the event was great. the only thing that was kind of annoying was not being able to drink away from the canopy area.

 

Yeah. That was quite honestly news to us.

The parking lot I can understand but I would think that the park/grass would be all good. That's something we'll be talking with them about. It seems like if you're in your tent on the grass or sitting in a chair or whatever, it shouldn't matter.

We were told that it couldn't be in the parking lot but everywhere else was o.k. But I guess there are signs saying pavilions only. I'm not really sure what our permit pays for. It's a question I will be sure to bring up.

 

That was really my only complaint. My tent couldn't have been more than 20 ft away from the pavilion, yet apparently that still wasn't good enough. I also didn't appreciate the officer TELLING me that I had been warned multiple times, yet that was the first I heard of it, or his general rudeness and condescending tone. No biggie though, I just brushed it off, sat in my chair, and took my sweet a$$ time finishing off my beer.

 

it was a good bam


only thing already mentioned before bam was keeping those paypal email addresses and last names private instead of posting publicly. We don't want that trust bond broken since certain information is considered private to people, not public (the email addys are financial website login) I personally don't think that info should spread beyond the "one" person in charge of the paypal account to protect leakage.

can't wait till next year

 

Food trucks would have to give 20% of their sales to the park.

I'm not sure we could get one to do it. They also have to be Alameda County Food Service something or another permitted.

 

And if I'm not mistaken they have to pay a $35 day of permit.

And we have to be able to guarantee that no one outside of the event eats from the trucks. That means they have to watch for wrist bands.

So you're eating in to their sales margins and it's a hassle. They'd have to be wanting to do it for charity. And then there's the flake aspect of it.

If anything I'd have it catered by someone I personally knew to be dependable. But then again... that was tried and look how that went.

I think this year showed that it can be done efficiently and the food is still good. It's not gourmet back yard bbq but it's good. And we do offer up grill space after the bulk of the serving is done if someone wants something different and brings it. We could do the fancier stuff but it would drive costs on food up by double and raise the difficulty of being timely. We've done ribs, chicken and things like that. Want to know what happened on those year? I got a hamburger with no bun because all the ribs were gone, the chicken that was done was gone and there were no buns, no ketchup, etc.


I think all and all the food went killer this year. Best year I can remember in the 10 events I've been to.

Besides... cookies.

 

I thought it went great, aside from the previously mentioned alcohol thing. I wasn't able to stay for the raffle so I can't comment on that.

Thanks to everyone who worked countless hours and volunteered to make it such a good time.

 

Same vendor permit we did. $75 or 20% of sales, whichever is greater.

They cut us to 10% as if we were 501c, just to be nicer about it, but they won't for a food truck.

 

ah werd.

 

I was going to post this, but I'm glad it has already been addressed. Logistically speaking, we can't all be expected to crowd under the pavilion since that would jam up the raffle and food preparation. If they are going to be **** about the alcohol consumption, they need to at least provide a feasible alternative to crowding a small area.

On a separate note.. I know there is a TON of work that goes into feeding everyone. I, for one, don't get why that should be your responsibility as the event coodrinator. Don't get me wrong, people need food throughout the day, but relying on an automotive event to provide food seems unnecessary. I'd rather see that time / money go into something else... what exactly, I don't know.

That being said, you guys did an amazing job on improving the efficiency of the bbq. There is nothing wrong with the operation, I just wanted to share my view.

Thanks again for all your hard work.

 

Last year I don't think there were any issues with the drinking on the grass...this year they were way stricter

 

There were not.

My guess is that someone caught the local PD's attention so they figured they'd come in and see what they could do. I don't recall a police visit last year.



As for the food. Yes, it's a car event. But what makes BAM different than all the other "car shows" is that it's a BBQ. It started out as 15 friends getting together for a BBQ. That vibe and that desire for friends to get together, bbq and hang out has been the driving force for 14 years now. As we've grown we've added things like the car show, vendors and raffle and turned it in to an event. But the BBQ/hang out/family friendly vibe is still the driving force that makes BAM BAM.

Over the years we had a couple years push in to the "car show" deal. Where it was more about the event and the car show than anything else. Those year just lost that great vibe that everyone loved.

That's why 3 years ago so many people wanted to take it "old school" and we took it back to Mt. Hammy. Drive. Friends. BBQ.

Then we bumped up the charity side of the event so we can really make a positive impact on our communities and families in need.



So that in a nut shell was the vision that I tried to grab a hold of and push in to the event. Not the easiest thing to do with 400 people.

Do we have to provide food? No. But by doing so it means that people can show up and chill. They don't have to worry about anything. They don't have to bring food, they don't have to go get food, they don't have to split early. Etc. Means the time constraints are gone and people can just have a good time. We've managed to make it a part of the budget and not a drain on the event so I think it'll be staying. We may add things over the years but I think the core of it will probably stay the same.

 

It was my and my husband's first time going this year and we had a blast! You guys/girls did an amazing job. We hope to volunteer next year and join the car show. Also I work for subaru dealership and I hope to get them to donate or even come as vendor. Also I can see if subaru of America can donate some stuff.
One thing that be cool to add is a white board and write the raffle ticket number on them as well as calling them out. Over all we had an amazing time.

 

Yeah. The white board is great input. We had a schedule last year but I don't have access to that stuff anymore. But we'll get something. Maybe I'll build a huge chalk board. LOL!

 

It wasn't local PD though. It was regional parks PD. Funny thing is, coming back from the Safeway, we asked if everything was ok cause we saw him with the Rangers and they told us he just dropped by for a visit and everything is fine. We had other ideas and had a feeling it was something to do about alcohol.

For the most part, if the bottles stay hidden and people use like solo cups or something, then it would not be noticed. I was pretty annoyed when the officer said that they were warned several times when I knew it not to be fact. I was happy that he wasn't a complete dick and accepted my explanation of the situation to avoid any tickets being issued over the miscommunication. I believe the closer to the pavilions that the tents are, the less likely to get in trouble for drinking. But being close to the parking lot, near the sidewalk is asking for trouble.