Not going to the Oregon BrewFest after all…

Well you didn’t miss much. Below was the response from the Director of Brew Fest regarding a complaint that I had made. Not a very directorly response…

Art,

Your response was rude, offensive and unprofessional. I was simply trying to offer some constructive criticism for an event that I care about very much (as if taking the time to email wasn’t enough proof). I am not even going to bother responding to your accusations, but have forwarded this message on to friends and am considering passing it off to the local press. I think it speaks well for itself.

As director, you should be interested in the concerns of all event participants. I now see the reason for the dramatic decline in this onetime great event.

Matt

>From: "Art Larrance"
>To: "matt harding"
>Subject: Re: Weekend Brewfest
>Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 17:20:10 -0700
>
>You won’t see the measssured pours go away….get used to it…this change was institued to control the over pouring problem that we’ve had from the start….you can speed up the process by understanding the program and not bitching to the server….
>I won’t comment on some of your other points….
>This concept controled the amount of excessive drinking for those that wanted to sample many beers…
>Get this "profit" stuff out of your head….
>Art
> —– Original Message —–
> From: matt harding
> To: art@oregonbrewfest.com
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 11:43 AM
> Subject: Weekend Brewfest
>
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> If you are not the correct person to contact regarding a complaint, please pass this message along to the appropriate place.
>
> The summer Brewfest is my favorite weekend of the year and I feel that it has been losing it’s luster of late. That culminated last weekend with the instituting of the measured taster pour.
>
> As an avid homebrewer, I hold beermaking in a high regard. I arrived Saturday right at opening so as to avoid long lines and actually taste the many different varieties of beer. I was shocked to find the volunteers using measured pours! Not only does it slow the process down considerably, it disrespects all the wonderful people that are volunteering their time for the love of the event. In years past, I’ve received some pours a little over the line and a little under, but it all comes out in the wash. When did the event gather such a profit-minded mentality that it resorted to something so inane? It was really a downer and EVERY VOLUNTEER that I talked to agreed with me. I also ended up getting bad pours with big heads and beer that spilled down the side of the mug.
>
> I hope you reconsider this in the coming years. With growing popularity, this unnecessary step slows down the process even more and creates even longer wait lines. I actually left early because of the lines – people are less likely to get a 1 oz. taste when waiting over 5 min. Please remove this rule for future events and let the volunteers do the job.
>
> Thanks for your consideration,
>
> Matt Harding (Local Homebrewer)
>
>
>

2 comments

Ghost Dog says:

July 27, 2005 at 10:06 am

I’m going to do my damndest to go, and will probably blog about it. Won’t be comprehensive, though, since I lean towards darker beer…
Matt says:

August 5, 2005 at 2:29 pm

Well you didn’t miss much. Below was the response from the Director of Brew Fest regarding a complaint that I had made. Not a very directorly response…

Art,

Your response was rude, offensive and unprofessional. I was simply trying to offer some constructive criticism for an event that I care about very much (as if taking the time to email wasn’t enough proof). I am not even going to bother responding to your accusations, but have forwarded this message on to friends and am considering passing it off to the local press. I think it speaks well for itself.

As director, you should be interested in the concerns of all event participants. I now see the reason for the dramatic decline in this onetime great event.

Matt

>From: "Art Larrance"
>To: "matt harding"
>Subject: Re: Weekend Brewfest
>Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2005 17:20:10 -0700
>
>You won’t see the measssured pours go away….get used to it…this change was institued to control the over pouring problem that we’ve had from the start….you can speed up the process by understanding the program and not bitching to the server….
>I won’t comment on some of your other points….
>This concept controled the amount of excessive drinking for those that wanted to sample many beers…
>Get this "profit" stuff out of your head….
>Art
> —– Original Message —–
> From: matt harding
> To: art@oregonbrewfest.com
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 11:43 AM
> Subject: Weekend Brewfest
>
>
> Dear Sir,
>
> If you are not the correct person to contact regarding a complaint, please pass this message along to the appropriate place.
>
> The summer Brewfest is my favorite weekend of the year and I feel that it has been losing it’s luster of late. That culminated last weekend with the instituting of the measured taster pour.
>
> As an avid homebrewer, I hold beermaking in a high regard. I arrived Saturday right at opening so as to avoid long lines and actually taste the many different varieties of beer. I was shocked to find the volunteers using measured pours! Not only does it slow the process down considerably, it disrespects all the wonderful people that are volunteering their time for the love of the event. In years past, I’ve received some pours a little over the line and a little under, but it all comes out in the wash. When did the event gather such a profit-minded mentality that it resorted to something so inane? It was really a downer and EVERY VOLUNTEER that I talked to agreed with me. I also ended up getting bad pours with big heads and beer that spilled down the side of the mug.
>
> I hope you reconsider this in the coming years. With growing popularity, this unnecessary step slows down the process even more and creates even longer wait lines. I actually left early because of the lines – people are less likely to get a 1 oz. taste when waiting over 5 min. Please remove this rule for future events and let the volunteers do the job.
>
> Thanks for your consideration,
>
> Matt Harding (Local Homebrewer)
>
>
>

Comments are closed.