Last night while hanging out at the Flying Saucer after work, I got to enjoy one of the unheralded benefits of being on a Memphis in May BBQ Fest team: Discussing BBQ Fest with a member of one of the other local teams. We talked about how our teams operate, how we handle things like booth construction, sponsorship, the bar, the front gate, membership, all that good stuff. As he was telling me how his team operates, I started to have ideas that broke down into three categories:
1) “Wow, this is something we do much better than other teams, and I took it for granted until I thought about how other teams do it.”
2) “This is something I thought we were doing wrong, but other teams are doing it the same way successfully, so maybe it isn’t the problem I thought it was.”
3) “This is something other teams do much better than mine.”
If you’re on a BBQ team, it’s really helpful to have these conversations with members of other teams, especially if both you and they have been through several BBQ Fests. Great opportunity to listen and learn.
Back with yet another update about the post-Reindeer Games pub crawl Saturday night. Someone asked what the drink specials would be. If you’re wearing a wristband ($5, which goes toward a 5th grade class trip to DC) you get $2 domestics, $3 Fireball shots, and $5 specialty drinks at participating bars Local, Blind Bear, Green Beetle, and Double J. It’s being rumored that Double J wants to finish with a bang and their specialty drink may or not be a Jager Bomb. 
Holiday Inn is the movie that will be shown on the big screen at the Majestic Grille’s Sunday Supper and a Movie. Special menu will be available for $26.95 and will be served starting at 6:30. Special menu this week will be warm greens with benton bacon, barbequed walnuts, Gorgonzola, and a balsamic reduction; braised heritage pork leg with roasted apples and onions; roasted carrots, parsnips, and potatoes; and warm apple cake with vanilla whipped cream. They’ll have their regular menu too. Movie starts at 7. Reservations are recommended. Call 901-522-8555 to make them.
Good day at work and now it’s time to hit the bars.