MashOccur Minutes
-----------------

Sarah Maxwell

The St. Valentine's MashOccur is a done deal and the results are in --
the Grainful Heads Rule! Thanks to all who participated by entering their
hand-crafted lovingly made beers or by volunteering their time and expertise
in judging or stewarding. A special thanks to those of you who brought food!
Your efforts were greatly appreciated by all. Okay, now for a brief analysis
of the event:

GO PRO

--Good turn out (over 100 entries.  Wow.)
--Lots of brewers (both new hobbyists and old timers) entered a competition
  for the first time.
--Good Food!
--Great Venue! Thank you, Peter.  Home Brewers love 2nd Street.
--People who had never judged or stewarded before tried it out.
--Popular Vote Categories and The Name Game.
--The Prizes.
--Ales & Lagers were served at appropriate temperatures.
--It was FUN.
--The Grainful Heads Won! 

IT'S A CON GAME

--As advertised--event lacked organization.
--Lack of clarity on how beers would be judged (AHA sub cats. or what?)
--Not enough experienced judges, too many novices.
--People who came to enjoy the party got lost in the shuffle.
--Not enough entries from the Atom Mashers or the DOAs.
--The Prizes.
--Not enough judges.
--Weird groupings of beer styles on some panels.
--Stews and newbie judges were not given enough guidance.
--Judging panels did not have a representative from each club
--Event date changed twice

As you can see, there is a lot of room for improvement. I hope I have
duly noted all of the feed back I received. (Let me know if you have other
concerns).  I greatly appreciate comments and volunteers who will help us
do a better job should we attempt a 2nd MashOccur.

My first draft of this article addressed some of the Cons, but actions speak
louder than words...so I think I'd rather just close by saying --if the
GHs are stupid enough to try anything like this again, we will make every
effort to address  these problems.  I can't resist one comment, though--
Mike Hall gave me grief about the prizes--specifically the lack of medallions
or award certificates. Mike, I still think American Greenbacks are suitable
for framing!