"Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains."A lot of you have been asking when Kate the Great scratch tickets will be available for purchase. We still do not have a date set!
How can that be, you ask? We are waiting for the tickets to be delivered by the printer and expect to receive them late next week or early the following week. We plan to put them on sale shortly thereafter.
Why the delay? That's a long story - here's the thumbnail version: we actually started this process the day after last year's Kate Day, when I asked Brewery staff to relay feedback and provide suggestions for this year's release. After several meetings and much lively discussion about what went well and what we could improve on, the form of 2011's Kate release began to take shape. The suggestion of some sort of lottery evolved into the scratch ticket proposal.
Once we worked out the details internally, we went down the bureaucratic rabbit hole: our plan had to pass muster at three different state agencies, each of which had veto power, but all of which ended up being enthusiastically supportive of our idea. But, as you can imagine, this took time, as did getting just right the legal mumbo-jumbo that appears on the back of the tickets and drawing up contracts up between the various stakeholders. Then, once approved, the tickets had to be designed & laid out, printers' proofs approved and the order placed.
And so a project I innocently believed would take a couple of months at the most actually ended up taking over five months to complete. In these circumstances, we were reluctant to set a fixed date for the start of ticket sales, knowing that we might have been forced to change it at the last minute, or worse yet, abandon the idea altogether and shift to some unknown Plan B at the last moment. But as of this moment, Plan A is still in effect. Hooray!
For those of you who were were hoping to queue up our doorstep overnight in order to be first in line to buy tickets on January 24th, precisely six weeks before Kate Day, I apologize. Bear with us. We are committed to making this year's Kate release the best yet.
Cheers,
Peter
In the last paragraph I think you meant to say "Beer with us."
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for Kate the Great!
Luckily my wife just quit her job, so she'll have plenty of time to head over and grab some tickets when they go on sale. Thanks for keeping us informed Peter.
ReplyDeletewow that is lucky
ReplyDeleteWow, it's going to really suck if I travel 300 miles round trip, spend another 20 bucks on tickets, only to NOT get the opportunity to purchase ONE bottle.
ReplyDeleteMight have been a more equitable idea just to seek a single $20 donation to one of your charitable causes which would guarantee the opportunity to purchase one bottle of KtG? Limited to one per person, or one every two weeks or something like that?
I don't mind going through all this effort, heck it's part of the charm and mystique, but to end up with a lot of cash spent, and nothing to show for it ... I think it will leave a lot of folks with a sour taste.
Just my 3 cents (2 cents adjusted for inflation).
Respectfully,
Anonymous
I get it that you'd want to skew the event in favor of your loyal customers and locals - that's totally fair. But for those of us who (as foolish at it seems now) made travel plans, took days off from our jobs based on the "These tickets will be sold at the Portsmouth Brewery for $2 apiece starting six weeks prior to Kate Day, until they run out" statement, a little more than five days' notice woulda been... well, helpful. Would it be possible given the circumstances to hold onto a few tickets for the big day so that when the masses arrive in March, we weary travelers have at least shot at taking a bottle home to share with friends?
ReplyDeleteAnd I still get pie and beer tomorrow, right?
Can't wait for 3/7!
i think the idea of donating money back into the community is a great idea. This method also supports the locals and will prevent a lot of out of towners from flying in. It also will make many people head to the brewery multiple times (smart business sense because why wouldn't you have a meal/beers at the same time). The only problems seems to arise are the common ones though... 1. what going to prevent a few people from buying all the tickets (ie. joe goes and buys 10 tickets for himself and 20 of his freinds. 2. At $15/bottle now plus buying chances (and you could spend anywhere from $2-???) plus travel/hidden expenses you are going to be paying a lot for one bottle or even possibly nothing at all, which will be a slap in the face to some unlucky peeps...
ReplyDeleteHow about not selling the bottles at all. If people need a bottle or a growler give post the bring your own funnel rule!
ReplyDeleteNB
They don't offer kate in growlers!
ReplyDeleteI feel this system will really work this year! I think it's important that they can trust everyone to just purchase the allowed amount of 15 tix per person! YAY for the locals who can enjoy this beautiful brew. If you don't win everyone can just swing on in for some kate on tap March 7, 2011!
rock on PB!