By Mark Ambrogi
A new venue and digital media campaign gives Carrie Dixon strong reason for the second BrewBQ.
Now, the weather just needs to cooperate.
The Noblesville Rotary Club event, which features a barbecue contest, craft beers and music, is set from 4 to 9 p.m. Aug. 19 at Federal Hill Commons. Proceeds go to a scholarship fund for students attending Ivy Tech in Noblesville.
Carrie Dixon, Rotary Club secretary and event fundraising/marketing chair, is excited about the move from Forest Park to Federal Hill Commons, which opened earlier this year.
“It’s got a great stage we’ll be using with bands,” Dixon said.
The inaugural event was hampered by steady rain last year.
“That put a damper on attendance, plus it was our first year,” Dixon said. “I wasn’t a member of the club until last fall. But I heard since they didn’t have a digital force promoting the event, they were relying on paper fliers.”
That’s where event sponsor, Blue Sky Technology Partners in Noblesville, has been able to lend its expertise.
“They’ve put a lot of time and energy into it,” Dixon said.
Because the headquarters is near Federal Hill Commons, CEO Todd Irwin thought there was good symmetry there, said Jeff Tzucker, director of digital marketing for the company.
“We are doing the digital marketing, and we worked with their event page, Facebook and Twitter,” Tzucker said. “We rebranded it with a new logo.”
Tzucker said the new location and more time to promote the event should help boost attendance.
“If you have smart marketing, people know it’s that consistent type of festival each year where people get to know they have great beer, good barbecue and listen to some fun music,” Tzucker said. “It’s 21-and-over only because of the alcohol, so it limits our audience a little, but as Hamilton County looks to attract younger talent, they look to events like this. We feel good we’re going to have a good crowd and can continue to grow it year after year.”
Three other committee members from the Rotary Club are playing key roles. Jeff Derda, the club’s president-elect, is serving as logistics chair. Craig Beougher, club president, is the beer vendor chair and Joe Carnevale is the amateur barbecue contest chair.
The Bier Brewery, Big Lug Canteen and Garden Party Botanical Hard Soda are supplying the beer and hard soda
“(Carnevale) is in charge of getting the contestants lined up,” Dixon said. “He’s a barbecue connoisseur type of guy.”
Carnevale, a Rotary Club member, is the CEO of Associated Drywall Partners, serving as stage sponsor.
Dixon said the goal is to contribute $10,000 to the scholarship fund.
“It’s a pretty high goal,” she said.
Given the poor weather and lack of promotion, Dixon said raising $3,000 from last year’s event was good.
The Rotary Club is providing the meat for the contestants.
“That way it’s all the same quality, so it’s consistent for the contestants,” Dixon said.
The judging will be by a local celebrity panel, which will use a blind judging method.
BAND ON THE RUN
That’s What She Said will serve as the musical headliner for the BrewBQ.
“They’re a fantastic band,” Carrie Dixon, fundraising/marketing chair, said.
Dixon is familiar with the band because she is a former neighbor of guitarist Jason Venturi of Noblesville.
The band includes several Hamilton County residents, including Joe Marcum, a retired Noblesville Schools teacher.
“We play anything from ’60s to present day, country, rock, pop, R&B, whatever gets the body moving,” Venturi said.
The seven-member band has been together for five years.
“We all have day jobs, so this is our escape from the office,” Venturi said.
The event band plays private parties and weddings, two to four times each month.
“The more people drink, the best we sound,” Venturi joked.
Prior to That’s What She Said, Fishers Switch Vibe will perform between 4 and 6 p.m.
ATTEND BrewBQ
When: 4 to 9 p.m. Aug. 19
Where: Federal Hill Commons, at the intersection of Ind. 32/38 and Ind. 19.
Tickets: $45 in advance or $35 for designated drivers in advance through website and $50 at gate. Tickets include unlimited beer, BBQ and hard soda from 4 to 9 p.m. Designated drivers tickets include water and soda instead of beer.
Sponsors: Blue Sky Technology Partners is the event sponsor. Associated Drywall Partners is sponsoring the music stage, and Nameless Catering is the tent sponsor.
Gold sponsors: Don Myers Construction, Meyer-Najem Construction, Prairie Lakes Health Campus, Kindred At Home and Gaylor Electric.
Event info: https://www.facebook.com/NoblesvilleBrewBQ/ and www.noblesvillebrewbq.com
