Forums
18th Annual Re-Hash Bash
Newell Park, St Paul, MN
Sunday, February 1st, 2015
11:30-2:30
http://mn-stpaul.civicplus.com/facilities.aspx?page=detail&RID=76
| Attachment: | rhbnow.jpg |
Pre-Dig Gig, Rehash Bash and other Cooler events
A - Yarruso's will not shut down for us.
B - Just to make sure people have enough room to move around they are planning on setting up a heated tent (like a lot of bars do now).
C - It's $10 only if you don't have a button. If you have a cooler crew button it's $3 or a Carnival button (which most have anyway) is $6.
D - Wrist bands would be for drink specials. This is not new, at Obbs we had special drink prices, but instead of wristbands you had to order at the basement bar. It is meant to be a perk for being a Cooler Crew.
And lastly as for being a Winter Carnival event - the medallion hunt is a Carnival event. So if you want to have a party and have it open to the public then it should be a carnival event. If you don't want the carnival involved, then it would be a closed private party for the Cooler Crew.
I understand wanting to keep it as a "grassroots" group, but over the years the group has evolved and morphed into something bigger that has to be taken into consideration.
I'm also aware that many in the crew have relationships at Ma Press, but when it comes down to it - the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation has the last say in anything related to the Winter Carnival Medallion Hunt.
I know Yarusso's has been good to the Cooler Crew, and that is great.
But I've had a couple of bad meals there (one was lasagna, still frozen when it arrived at my table, which the server did not seem to think was any big deal, no apology).
When I have mentioned this to others, who up until that moment were raving about the food at Yarusso's, they act like someone has finally admitted that the Emporer has no clothes.
So, I am unlikely to want to pay a pre-determined fee for food I'm not going to eat, and smoking and/or being in a tent would be a deal-breaker for me, absolutely.
I appreciate the effort everyone is putting into this and the discussion here. Again, take my comments for what they are worth, as I may not be able to be in town for the PDG.
I'll go wherever the party is. And, I appreciate the hard work going into planning it. Personally, I don't need food. A big open space, with tables, chairs, music, booze, and all of you would be fine for me. I get that the problem is finding this inexpensively.
B - Just to make sure people have enough room to move around they are planning on setting up a heated tent (like a lot of bars do now).
is this where we're relgated to?
C - It's $10 only if you don't have a button. If you have a cooler crew button it's $3 or a Carnival button (which most have anyway) is $6.
in the interest of being a non-exclusive group, the fee shouldn't change based on whether you've got a button.
D - Wrist bands would be for drink specials. This is not new, at Obbs we had special drink prices, but instead of wristbands you had to order at the basement bar. It is meant to be a perk for being a Cooler Crew.
the wrist bands seem rather irrelevant, given that the drink specials we've gotten in the past are based on a cc button. just sayin' its probably a waste of funds to get them.
So if you want to have a party and have it open to the public then it should be a carnival event. If you don't want the carnival involved, then it would be a closed private party for the Cooler Crew.
you're missing the third option, the option that has been used for the last 12 pre-digs. a non-carnival, open to the public event. yes it has been "our party" in the sense that we've always organized it. however, we make it well known that it is open to the public, and i know several "members of the public" that have shown up at the event and become one of us simply because its not a closed private party. i understand your perspective, but we can't leave it as those are our only two options because in reality they're not.
but over the years the group has evolved and morphed into something bigger that has to be taken into consideration.
absolutely; at some point, probably sooner rather than later, we're spot on that backrooms and basements (or even entire restaurants) aren't going to be able to reasonably accomodate this party.
the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation has the last say in anything related to the Winter Carnival Medallion Hunt.
this is just me being a smart-ass, but it very much is inline with things i've said in the past about the event. what is this "winter carnival medallion hunt" and where can i sign up for its mailing list? because i can go to the pp's treasure hunt page (yup, the link from last year http://www.twincities.com/treasurehunt is still alive and well), where it clearly says "fury jeep presents pioneer press treasure hunt". taking my smart-ass hat off, the statement about the sphff having final say about the med hunt concerns me. should this become a wc event, will they expect to get the last say in the pre-dig too? that's never going to happen.
imho, there's enough space to handle the group inside, so its probably the latter, despite everyone at this "round table" knowing full well that this group is more lucrative than a typical saturday night :smile:
Do we have any way of counting attendance from past year's events? Park pool tickets wouldn't cover it; donations may be a lame guess at best.
My best guess is probably the number of Cooler Crew buttons taken would be close to 70% of the total bodies in-house that night, whatever that may have been.
My point is, size does matter (of the group, that is) :wink: . Whatever else gets decided about food, smokes, tunes is always secondary.
What CAN we all fit into?
a cruise ship :smile:
all the estimates we have from the past have all been approximate guesses by folks in attendance. over the course of the evening, we've figured a couple hundred people. buttons aren't really accurate since a lot of us grab a bunch to sell later on. one of these days we really need to have a mandatory sign-in sheet :smile:
I've done that all year for my geocaching Events. The well-attended ones have been surprisingly higher, than my "educated" guesses.
We had 262 at Crosby for a Let's Make S'Mores event Well, they were in town for something bigger, but ...
Sue, I called you a couple of times to get your input on this, I'd really appreciate your help if you have the time (although I know your schedule keeps you going.) I could use input from a pro like you.
As for the rest, I'd say the following:
1) The party is open to everyone. Nobody's excluded. All are welcome. New hunters especially.
2) The ten buck number is for the normal clientele. WC buttons = $6 Wouldn't it be nifty, say, if several cooler crew members who are tax collectors were available to sell buttons outside? Nah, let's not help them out. They'll be fine.
2) The money raised either goes to charity or to the staff.
3) Yarusso's will not close down for a private party. They have done so once in 86 years.
4) Yarusso's has a large staff working on Sat. nights. Those people need to get paid for working.
5) We've all been there, the ppl who will milk a water for three hours. We can't ask that for a party of 100+ for people who need tips to make rent. At least in this scenario some money changes hands and you get something.
6) I'm sure Yarusso's will be happy to charge full price for drinks, so fine, no drink specials. As a bartender, though, I can tell you that you don't have the time to ask people to show you a button to get a buck off a beer. At least with bracelets coolers get guaranteed drinks.
7) Let's keep things in perspective here. As much as openness and free things are part of the cooler and the originals, I'm pretty sure threats weren't part of the original group. It's innapropriate to talk about anyone rolling over in their grave when no plans have been set in stone, especially one who would have jumped at the idea of a three dollar all you can eat buffet.
:ooh: Very quietly, well, maybe not so quietly, a number of people ponied up for parts of last year's PDG to make it nicer for everybody else. I don't see the problem with spreading that equally so those people don't hit the well again.
:ooh: Instead of just crapping all over an idea, how about you try and be CONSTRUCTIVE? Offer a workable alternative. Here's the parameters of what needs to happen:
Space for Group of 100-300 people
Budget $0
Must serve alchohol
Must serve food
Open until at least bar closing, if not later (because it's not just a party for you.)
IF you pick a restaurant, you'll have to make sure that the wait staff will get tipped, otherwise the owner won't take a 2nd look.
IF you pick a hall, someone's got to bring in food or make it there. Plus they may or may not have a liquor license.
If someone wants to constructively HELP with ideas or suggestions or time, please contact me. Otherwise I'm not going to pay attention to a lot of huffing and puffing because there's just no way to make 100% of the group happy so I'm not going to bother to try. If you've got a better idea, or want me to back off, by all means say so now.
I'll be at Governors, Cherry (s)Pit, the Sherwood Lounge or someplace else on the Eastside...
We managed to find someone way in advance to babysit, so we intend on getting a few drinks, and having the first night out together that we've had in a while.
however, paying a cover charge was not and will not be in our plans. even if the joint has good italian food.
have fun!
That said, only one question from me: Is the tent for overflow only or are they planning on having the whole group there?
secondly, and this is probably a bigger issue, is that the $150 loss that the organizers took on the apps should be a sign about the wishes of the attendees. i know tc and i weren't the only ones who paid more and ordered off of the regular menu that night; our server brought down plenty of food orders. that shows that even with a "cheap" option, people are willing to pay more for a choice, not necessarily all people, but enough to make a not so insignificant financial impact.
like you, i'm not trying to shoot you down, but i think that the past experiences we've had with this sort of thing need to be taken into account so we can analyze the situation to its logical conclusion. lam had a great point about the appearance of the group when charging ourselves less than we're charging outsiders. if we're going to be charging, everyone ought to be paying the same price. what that price is, i have no clue, but given the flack we've taken about being exclusive, the current proposal for charging does nothing to help that image.
given all of this, since the purpose of the charge is to ensure that people don't come in, sit around for hours, and not buy anything, perhaps the solution is to, rather than have a free buffet to paid guests, give non-refundable credits towards your bill for the evening. if people want to put it against drinks? woot. wanna put it against the buffet? go ahead. menu? perfect. the end result ends up being the same. given the drinking capacity of this group, i'm not sure whether that financial aspect of it is even an issue that needs to be discussed
I've planned two high school reunions for 50 to 75 people in a small rural town, and there is literally no way on earth you can cover any meal event for less than $15 a head. You're going to have to think bigger if you want to go bigger - this is no longer a single smoky room in McGovern's anymore. Booze, bartenders, entertainment - getting a free ride on a lot of that stuff just doesn't exist anymore - so plan accordingly.
Frankly, I don't see any reason to have different rates for ANY cover - people who want Cooler Crew buttons will buy them. Please who want to attend the party pay $8 at the door regardless - or $10 - or whatever it costs to break even. No bias, no specials - you go all in or you don't go.
Is that official?
JOE
Yarusso's is my vote. Annette is always trying to help us out. Thanks for working on that RB.
Just a brainstorm: maybe make it 10 dollars across the board, and give people a choice of buffet or 2 drink tickets? Might make things simpler and that way you get both crowds.
I take it nobody liked the CC button fundraiser I put out there since nobody has commented on it for future events?
-- All of this is too late for this year, but if you want to see the Crew grow, you're gonna need to see more dough.
All that said, can someone tell me about smoking and the tent? Will smoking be allowed?
A few questions: If Yarusso's isn't going to shut down and are expecting to have regular dinner crowds inside, aren't they going to get crabby with us for taking up lots of seats and just drinking and talking? Aren't they expecting to do their regular Saturday night business? Do they expect we'll be in the tent? Will the buffet be setup in the tent?
Thanks to everyone who is organizing this.
now, i propose that we dispense with the bull, and just have you answer the questions that have been posed. you've been in contact with yarusso's. we have questions. you presumably have answers. if you don't have them that's fine. just say so. but to sidestep the legitimate questions that have been posed by a great number of people in this group, and that have a very common theme, for the sake of "no one else having another viable option" is akin to you standing on your soap box and throwing a temper tantrum.
or are you going to leave this like last year where there were a lot of questions that were asked, and the people who had those answers (or should have had those answers) just didn't want to answer them for fear of uproar from the group?
I'm going to eat dinner at home that night, like I do almost every year (I'm thinking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or hotdogs, or possibly Lucky Charms - it is a medallion hunt, you know), and i'm not going to worry about a tent, or paying any fees for entry, because i'll be at a different bar on said night.
who needs to be a v.i.p, when you're already this sexy?
If I need to smoke (I'm not a smoker, but you never know), then I'll go outside, and then go back in when i'm finished (or possibly chain smoke 3-5 more cigarettes, just for fun).