).

Too bad it's dead. I for one really enjoyed the format and prize pool. Hopefully they can find another sponsor and bring it back next year.

 

[midwest_kc]

This, IMO, is the single biggest failing of KCBS in recent memory. I get that sometimes, sponsors fall off for whatever reason. They should have known and had a plan in place. This needs to be the moment that change happens in KCBS.

 

[cpw]

This, IMO, is the single biggest failing of KCBS in recent memory. I get that sometimes, sponsors fall off for whatever reason. They should have known and had a plan in place. This needs to be the moment that change happens in KCBS.

Get out and vote for new BOD people!

 

[midwest_kc]

Get out and vote for new BOD people!

already did before this was announced.

 

[Slamdunkpro]

Figured it was done based on talk I heard at the finals( and giving out a bag of charcoal vs. yeti coolers the and much other nice stuff in years before).

Too bad it's dead. I for one really enjoyed the format and prize pool. Hopefully they can find another sponsor and bring it back next year.

The problem was that Sam's was almost too quiet. There was no media associated with the tour stops, and the final was literally a private party for Sam's employees. Contrast that with the WFC where media and team profiles abounded.

At most of the Sam's events that I went to the employees in the warehouse didn't even know what was going on. There was no public interaction with the teams and while there were food demos and samples outside of Sam's, there was no information on the tour for the general public other than there's a special event that's blocking off a lot of our parking.

Competitive barbecue's biggest issue is self-promotion. It's second biggest problem is secrecy. In order to have a successful public tour the public has to have access. Imagine how different Sam's could've been if teams prepared some samples for the public on Friday afternoon and actually interacted with and promoted the sport to the general public. Take that one step further and have cameras inside the judges tent monitors on the back side away from the teams the general public could view. Take it one step further and the general public could view the judging while they were enjoying the samples provided by the Sam's purveyors. Now the general public has a reason to hang around and perhaps purchase some of those products that they see being used in our sampling.

The public likes celebrities, celebrities generate sponsorship money and sponsorship money drives contests. Barbecue needs to manufacture some celebrities for the public to root for

 

[gettinbasted]

The problem was that Sam's was almost too quiet. There was no media associated with the tour stops, and the final was literally a private party for Sam's employees. Contrast that with the WFC where media and team profiles abounded.

At most of the Sam's events that I went to the employees in the warehouse didn't even know what was going on. There was no public interaction with the teams and while there were food demos and samples outside of Sam's, there was no information on the tour for the general public other than there's a special event that's blocking off a lot of our parking.

Competitive barbecue's biggest issue is self-promotion. It's second biggest problem is secrecy. In order to have a successful public tour the public has to have access. Imagine how different Sam's could've been if teams prepared some samples for the public on Friday afternoon and actually interacted with and promoted the sport to the general public. Take that one step further and have cameras inside the judges tent monitors on the back side away from the teams the general public could view. Take it one step further and the general public could view the judging while they were enjoying the samples provided by the Sam's purveyors. Now the general public has a reason to hang around and perhaps purchase some of those products that they see being used in our sampling.

The public likes celebrities, celebrities generate sponsorship money and sponsorship money drives contests. Barbecue needs to manufacture some celebrities for the public to root for

Bingo.

I just cast a write in vote for you.

 

[djqualls]

The problem was that Sam's was almost too quiet. There was no media associated with the tour stops, and the final was literally a private party for Sam's employees. Contrast that with the WFC where media and team profiles abounded.

At most of the Sam's events that I went to the employees in the warehouse didn't even know what was going on. There was no public interaction with the teams and while there were food demos and samples outside of Sam's, there was no information on the tour for the general public other than there's a special event that's blocking off a lot of our parking.

Competitive barbecue's biggest issue is self-promotion. It's second biggest problem is secrecy. In order to have a successful public tour the public has to have access. Imagine how different Sam's could've been if teams prepared some samples for the public on Friday afternoon and actually interacted with and promoted the sport to the general public. Take that one step further and have cameras inside the judges tent monitors on the back side away from the teams the general public could view. Take it one step further and the general public could view the judging while they were enjoying the samples provided by the Sam's purveyors. Now the general public has a reason to hang around and perhaps purchase some of those products that they see being used in our sampling.

The public likes celebrities, celebrities generate sponsorship money and sponsorship money drives contests. Barbecue needs to manufacture some celebrities for the public to root for

100% Agree!

 

[bassandbeer]

The problem was that Sam's was almost too quiet. There was no media associated with the tour stops, and the final was literally a private party for Sam's employees. Contrast that with the WFC where media and team profiles abounded.

At most of the Sam's events that I went to the employees in the warehouse didn't even know what was going on. There was no public interaction with the teams and while there were food demos and samples outside of Sam's, there was no information on the tour for the general public other than there's a special event that's blocking off a lot of our parking.

Competitive barbecue's biggest issue is self-promotion. It's second biggest problem is secrecy. In order to have a successful public tour the public has to have access. Imagine how different Sam's could've been if teams prepared some samples for the public on Friday afternoon and actually interacted with and promoted the sport to the general public. Take that one step further and have cameras inside the judges tent monitors on the back side away from the teams the general public could view. Take it one step further and the general public could view the judging while they were enjoying the samples provided by the Sam's purveyors. Now the general public has a reason to hang around and perhaps purchase some of those products that they see being used in our sampling.

The public likes celebrities, celebrities generate sponsorship money and sponsorship money drives contests. Barbecue needs to manufacture some celebrities for the public to root for

If the pesky health department didn't have to be involved, that (sampling) could probably happen...

 

[Slamdunkpro]

If the pesky health department didn't have to be involved, that (sampling) could probably happen...

All Sam's have a snack bar so the teams could have operated under that license on the property the same way the sample carts did.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Thats ashame. I was really hoping to take another crack at it too. Got my arse handed to me but it was one heck of an awesome learning experience. Really did learn alot. Got alot of advice from a few different cooks. Its ashame that was the end of it.