Summer Gathering?

Reads 3573 • Replies 60 • Started Wednesday, February 12, 2014 10:38:39 AM CT

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Prufrockstar
beers 2132 º places 83 º 10:38 Wed 2/12/2014

Is there any interest in putting together a proposal for a RB summer gathering somewhere here in the Pacific NW (say, Seattle or Portland)? It seems we have enough RBians out here to make a go of it, and there’s definitely plenty of beer destinations to offer.

I’ve never been to one of these, and have no idea how involved it is to put together a proposal / pull one of these off -- I gather it’s a lot of work, but I also gather that these gatherings are a lot of fun. What do you think?

 
after4ever
admin
beers 8025 º places 322 º 13:13 Wed 2/12/2014

We tried to put one together for I think 08. We fell down on finding a big room where dozens of people could bring in their own bottles and have that be near a big hotel with reasonable prices where lots of people could stay.

Other than that, though, all the activities just seemed like nothing but fun the whole way. We were talking about getting a Duck or some other tour boat to take people from a Lake Union Marriott over to Brouwer’s, and a bunch of other similar tour stuff that was really well-received. I called a bunch of active RBians back east and midwest, and they all said it sounded like a must-do, even if we didn’t win the vote our first year.

If we can nail the lodging and grand tasting, it would be SO COOL to show off Seattle. My gut says we could get the industry involved pretty quickly if we can nail the RB side of it.

 
Prufrockstar
beers 2132 º places 83 º 09:16 Thu 2/13/2014

Even though I can’t think of any places off hand, it seems like we ought to be able to get the grand tasting together without too much trouble. It may require us to get an alcohol permit for the night, but I gather that isn’t difficult based on the many functions I’ve attended on campus or in parks around town.

I think it’s worth exploring this further. I can put some significant time into this, but I’ve also never organized so much as a closet, so this would definitely need to be a team effort if it’s to stand a chance.

 
douglas88
admin
beers 13175 º places 398 º 09:42 Thu 2/13/2014

Yes! What about Bend, Oregon? Awesome place, reasonably priced. I was thinking this as well. I’m not sure I can commit a ton of time to it, but it would be cool. I’d support Seattle as well. St. Louis sucks!

 
after4ever
admin
beers 8025 º places 322 º 10:21 Thu 2/13/2014

I think an OR crew should organize Bend, but I’m already thinking of a dedicated beer road trip there this year, so you know a good Bend proposal would have my vote.

I can help a Seattle crew with a proposal. Last time we had Rick from Uber help us with ideas, and he helped a lot with the venue hunt. We should get somebody like him with industry knowledge on the team.

Planning this should probably involve a few beers one night in the next couple weeks, which is generally a desirable pastime for me anyway.

This Saturday just got free.

 
after4ever
admin
beers 8025 º places 322 º 10:22 Thu 2/13/2014

And I do think we should give this another shot. The venue issue is worth calling out because it was sticky last time, so that’s where we should invest the most thinking and legwork up front IMO. Not that it’s an immovable roadblock.

 
Sarlacc83
beers 2662 º places 111 º 11:13 Thu 2/13/2014

I would be pretty glad to help, so I’ll lay down a couple thoughts:

1) Bend’s a great option in summer because it’s down season for them and it’s very walkable - requiring a car for only a few places. However, the only place big enough to host a grand tasting would be the new Deschutes addition, so we’d probably have to rent a convention hall. There’s also a matter of getting people to Central Oregon.

2) Portland would also work well because of the vast amount of public transportation, and there are a couple places that could probably handle 100-200 people, but we’d probably have to rent out the place for the entire, making a hotel conference just about as reasonable - since I don’t think there’s a Ratebeerian brewmaster from the area on here.

 
after4ever
admin
beers 8025 º places 322 º 12:13 Thu 2/13/2014

Would it affect people’s votes that Portland has already hosted an RBSG? Hair of the Dog even did a special beer for it. Lots of new RBians since that time (maybe a majority of voters don’t even know this happened), but something to consider.

I’d love to see proposals for all three cities, but I can only really work on Seattle. I don’t know enough about the OR cities.

 
douglas88
admin
beers 13175 º places 398 º 12:17 Thu 2/13/2014

Seattle certainly has the goods to win. I think a joint Portland and Bend gathering would be epic, but in all honesty I don’t want to be the point man for that (at least alone). It is a lot of work. But man, Seattle or Oregon would be way better than St Louis in the Summer!

 
after4ever
admin
beers 8025 º places 322 º 12:23 Thu 2/13/2014

I think people seeing the NW in August would be pretty blown away by what this place is like when the rain pauses.

 
douglas88
admin
beers 13175 º places 398 º 12:25 Thu 2/13/2014

Originally posted by after4ever
I think people seeing the NW in August would be pretty blown away by what this place is like when the rain pauses.


Yup. Hot and dry! But not humid and sticky like Missouri.