Moderation Drinking: LESS ALCOHOL AT EVENTS

Today I want to discuss DRINKING LESS ALCOHOL AT EVENTS, be they corporate events or private parties or weddings etc.

As we’ve discussed in prior blogs Dry January seems to gain popularity every year, and last month I launched MODERATION FEBRUARY and got a great response and comments as people look for ways to drink less alcohol. This trend is growing in all aspects of society and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

In fact research from Nielsen IQ- suggest that consumers of all ages are curbing their alcoholic intake altogether, or enjoying it in moderation as a part of a SOBER CURIOUS lifestyle. Nielsen is the largest Consumer Intelligence Company in the world – you know them from Nielsen Ratings from TV-- they are the ones who tells us how many people watch which shows etc. They’ve been around forever and are the best source for consumer trends.

Host: Andy Whiteside
Co-host: Sam Meader

Transcript

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Andy Whiteside: Hello, everyone welcome to Episode 5 of moderation drinking, and Host Andy White. So I've got Sam Meter with me, Sam. How's it going.

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Sam: Good Andy great to be back with you.

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Andy Whiteside: You were just talking a minute ago about how busy you are with your your rental business it is what it's April April eighth here, so I can only imagine what things generally look like for you.

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Sam: Yeah, a lot of spring break. People are traveling and today's a crazy day with that eclipse. So who knows what's going to happen?

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Andy Whiteside: Are those scenarios tying it back to the podcast? Here are those scenarios where you're like man. I just wish I could go have like a 6 pack after the day. I just had kind of thing.

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Sam: Well, you know that we get so busy here with maintenance upkeep and rotating our guests in and out. Now, our housekeeping staff.

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Sam: That was the old me, you know, when I'd have a hard day I did reach for a 6 pack, and that was just the start of it. So now, I've got my other options just less alcohol or non alcoholic options. Just bill and relax. Yeah.

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Andy Whiteside: I can imagine. That's that's when things like work, stress or like we're talking about today corporate events or events you attend. Let me let me share my screen here.

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Andy Whiteside: The the blog that you wrote that we're reviewing is called entitled Less Alcohol. At events, Sam, is this intended to be about corporate events, or.

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Sam: Yeah, it really touches on both. So

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Sam: I've been to a couple of events recently. Some were planned. Some were just sort of ad hoc gatherings, and you know, with the general trend

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Sam: in society of people drinking less. I was sort of struck by you know what people provided or didn't provide. And you know, with.

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Sam: we've talked about this before the the growth in dry January, the sober, curious movement, and my launch, you know, in February of moderation. February.

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Sam: There just is a general te a general trend out there of people consuming less alcohol.

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Sam: I did some research, and and Nielsen IQ. Is, you know, the largest

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Sam: consumer Information company in the world, the Nielsen ratings on TV. And they were, they were just saying across all sectors age. Wise, demographic. There's just been less alcohol consumption. In fact, I've got a friend who's a wedding planner

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Sam: and she does High End weddings. You know the the company she works so they don't touch it. If it's not a half a million dollars or higher, and she routinely gets flown around in these corporate jets to do these high powered weddings in Beverly Hills or Mon. You know the Hamptons, but she's just noticed as well that you know there are, continued requests for non alcoholic options, even in the alcoholic drink space mocktails or

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Sam: non alcoholic beers, wines, things like that. And so there's just a general trend out there, and kind of wanted to bring that to the forefront, as people begin hosting things or doing things parties more in the summer, whether you're hosting or attending. I think these points resonate.

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Andy Whiteside: Is it awareness of the issue, or are they replacing the intoxication with a different, with a different form?

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Sam: Well, it's it's interesting, too, cause what? What my friend said about weddings, if that they and the many estates have now approved marijuana

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Sam: for recreational use or medical use. And there's been some, you know, literally on the menu of things with cannabis in it. And so that just speaks to what's going on in society.

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Sam: But I I can't really say if people are, you know, replacing one with the other. I just think that

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Sam: our our message here is just part of the general trend that people are seeking ways to drink less alcohol. Be they true? You know, non alcohol, beverages, or beverages that were traditionally like beers that have no alcohol in them.

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Andy Whiteside: I. I have a weird, weird way of looking at this. So let's let's see if you agree, disagree, or see value in my argument here. It is one thing back in the day to consume, and then find your way home in many cases by driving these days there's no excuse to drive, because there's so many ride shares which makes it a no brainer for you to get home that way. But those actually cost money, irregardless of whether you, you know, get away with it or not.

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Andy Whiteside: Is there any logic to the fact that now there's a now there's a measurable cost to the finding your way home, scenario being where it might not have been.

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Sam: I've done some work with the mothers against drunk driving, and I I've seen the statistics, and it it is. It is the paradox. The number of drunk driving incidents and fatalities have actually gone up

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Sam: in the last 5 years.

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Sam: At the same time there's been an explosion of availability of ride sharing uber lyft and the like.

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Sam: You would think that that, you know, people would avail themselves of those options. But you know, you know. Sometimes the cost gets in the way. Sometimes ego gets in the way, and that, that's one of the interesting things you you. There's so many options out there, but still people continue to drive drunk, impaired.

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Andy Whiteside: Yeah, it hasn't really had the impact

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Andy Whiteside: that you would have thought it would logically have had.

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Andy Whiteside: it's interesting for sure. You got a mention here of Charleston, and specifically King Street in that area with.

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Sam: Yeah. So that's this is interesting. As this trend continues, we're seeing retail stores open up with a specific focus of non alcoholic beverages and you know a. Every. Every city has their famous street of bars and parting. So you have.

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Sam: you know, Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Rush Street, in Chicago. Those are places I've been. And then

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Sam: King Street in Charleston is the known place where all the cool bars are. It's where all the college students go. It's just a real big party scene. But on that very street.

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Sam: in 2,022 a woman opened up a store called, Say, I believe that's how it's pronounced SECH, EY, and it's the French word for dry, and she only sells non alcoholic drinks

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Sam: beers, wines, hard liquor spirits. And we've talked about this before. As an aside. But one of my future podcast is gonna touch on some of the non alcoholic beers. There's a wide variety now, most large brewers. Have them. There's a couple

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Sam: brewing companies that specifically do non alcoholic beer athletica is one, and they're probably one of the best

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Sam: but this store has had just an explosive growth right in the heart of the bar party scene of Charleston and that says a lot. If that if a store like that can really take off and thrive, and we're seeing that more and more across the country.

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Andy Whiteside: Are they serving like what I would call live drinks, so like, are they pouring, or are they just selling.

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Sam: We do have tastings and such, but mostly they're selling. You know the non, how alcoholic beer by the 6 pack or the the spirit list by the bottle. It looks, and it looks and feels like a traditional liquor store packer, store package store, whatever you call it. It's just that everything on the shelf is is non alcoholic. It's it's really, really quite a place.

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Andy Whiteside: So, Sam, is this blog intended to be towards the drinker or the provider of the drinks.

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Sam: Well, it's both actually and one of the things I was looking at was.

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Sam: if you are

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Sam: going to an event.

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Sam: have some awareness or some planning either request or bring some non alcoholic options. But if you're hosting an event, and I did some research on corporate event, newscom. They've got some best practices, and I know you've you know, hosted a corporate event.

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Sam: and there they talk about some best practices. If you're doing an event that has alcohol as a corporation, whether you have your employees or vendors there they lay out some specific things. These are some best practices where

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Sam: it, you know at the very least. If you have a policy, write it down, put it in the corporate handbook of what your policy is on alcohol. Do you allow drinking at corporate events? Do you not allow drinking? If so, what does that look like? And just as long as that's written down, and I know most corporations have that kind of thing, and I'll throw it back to you for for your companies. Zen, take or do you have anything like this that that sort of guide you

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Sam: and has evolved over time.

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Andy Whiteside: I think it's been mostly common since. I'll tell you. I was on a vacation last week, and the very first night I got a call from

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Andy Whiteside: one of my employees that another employee had drank themselves into oblivion and was unresponsive.

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Sam: Jeez.

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Andy Whiteside: It's top of mind, no doubt.

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Andy Whiteside: Do we have it in our corporate handbook? I I don't know if we actually have an official statement in there or not. It's really been left up to common sense, which you would think would be enough. But it's not.

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Sam: Right?

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Sam: Well, that that again. So there's a lot of companies revisiting

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Sam: that issue, as you know, could could be one step

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Sam: further with this employee you mentioned, had they chose to get behind the wheel, and what could happen next? And that exposes the company to some liability. So putting putting it down in a corporate handbook. It seems to be a a good idea. They also talk about shy away from hard liquor, just for obvious reasons. That's a speedier path to get a inebriated. So stick with beer and wine. If you're hosting a corporate event,

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Andy Whiteside: I went to my son, and I went to a local brewery of the day just just for one drink and you know the the beers that were on the list behind the bar were 7, 8, 9, 10% alcohol volume, I mean by

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Andy Whiteside: it was shocking. And and they didn't didn't taste like it at all. They they tasted like a beer.

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Sam: Yeah, they I you know I grew up, you know, in the seventies and Budweiser and Miller everything was 3 up 4 point something. And now you can go in any place and get a 7 abb. Or 8, and it's like having 2 beers and one right. That amount of alcohol.

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Andy Whiteside: Used to drink in low alcohol beer. You drink it like you drink those which is pretty.

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Sam: You know I'll hit you like a freight train.

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Andy Whiteside: Yeah.

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Sam: So yeah, try in general, shy away from hard liquor. If you're hosting a corporate event, that's what they say. Beer and wine stick with that, and of course provide some non alcoholic beer options. Always a good good thing. Seems to go hand in hand. If you got food in your belly. You're gonna have less of an impact with your alcohol intake. So always provide food.

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Sam: And then, you know, I've been to a lot of these events, too, where you know, as an employee or vendor, you walk in. They give you 2 tickets, or they give you a hand stamp like it's a bar limit that to what seems to be the industry standard of just 2 and then also there, they talk about making it. An actual cash bar, so that employees have to pay for their drinks. And of course that's one way to curb drinking when people have to reach into their own pocket and pay for it.

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Sam: And then this is an interesting one to ask your employees volunteers for designated drivers, so that there'll be dedicated staff who who does not drink, and they're there to help people get home safely, or as a company subsidize a certain amount of a rideshare situation or higher vehicles. I I read one article where a company actually did that. So there's there's ways and means to

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Sam: kind of still have fun but limit the exposure of risk both for the employees and the company. And of course you know my favorite. This is the tool that I use is the first round, last call challenge coin that I created. That still is a tool I use today. That limits your intake to just 2 alcoholic drinks

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Sam: a day, and if you carry that with you at a an event, the baseball game or corporate event, or wherever you're gonna stand a better chance to stay out of trouble.

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Andy Whiteside: Yeah, hey, Sam, on, add one we do this quite often, because we do conferences out of town and stuff that you know. Plan to stay, plan to stay local to wherever you're gonna be enjoying yourself.

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Sam: Right? Right? The hotel or whatever. Yeah.

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Andy Whiteside: Yeah.

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Andy Whiteside: okay. Sam.

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Andy Whiteside: Any other things you'd want to cover, as it relates to events that you didn't cover.

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Sam: Well, it's really just like anything. With a little planning you can still have fun and be safe. And again, whether you're hosting or attending seek out some options that will limit your intake or give you some relief if you do so.

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Sam: I think a lot of this is just like you, said common sense, but

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Sam: lot of well intended people, and you know, with their I saw an article about a CEO who got, you know, pulled over for a dui last month, and it doesn't matter. Your demographic. Everybody's at risk for that kind of thing.

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Andy Whiteside: Yeah. Well, luckily it got pulled over before something worse happened.

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Sam: Right.

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Sam: right.

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Andy Whiteside: So a tick, a ticket, and the legal fees is nothing compared to the the negative. They could come out of it short term and long term for everybody involved.

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Sam: Right, right.

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Andy Whiteside: Well, Sam, I appreciate the time, as always, and good message to get out. Certainly a valuable, a valuable message, for you know my network, your network. And just people in general, especially, you know, generations that haven't

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Andy Whiteside: haven't had all the experiences and and the luck that you and I've had along the way to allow us to still be here.

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Sam: Yes, indeed. So yeah. Well, thanks for having me and look forward to chatting again next month.

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Andy Whiteside: Absolutely. Thanks.