The National Barbecue Association’s annual conference is where you are invited to attend and welcomed to participate in learning more about the passion of barbecue from every imaginable level.

Attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers that are involved in the business or backyard aspects of Q will enlarge their BBQ contacts and colleague kinships on a daily level throughout the ebb and flow of daily attendance. New ideas, new contacts, products and services, basic BBQ education, PLUS new partnerships coupled with lively entertainment will highlight the 17th Annual BBQ Conference. It all begins February 17-21, 2009...You simply have to experience it to believe it! Ya’ll come on down!

There are numerous reasons to justify an investment in yourself: professionalism,self-enhancement, adult education, re-energizing, motivation, competence, confidence and even entertainment and relaxation. There are few places that most of these desirable goals can be achieved in a concentrated four days as they can be at the annual NBBQA Conference and Expo. If you look and remember, you can capture ideas that will offset your investment in yourself many fold. When you need to stop and sharpen your axe to make sounder, more effective cuts, come join us.

The very first event offered on Wednesday morning at the Conference is the rare opportunity for some round table consulting with the recognized Masters of BBQ. These Masterful folks have vast experience in winning barbecue contests, running successful barbecue restaurants, innovation, and even writing best selling national barbecue books, and they are willing to share ideas with you at Meet the Masters. At no other place can you sit at a round table of ten people and talk with a master barbecue personality face to face, and ask a question that has been bothering you. There are usually at least eight tables staffed with significant speakers, and you will have the opportunity to select the ones you need to visit with in this two hour pre-event. This is one of those rare opportunities that can pass you by and save significant consulting dollars if you do not register early. Separate registration is required above normal conference registration.

The second event on Wednesday afternoon at the NBBQA Conference is nearly always a sell-out due to the popularity of the BBQ Bus Tour and the limitation of 50 people per bus. The NBBQA buses usually visit two or more local barbecue restaurants to see first-hand how the local folks prepare and present BBQ that appeals to and attracts their customers. The local restaurant hosts allow our special bus visitors to tour their facility including the back-house smokers, discuss their start up history, their menu items, hot sellers, and often will provide toothpick samples to back up their taste claims. Separate registration is required above normal conference registration.

The NBBQA annual conference focuses on its primary membership interests by presenting a day dedicated to those professional barbecue restaurants and caterers who earn their daily living working in the industry, and that day is entitled PROFESSIONAL’S DAY. This day provides BBQ restaurateurs and caterers the opportunity to talk intimately without interruption to each other and with our partners: the exhibitors, sponsors and advertisers. The educational content of most seminars presented on Thursday during the conference (PROFESSIONAL’S DAY) is focused on the business interests of those directly involved in the BBQ business

The NBBQA realizes the future growth of barbecue industry depends upon the vision and energy of those thinking about becoming BBQ professionals. For that reason, the Association provides entry-level memberships and programming for those folks who may be nursing the idea of opening a business as a barbecue restaurant, catering service, or manufacturing and marketing sauces, equipment, or services. They too need to gather, talk, evaluate equipment, services, and talk to experienced pros already successful in the barbecue industry, so Saturday is dedicated to BBQ PUBLIC DAY. Demonstrations of barbecue meat cuts, preparation, sampling off active outside grills, and judging the People’s Choice barbecue sauces are popular attractions for the backyard crowds

Coming soon. Please click your computer’s Favorites Button (located on the top bar above) to easily remember this website address, then check back later.

Just one of 2008's Raffle prizes!
Check back soon to see what
NBBQA might be raffling off
for 2009!

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BBQ EXHIBITOR PARTNERSHIPS

The purpose of exhibiting at the NBBQA Expo is to introduce yourself, your product and service benefits, and to maintain your profile as a leader in the barbecue industry worthy of your customer’s continuing patronage. Face to face marketing is a beneficial two way street where you can both present to and collect new customers, but also listen to them and learn how to develop new ideas and potential innovations to enhance your upcoming product lines. The cost of traveling down the road to call on a single customer at a time is dramatically reduced when potential buyers can be accessed easily at the Conference and see first hand what you have to offer them. There are many ways to benefit long term from actively associating yourself and your products with professionals active in the business of barbecue and NBBQA, and also gleaned from the enthusiasts on the innovative and experimental edge of BBQ.

Booth Layout

2008 Booth Layout

The NBBQA booth is somewhat unique in that it offers and provides both indoor and outdoor exhibit spaces. The indoor booths generally contain equipment, services and products comfortable on a table or 8’ by 10’ carpeted space. The outdoor booths are larger in order to accommodate demonstration of outdoor grills, trailer-mounted barbecue ovens, smokers and grills, or any equipment that must be operated outdoors. The outdoor spaces are generally about 10’ deep and 25’ long depending upon available space. Most outdoor exhibitors bring their own coverings to provide shade or in the event weather.

A detailed Exhibitor Kit will be sent to each contracted company, or on-request to qualified companies requesting a copy through the NBBQA office at 512/ 454-8626. The Kit will contain shipping forms, storage details, electrical rates, signs, rental rates and details to make your exhibit memorable and outstanding. Special equipment that may be desired by the exhibitor. Anything an exhibitor can do in their exhibits to underscore the theme of the Conference “BBQ, Brews and Blues in the Heart of Texas” is encouraged.

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BBQ SAUCE CONTESTS

Benefits

Entering and winning a top finish in the National Barbecue Association can be compared to winning gold, silver, bronze in a Barbecue Olympics. In fact the top winner has a faux gold finished Medallion placed around their necks at the Thursday night NBBQA President’s Reception and Awards Presentation as the camera flashes light up. A winner has the right to print the prestigious NBBQA logo on their label symbolizing their 2009 best sauce win, send releases about the win to the media and buyers, and have their winning finish publicized nationally in the National BBQ News, on the NBBQA website for a year, and it is published in the slick new Q magazine. There are several other non-sauce categories offered for best new BBQ product, cookbook, and label, so you can enter in several categories.

The not for profit National Barbecue Association goes to great lengths to assure that judging of sauces is completely fair and unbiased. A partnership has been struck with the student chefs at the Rend Lake Culinary Arts School in Ina, Illinois to serve as the third party judges for the contest. These chefs have no ongoing relationships or connections with anyone directly involved in the NBBQA other than the Committee Chairperson from the Association, nor with known barbecue interests. The labels on the sauce bottles are carefully concealed before judging, and the sauces are judged in their specific categories. There are 29 separate judging categories including non-sauces and Anything Goes categories, so much preparation and volunteer time in invested in this Awards of Excellence contest so it will be meaningful to all winners. A win is independent proven results that can expedite or help propel a sauce toward finding commercial shelf space with regional or national retail vendors.

In the National Barbecue Association sauce contest, you are given two chances to win because of the back up People’s Choice Awards. By entering the Awards of Excellence contest, you are then qualified to also enter the People’s Choice Awards by submitting a case of your sauce for public tasting. On Saturday’s Public Day, your sauce is set out in a long row with an ample supply of tasting cups and spoons.

The public is provided a ballot invited to taste and evaluate their favorite sauces on the spot. (You cannot do that at the super market). The sauce ballots are tabulated and a winner is declared on the spot. If the public really likes what they tasted, they can vote again by purchasing their favorite sauce on the spot for as long as they last. These purchases have your name, contact information and website so they can re-order. The People’s Choice is a lot of fun and appreciated by all participants and winners alike. Likewise with the Awards of Excellence winners, People’s Choice winners are entitled to use the prestigious NBBQA logo on their labels, issue press releases, and have their names and categories reported in the National BBQ News, Q magazine, and on the Association’s website.

Click on the photo to review and download a copy of the NBBQA sauce contest’s Rules and Regulations.  Please read and follow the rules carefully and submit your entries in time for judging.

Awards of Excellence deadline for product arrivals is TBD & shipped to: Becky Streuter, Chairman, NBBQA Awards of Excellence, c/o 17th Street Warehouse 214 N. 17th Street, Murphysboro, Illinois 62966.  Judging is by the Chefs at Rend Lake Culinary Institute in Illinois.

People’s Choice Awards deadline for product arrivals is TBD & shipped to: The Crowne Plaza Hotel, 6121 N. I.H. 35, Austin, TX 78752, Attention: Tracey Edwards/NBBQA (Earlier arrival may incur hotel storage costs)

2008's Contest Brochure

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The value and support of willing Conference sponsors cannot be overstated. everything that is underwritten at any level allows the NBBQA to improve the value and content of the overall event. Every conceivable effort is made to assure that the sponsors are fully recognized and appreciated for their partnership in this important annual BBQ event. The need is great and ongoing annually. The Conference needs in kind sponsors for meat to barbecue and sides, paper goods for the Caterer’s Showcase dinner, tote bags, program advertisers, BBQ bus tour sponsors, speaker sponsors, and on and on. There are lots of opportunities to help enhance the quality and turnout of the Conference, so you are encouraged to volunteer and do so. Every sponsorship in any amount is appreciated and wisely reinvested.

It is both simple and rewarding to become a NBBQA Conference sponsor. For instance if you cannot operationally staff an exhibit during the Conference, consider becoming an active sponsor for a similar amount to capture some exposure and profile your company, product and services. Give the NBBQA Staff a call at 512/ 454-8626 to express your interest and how you might maximize your involvement in this classy and unique manner. You can also fill out and submit the form listed above under Sponsor Opportunities.

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ADVERTISING OPTIONS

Benefits

There are few stories about customers beating paths to find better mouse traps in our modern world because chances are they would not know about them. The old axiom about saying “it pays to advertise” is still more accurate than the mouse trap analogy.

Barbecue is arguably one of the hottest and most passionate topics of conversation in America because it is full of flavor, aroma, is comforting, friendly, neighborly, and absolutely EVERYONE wants to do it better. If you have a product or service that enables and paves the way toward better results and professionalism, you need to let this burgeoning audience know about. The NBBQA is loaded with “early adopters” when it comes to barbecue products, so advertise in one of the Association’s mediums and get the word-of-mouth advertising launched in a good way.

The NBBQA publishes an on-site program containing the sequence of events scheduled for the Conference. It keeps everyone informed and on-time to the pre-events, the 20 educational offerings, the President’s Reception and Awards Presentations, the Caterer’s Showcase, the indoor and outdoor exhibits for Professional’s Day, and the Public Day demonstrations. Attendees reference and look at the program continually throughout the event, but they also write down contact names and impressions in the booklet so they can act on them once they return home. You advertisement will work for you a long time by reminding them what they saw in your exhibit booth, what you talked about, and the special offer you made.

Your determine the size of your ad and what fits your budget. We can work with and adapt content from anything such as a business card to an ad you have previously used.

Conference attendees come seeking information about barbecue and equipment to produce it, so they plan to pick up information. They need and retain Tote Bags for many years after the event and often leave the information they collected in the bags for safe keeping. Your company name on the outside of the bag will work good will for you for many decades at future show, events and barbecue occasions around the country. Become a Tote Bag Sponsor and see what we mean.

The National Barbecue Association launched publication of a quarterly slick magazine containing information on a

ll subjects associated with quality barbecue. The new Q magazine was launched in late 2006 before the February conference and has met with favorable response from readers. Content focus is on barbecue restaurants, caterers, backyard enthusiasts, their backgrounds and solutions to their problems. There are an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 barbecue restaurants operating in the United States with an equal number of barbecue caterers working out these restaurants. It is Q’s desire to eventually become the recognized go-to barbecue publication available, but we need advertising support to make this happen. The magazine is now breaking even financially, but your ongoing ads now will be more appreciated and meaningful in helping establish this publication. For size and rate information, CLICK HERE

The Who’s Who of Barbecue is the National Barbecue Association’s annual membership directory. It contains the names, addresses and phone numbers of all active dues paying members of the NBBQA. It also contains useful membership information, history of the NBBQA, and most importantly advertising that works for

Your company and product all year long as members continue to look up addresses of their peers and colleagues to seek help with a problem. The ad rate card is published towards the back of each issue, so take a look there, or on this website for a listing of the available sizes, rates and deadlines. It is usually published in the fall of each year.

For size and rate information, CLICK HERE

Many people have commented about how content rich the NBBQA’s website has become. It is this content that has propelled the website into becoming a major destination when searching for information about barbecue. The number of visits varies some with barbecue’s summer season, but numbers continue to range between 18,000 to over 26,000 hits per month. That is the kind of traffic that could be steered to your site with a simple box Link-ad on the NBBQA website. To see the size ads and rates offered on the NBBQA web site, CLICK HERE

The National Barbecue Association provides each of its active members with a copy of the National BBQ News on a monthly basis as a membership benefit. Inside the National BBQ New's, the centerfold contains NBBQA's monthly two page newsletter. Since the NBBQA contracts that space, it can also offer advertising on these pages. If you plan to exhibit or sponsor an event at the Conference, what better way to associate your company or product with the Association's activities than to advertise on its tabloid newspaper pages?

CLICK HERE

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LODGING

Located at the intersection of I-35 and Hwy. 290 from Houston, the Crown Plaza Hotel

is located in the geographical center of Austin. Across the I-35 highway is the Highland Mall Shopping Center containing department stores, shops, movie theaters, and a food court. A Shepler’s Western wear store containing everything a cowboy could want is only one block away. Several restaurants are also within a block’s walk of the hotel in the event you fly-in and do not rent a car.

The hotel has just completed an extensive remodeling to enhance the guest rooms and interior and exterior of the property, so it is just like a new property with plenty of free self-parking. Highway visibility of the BBQ smoking outdoor exhibits will be maximized due to the fly-over bridges adjacent to the Crown Plaza.

Check back soon for rates and discounts!

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LOCAL LINKS

Austin Info. Links

Austin bills itself as the Live Music Capital of the World and it is certainly a contender because the town thrives on music festivals and venues. The famous SXSW (South by Southwest) music and film festival follows the NBBQA Conference in March; then there is the Austin City Limits Music Festival and PBS program; hometown boy Willie Nelson’s appearances and Picnics; the Backyard and several barbecue venues such as Stubb’s that seats up to 1,800 on the banks of Waller Creek; Artz Rib House; and the famous entertainment district of Sixth Street to keep you entertained.

Here are some links for things to do if you want to extend your visit to the Austin area:

For information on attractions, local transportation and entertainment in Austin:  
Click on:  http://www.austintexas.org/home/  
Click on:  http://www.austintexas.org/visitors/about_austin

For Austin locations and maps:
Click on:   http://map.mapnetwork.com/destination/austin/ 

For Austin’s current weather:
Click on:  http://www.austintexas.org/visitors/weather

As you already know when it comes to barbecue, Texans usually think of smoking, they think beef first, pork second, and smoked sausage third.  There will be a noticeable leaning toward beef in nearly any barbecue venue you choose to explore in Austin, or within 50 miles.  You will also find a decided preference for where one’s sausage is manufactured and smoked.  Austin is widely recognized as the Heart of
Texas for government, the University of Texas, and lots of good barbecue restaurants ranging from high end to roadside shacks.  In the event you want to create your own barbecue trail, here is an incomplete list of barbecue spots in Austin.  Each of NBBQA’s BBQ buses will only visit two to three each due to time limitations, but you could discover some innovative ideas wherever you decide to visit, and you will likely note the close tie ins with regular live music as well.

Click Here for listings

Surrounding Austin within 60 miles are some nationally-famous barbecue restaurants That many aficionados make a point to visit when in the vicinity.  Several of these BBQ Pit Masters have been invited to demonstrate their cooking at the Big Apple BBQ in the Park in NYC for several years in a row.  The following list will enlighten you with their quality and different approaches to barbecue: