I often get asked if I am worried I won’t be invited things or asked to do things because I am honest in my reporting of them…
The truth is since I started my blog in 2012 I have always written on the truth as I see it. Each post with a constructive and critical lens based on my educational and experiential background in hosting events and running businesses. And I will continue to do so as it is my passion and what I enjoy.
My thought is they won’t invite me unless they know their product or service is amazing and share-worthy. Plus it weeds out not so great opportunities from my inbox.
Therefore it is no different at this weekend’s Vancity Foodtruck Fight hosted by Pawty Events.
This will be a two parter. The first a honest recap and post mortem of the event overall. The second about the food that I tried, as to not dilute the contribution of each foodtruck that participated.
This past weekend was the inaugural launch of Vancity Food Fight and I was not only invited to attend, but to be one of the 5 judges and host of the hot dog eating competition as well. This was set up as a battle between the foodtrucks who signed up to participate in the day’s event.
Hosted by Pawty, the event planned to raise funds for the not-for-profit Pawsitive Futures program. Approximately 5% of every purchase was planned to directly support this program “that uplifts at-risk youth through meaningful connections with animals in need”. (As per the press deck).
As judges we were asked to arrive at 10:30am for a judges meeting, 30 minutes before the advertised start at 11am, so were able to watch the set up and all of the logistical difficulties faced.
Held at the gravel field of Mount Pleasant Elementary, this event was free to attend. There were over 20 food trucks gathered and set up around the perimeter. Apparently 5 withdrew due to the weather, with gentle rain and no covered seating planned. Luckily the weather cooperated, no rain, but plenty of clouds.
As I always do, and will continue to do, I will be reporting on this event honestly with considerations for both sides. Facts intermingled with my own thoughts and opinions, based on my education and background in business.
From what I gathered there was only one person in charge to direct the set up and organization of the entire 8 hour event (11-7pm). Therefore everyone came to him for instruction, and he was pulled in all directions trying to accommodate, but leaving a lot not done. This included the aforementioned judge’s debrief, so we were left sitting around, waiting. I had nothing else planned for the day, but for other guest judges this may have taken away from their personal weekend.
Celebrity Chef Vikram Vij has just launched his newest cookbook with his partner and was set to advertise its release. Top Chef 2024 winner Chanthy Yen came from work and revealed he was going back to it after he was finished here. He is currently running 15 restaurants, and is own 16th Cambodian one to come in December-January. TV Chef and personality Duran Bodasing brought his own banner and entourage that he kept entertained. And Charlene of @ChefsKissVancouver was a busy woman running her own agency. Then there was our gracious emcee host, Maysa of @Vancouvers_FoodBelly who had to keep on top of the action happening on stage and wrangling all of us, in between rehearsing her lines. It may be worth mentioning that none of us were paid for our time, I myself spending 6 hours plus on location, which included the additional hosting work.
Speaking with some of the vendors they were unclear about the competition component and many of them couldn’t hear any of the announcements or direction from the main stage, at one end. The audio didn’t travel down the length of the field. Not to mention, there was no continuous stream of communication between the vendors who paid to be apart or this event, and organizer who were to rely their role to play in it.
From the size of the allocated space it appears that they expected a much larger turn out. However it didn’t seem like there was enough marketing surrounding the event beforehand. There was no out reach to the neighbourhood. No signs or arrows pointing to the direction of the event on the day, which was especially necessary given the hidden location. Not being visible from any major street, meant no walk-in traffic. Although this was a free event, there was no one greeting guests and giving them the lay of the land. No one to explain what was happening and that this was all for a charitable reason. From the outside looking in, it appeared that this was a private event, closed to the public.
Some sort of Facebook group or a free to register Eventbrite page would have helped to track potential guests and anticipate the day accordingly. Plus offer reminders to attend. Showrunners also didn’t get many confirmed competitors for the hot dog and chicken wing eating competitions, which left organizers soliciting the crowd that was already there.
It appears that advertisement was left to the week coming to, and the expectation that the guest judges and host would utilize their own platforms to invite attendees. Personally, my Instagram is from the perspective of reporting, I never recommend anything I have not tried or experienced. Otherwise how can I speak to it? – like with this event/example. I did however post some stories of my participation. I know some of the other judges did do some pre-event advertising on their feeds.
Similarly, as judges we told we could bring friends down to enjoy the day with us. Up to 6 people to a table. I had a few come by at various times. And just like how it appeared that all advertisements were let to the judges and our platforms, the media invites were felt for us as well. Therefore the second “pressure cooker round” proved unsuccessful. The intended concept was that media and influencer guests were to swarm the competing trucks causing additional business and traffic so that when the judges came to order, we would be testing their metal. No other media, food writers, or influencers attended, that I could tell. A marketing team or agency could have helped with this, and in getting awareness out to the public. Thus there was no additional traffic. The day peaked at the start of the event and never gained momentum. As a result lines remained non-existent and there was no “pressure” throughout the event.
When it came time to judge the others spoke to this element and broke down the scores, I kept it at broad strokes speaking to just what I liked.
As a judge my frustration was the lack of organization. Despite being asked to arrive earlier, there was debrief and no formal direction. When it came time to assign trucks for each of us to judge, there was no written sheet, just pointing to whom would try what. I was told to place my order and wait for it to be brought to me. I did, however the trucks themselves did not know who the judges were, and my order were not made. They did not get a face or fact sheet. I had to eventually go back and get everything, explaining everything myself, which left me having to scramble and judge with one bite a piece, at the judges table, on stage.
Then there were no judging sheets or metrics, no papers or pens to take down notes. There was a zoom call weeks before and a follow up phone chat the day before, but I expected more for what sounded like a seasoned and professional competition. I have done plenty of judging spots and never was there not a score card. Once again, the responsibility laid on the judges to bring our own note book, explain who we were and what we needed to each truck. Then to bring it all to the stage, to sit in front of microphones eating it all.
It was all so rushed and I felt very flustered. Not an enjoyable experience as a lover of food. Thankfully the food was amazing. It was absolutely the best part of the event. However, as I eluded to earlier, with all this space and not enough customer for all the trucks, it felt sparse and less inviting.
On the first round each of the 5 judges were assigned 4 trucks to try. We would then choose 2 to advance to the next round, live on stage. The 2nd round had us swapping the 2 we advanced with someone else’s 2, and repeating the process (with the above mentioned “pressure cooker” element). This before selecting a single 1 to head to the finals. Organizers did not keep track of which trucks were assigned to whom, so I ended up going to trucks that had already given out their food to another judge. I went back to said organizer and thankfully his second guess was correct, and I eventually got food from where I needed too. Although as a result, I was once again left scrambling, running to stage. The worst part is I almost tripped on stage, while holding the dish I had to, and had yet to try.
I had mentioned the tripping hazards of all the microphone cables several times, announcing that this was a danger and that I did not want anyone to get hurt. They did nothing about it and it was ironic that I was the one who almost got hurt.
Worst of all, not that all the microphones were necessary. There was no sound testing before, so the host’s mic kept getting feedback from the 5 others plugged in. When one of us asked and offered a solution, to turn it off until it was time to speak, no one answered. In the end, our host Maysa took charge and asked the DJ to turn off all the other microphones, saying that she will just travel to each judge and share her mike with us when it was time to speak. I was happy to have someone take charge.
In short, safety should be a concern at such a public function. Regular practice is to tape the cords down. Something that should have been done. Luckily the mics were removed before the eating competition as to not trip up any of the contestants coming on stage.
Some housekeeping issues were the lack of garbage cans, attendees had to give refuse back to the trucks. Conveniently placed garbage cans and staff to sweep up and pick up after guests for hygiene is necessary for an outdoor food function. Similarly, a couple of hand washing stations would have been a nice courtesy.
Wins were the luxury washrooms with running water, but placed side by side on one side of the field, it would have been nice to have units spread out for easier access. In hindsight, thankfully, they were not too many guests in attendance, as two stalls for each gender didn’t seem like enough and line ups would have been atrocious.
This was advertised as a pet-friendly event and guests did bring their dogs, but there was nothing for them. According to organizers foodtrucks were suggested to make an animal friendly dish that people could purchase, but this did not happen. There were no signs of the event let alone ones welcoming dogs. No dog bowls or dog specific activations. This was a real miss considering the charitable organization the event was aligning themselves with. It would have been nice to once again have an entrance greeter passing out a map of the event and biscuits for each four legged visitor.
There is also a VIP option that wasn’t well advertised. Here, for the purchase price of tickets, you would be able to sit under a covered tent with access to drinks. I am not quite sure of the pricing or if you get any tickets for drink for free as there was no signage or staff assigned to this area.
In between the judging sets there was a DJ performing. She played techno and dance music, which did not really fit the overall feeling of the day. Given the assembly of families and folks of all ages, karaoke songs are always advised. Music that people can and would want to sing and dance to. Songs that people know and spur on fun memories.
They could have hired a live band and/or invited local youths to come preform. Both of which would have helped to rally the community, the charity, and the crowd.
The event was themed as a wresting-style fight off, with the prize for the winning trucking being a championship belt. The winner would then be able to hold of to said Food Truck Fight Championship belt for the entire year, until the following one, where they were to defend their title. Organizers could have leaned into this theme more. Set the stage up to look more like a boxing ring, with bells to sound the start and end of each round (this would have also been helpful for the trucks who could not hear all the way at the other end of the field). There could have been girls walking up and down the stage with score cards, and the judges dressed as referees. All of which would have added more fun and excitement, amping up the energy and participation. And once again, the genre of music did not help.
Despite all the above, it was still a good experience for me. I like judging, sharing my opinion on food that I love, and I hope to do more hosting in the future. However, what sounded like a fun day for me, ended up being a struggle for the participating foodtrucks. Many of them did not make any sales, let alone make back the fee they paid to be a part of this. Which is a lot for a small business to handle. Especially on a Saturday, which is one of the busiest foodtruck sales day, when they can be parked anywhere, making more.
Once again, I want to emphasize that is is the first time for this event, despite Pawty Events hosting 7 other events throughout the year. When looking to launch, start, and endeavour on something new there is a great deal of effort needed to advertise and secure attendees. So despite the noble cause and the well intentions, the truth is the event could have been better organized and better orchestrated. The only thing they can do now is to repair the relationships with the trucks that did attend, coming to an agreement on how they can be compensated for their time and the non-delivery of promised expectations. Then to humbly ask for and listen to the feedback on how to improve. If and should they decide to endeavour on this feat again. This needs to be taken as a learning opportunity and organizers can only go up from here.
There is a great idea behind this, and I wish there was more emphasis placed on the participation of and the catering to of animals. That would have set them apart from other similar food truck competitions.
As to not take away from the food I tried and enjoyed, I will be reviewing all that in its own post, to pay proper respects to those small businesses and Chefs, who truly did an amazing job and brought their best to this day.
Stay tuned for part two.
