Volo Cask Days

lister · Post by **lister** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:08 pm

It was amazing to see people lined up so early. We got there at ten minutes to open and the line was from the door, around the corner, past the patio and in front of the next door stores. What time did the front of the line people get there?! Anyways, I managed to finally get in and get four tickets to the Saturday evening session.

The London Pride on cask was nice.

tuqueboy · Post by **tuqueboy** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:10 pm

Torontoblue wrote:
tuqueboy wrote: some people couldn't actually make it because of jobs and family stuff. you know, the other things in life besides beer
Are we really that busy that we can't take 2 hours out of our lives to get something we desire to go to? Don't bitch if you are (and that's the Greater You, not you personally)

the greater me? but i'm already the greatest. but seriously, though. there are some people who happen to work sundays. and no, it wouldn't be possible to get out of a shift. and yes, they may happen to still really be interested in going. personally, i think anyone who bought ``extra'' tickets today is a complete tool, unless they were buying them for someone specific. $50 says some tix start getting scalped on e-bay or craig's list.

detritus · Post by **detritus** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:13 pm

lister wrote:What time did the front of the line people get there?!

We got in line at 10:35 and there were 17 people ahead of us. When we got in there were still tickets to all the sessions available.

We (two of us) picked up 4 to the evening session (no - I resisted the temptation to buy 8 extras and auction them off...)

-Josh

tuqueboy · Post by **tuqueboy** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:15 pm

detritus wrote:
lister wrote:What time did the front of the line people get there?!
We got in line at 10:35 and there were 17 people ahead of me. When we got in there were still tickets to all the session available.

We (two of us) picked up 4 to the evening session (no - I resisted the temptation to buy 8 extras and auction them off...)

-Josh

i can just see it next year -- people camped out overnight on yonge st

lister · Post by **lister** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:19 pm

skaghevn wrote:Six per person. Did people who really only wanted a pair purchase the full six? You betcha.

Not this set of people. Why would you buy more tickets than what you need?

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:19 pm

Torontoblue wrote:
tuqueboy wrote: some people couldn't actually make it because of jobs and family stuff. you know, the other things in life besides beer
Are we really that busy that we can't take 2 hours out of our lives to get something we desire to go to? Don't bitch if you are (and that's the Greater You, not you personally)

Well, I guess I could've taken 12 hours out of my life and flown back from Vancouver, where I'm shooting a T.V. series at the moment, and lined up to buy my tickets but hey, I guess I'm too lazy.

IMHO 6 tickets per person is excessive. Seriously, who needs 6? I think 4 should have been the max, if you have a larger group some of those other people should be willing to wait themselves to get tickets. Seriously, how many beer geeks travel in groups of 6? All I wanted was 1 ticket.

As for the dig about buying up seasonals...said seasonals that I've been accused of "buying up" I actually had a hand in ensuring the LCBO brought in to the province in the first place, I've also repeatedly volunteered on this forum to trade or sell ANY of the beers I've bought in volume that others couldn't get at COST and last I've chased down locations where the last of rare stock beer could be found and posted them here so that others could get them...I think I've done my part.

Perhaps someone who grabbed 6 tickets but really only needed 2 will now return the favor.

skaghevn · Post by **skaghevn** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:30 pm

Jon Walker wrote:Perhaps someone who grabbed 6 tickets but really only needed 2 will now return the favor.

Only have 2 tickets, so I can't help you out. Others did pick up more than they needed, so who knows?

I must say that four per person was a number I favoured over six, but I suspect things would've still sold out quite quickly.

I've also repeatedly volunteered on this forum to trade or sell ANY of the beers I've bought in volume

Not that I frown upon it, but resales are illegal, no?

lister · Post by **lister** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:37 pm

Torontoblue wrote:We all know how popular the event is, yet people still arrive 5 minutes before open time and expect to be at the head of the line. Use a bit of common sense people, eh?????

First thing out of my mouth as I cleared the corner of the dollar store across the street to see the line was "Jesus those people need to get a life. How early did some of them get there?!"

After 20 minutes of the doors being open I muttered, "Fuck this is moving too slow, my back hurts, I want a beer and I'd like to resume my life sooner rather than later..."

On a positive note, I like the lineup of beers so far and I'm hoping to see some interesting stuff from the remaining TBAs.

Psst, Trafalgar, pump up the mint some more. I'm curious to see what a really minty beer tastes like.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:37 pm

Not that I frown upon it, but resales are illegal, no?

Which is why I've mostly offered up trades. But if the LCBO police are monitoring this thread...NOBODY ever took me up on the offer to trade OR sell so I've actually broken no law. Shame really, I ended up giving away about two cases of Dogfish Head 60 minute so that it wouldn't go bad.

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:59 pm

Wow, I expected this to be a thread full of happy people with tickets.

People were lined up early. We arrived at 1000 and found 3-4 people in front of us. (I had been joking about showing up at 800AM with my laptop a camp chair and a movie!) I missed the last two Cask Days and was fairly intent on not missing out on this years!

I'd like to think anybody was really buying more tickets than they needed/had friends that needed them, perhaps I'm wrong. I really don't think changing the way tickets were sold would have made any difference. Obviously there was very high demand, so no matter when they went on sale there would have been a mad rush to get them. Even Internet sales, or phone sales would have resulted in just as many disappointed people who were unable to commit their time to whatever time period it was that they first went on sale.

At the Golden Taps I was pretty stunned at how many people showed up to that event. It sort of sucks that as local beer events get bigger they get more crowded, and in the case of Cask Days sells out, but it is also awesome that good beer is getting popular enough in Toronto that these kinds of things happen. Hopefully this will encourage more and bigger events like this.

grub · Post by **grub** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:03 pm

Jon Walker wrote:IMHO 6 tickets per person is excessive. Seriously, who needs 6? I think 4 should have been the max, if you have a larger group some of those other people should be willing to wait themselves to get tickets. Seriously, how many beer geeks travel in groups of 6? All I wanted was 1 ticket.

it's tough to judge the right number. selling them in a small window means that just about everyone there is buying for others who can't make it. if the limit was lower, there would have been more people in line and the result would have been the same. not everybody got the session they wanted, but i think everyone who showed up today got a ticket. lets face it, this event has sold out every year. the only reason it happened in 1.5 hours instead of several weeks is the size of the window.

somebody commented that there were less tickets than last year. that's not entirely true: less tickets per session (100 instead of 120), but there are 3 sessions instead of two (300 tickets instead of 240). even keeping it at volo ralph has still increased capacity over last year in an effort to accommodate as many people as possible.

skaghevn wrote:Six per person. Did people who really only wanted a pair purchase the full six? You betcha.

if you looked at the books, hardly anybody was maxing out. those that were were buying them for friends, not looking to auction them off to the highest bidder.

lister wrote:First thing out of my mouth as I cleared the corner of the dollar store across the street to see the line was "Jesus those people need to get a life. How early did some of them get there?!"

must resist urge to tell you where to stick that comment...

i showed up at about 10:40. would have been closer to 11, but there was no traffic on the dvp. had no trouble buying tickets for session 1 (and there was still plenty left in every session at that point). it's not like we camped out for 3 days waiting for tickets. i hardly think showing up within 20min of doors opening means i (or anyone else in line) needs to get a life.

maybe next year ralph can do it through ticketmaster. everyone can whine when it sells out in 5min rather than 90min due to phone in orders. look at the bright side: we'd get to give an extra 50% more to line TMs pockets! /sarcasm

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:12 pm

Oh and kudos to Ralph for putting on an event that is great enough to stir up this kind of demand!

grub · Post by **grub** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:18 pm

JerCraigs wrote:Oh and kudos to Ralph for putting on an event that is great enough to stir up this kind of demand!

indeed! too much complaining for all the work that goes into organizing and running such an excellent event.

tuqueboy · Post by **tuqueboy** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:20 pm

grub wrote:
JerCraigs wrote:Oh and kudos to Ralph for putting on an event that is great enough to stir up this kind of demand!
indeed! too much complaining for all the work that goes into organizing and running such an excellent event.

hey, grub. people are just trying to make it better. i haven't read anything here that suggests people are attacking ralph, or the event itself.

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:20 pm

grub wrote:
JerCraigs wrote:Oh and kudos to Ralph for putting on an event that is great enough to stir up this kind of demand!
indeed! too much complaining for all the work that goes into organizing and running such an excellent event.

I actually tipped my hat to Ralph BEFORE I complained.