The B Team Podcast
Talking all things Business, Bentonville, and Bourbon. Hosted by Josh Saffran, Matt Marrs, and Rob Nelson. New episodes every Thursday!
The B Team Podcast
Ep. 94 - Bourbon, Business & $100K Nights
A bourbon night that starts with Pappy Van Winkle and ends with purpose doesn’t happen by accident. We pulled back the curtain on how a fourth-year charity tasting in Bentonville raised around $100,000 while keeping the room small, the music live, and the vibe unmistakably warm. From a honey-finished Buffalo Trace that opened up with a few drops of water to VIP bottles at every seat, every detail was designed to turn great pours into generous bids without feeling pushy.
We brought in Scotty Hasting, an up-and-coming Nashville artist and veteran who rebuilt his musicianship after being wounded, and his story anchored the night. That through-line, craft meeting resilience, connected the tasting to the cause in a way slides never could. The auction stayed fresh with experiential lots: a bourbon locker concept, custom art, private tastings, and a dessert twist that stole the show; salted caramel bourbon vanilla ice cream made from donated bottles, offered both as a sweet finish and a “name-your-flavor” auction prize.
Behind the scenes, we refined mechanics that guests actually feel. Pre-poured one-ounce bottles replaced chaotic table pours, turning the lineup into a guided journey. Catering served food hot and flavorful, bartenders handled classics for non-tasters, and our hosts opened a barn that guests never wanted to leave. Demand spiked, tables spoken for months ahead and last-minute calls asking for any spare tickets, which raised the big question: how do we grow impact without growing headcount? Our plan: keep the room intimate, add a small silent auction and a low-barrier door raffle, and test a pre-party with a single rare bottle and simple food to prime the pump.
If you care about bourbon, community, veterans, or the craft of running a high-trust fundraiser, you’ll find a playbook here: lead with a showstopper, tell a real story, obsess over small moments, and keep the numbers transparent.
Subscribe, share this with a bourbon-loving friend, and leave a quick review with your favorite pour of the night. Your feedback shapes the lineup, and helps us raise even more for those who served.
Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I am your host, Josh Saffron, with my co-host at Mars, and our permanent guest, Rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Bettonville, bourbon, and business. The B Team Podcast. Be here. Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I'm your host, Josh Saffron, with my beautiful co-host today. Emily Saffron.
SPEAKER_01:Well, you're not really the co-host, but you are looking I thought Rob was gonna say he was the beautiful co-host today.
SPEAKER_03:No, Rob, the fact that Rob is here today after me having to put a Google pin in the map to remind him of how to get to the location. And our permanent guest. Hey, I made it today. You know, I was getting a lot of uh DMs about where have you been? Are you okay, so on and so forth. I was just busy working. Somebody uh messaged me and said, I looked on the back of the milk carton to see Bobby, like looking missing person. Remember back in the day they used to have that on the milk cartons? Uh they were looking for you. Everybody was worried. I'm here. I'm here. I mean, there's only so much vacation time. One man can in a 365-day year, you're on vacation 363 days. I wish today's the podcast. I wish that was the case. I wish that was the case. And we're here every Thursday for All Things Bentonville Business in Bourbon, and we have the OG. The OG. Thank you. The man, the myth, and the legend. It's been too long since we've had you. And it'll be a little bit longer after this one. Yes, another knee surgery. Next week. Bobby's gonna pop by with uh maybe a little bit of maybe a smoothie, maybe some jello pudding pops, some homemade pasta.
SPEAKER_02:With some a little gummy in there. Oh, in Bobby, in.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Out? Yeah. Hey, you know, whatever floats you. Whatever restaurants. Whatever.
SPEAKER_02:Instead of uh who is that other guy, the mystery guest?
SPEAKER_03:Where is he? Well, I can't play Footsie with Matthew, but I can play FTSE with Emily. There you go. Okay, that's perfect. Yes, I'm glad you're here. They are not.
SPEAKER_02:You can be here in his stead any day of the week. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Well, we're we are the season three is coming up quickly, and we're not sure if Bobby and Matthew are gonna make the cut. So there's a lot you and I and Jim have to talk about to see how we're gonna go. A lot of pressure. Lots going on. You have to you have to be here to be here, right? Yes. You have to be here to be here. That's new t-shirts. I'll see what my contract says. Well, you guys were not here last time, but I bought this locally. So this was a you're gonna love this, Bobby. So somebody took Buffalo Trace and mixed it with in a honey-aged oak barrel for 33 days. So if you take a uh a nose on it, it's super honey. Like it, but it doesn't taste as sweet, but it's very good. So it's Buffalo Trace, Asian honey barrel. Isn't that good? That was really nice.
SPEAKER_02:There's a lot of honeycomb, just a lot of wax. I think it's a lot of honey wax. I think it's incredible.
SPEAKER_01:It's very interesting.
SPEAKER_02:That's good. Now, did you get that honey wax or was meatillized? Almost like a dessert bourbon. Just like you. This is a really good this would be really good in an old fashioned great minds. Thank you like that.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, ice cream on top of that. Yeah, Russ, you and I should start a podcast about bourbon. It'd be amazing. It would be called the B plus team. No, what no, it had to be B minus because you wouldn't be it.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, it would be B plus at that point because I'd be out of it. This is really not bad. Try it with a little bit of water. You know, try it with the drops, you know, the magic drops.
SPEAKER_01:How many drops are you doing, Rose?
SPEAKER_02:Just two or three. Because you know, this isn't this artificial honey that you get in some whiskeys, you know, that say honey finish and it's chemical-based. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:This is we like it better with water.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it opens it up.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It opens up the honeycomb. Maybe you get a little tipsy, I'll pour you a little more.
SPEAKER_01:I put this right up there with the 1799 1792.
SPEAKER_03:1792. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:That is much better with the water.
SPEAKER_03:I think it's yeah, I like it.
SPEAKER_02:This is that's a pleasure surprise. I'm here for you.
SPEAKER_03:Uh I could teach you something new about bourbon, it's like a good day for me. It's always a good day, then. It is always a good day. All right, so we are here today to recap and review Genskiving Quattro. That would be four for you that don't speak Spanish. The fourth iteration. So, Emily, do you want to break news on the podcast for how much money that we raised this year? Hold on.
SPEAKER_01:Net proceeds are looking to be about a hundred thousand.
SPEAKER_00:Why are you waking at me?
SPEAKER_01:Because a hundred, hundred and five thousand in that range. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01:After all the dust settled, so a little bit higher than last year, which is amazing.
SPEAKER_03:That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That's amazing. So for you guys that were there, you you've been through the beginning and you kind of came in. Once the thing about you is like once it you knew it was good, you put your name behind it. Like Russ and Emily and I were there from the beginning when it was dog shit. And you came in, you're like, huh, I'm gonna look at me. I'm gonna attach my name to something really cool. Well, I think you asked me for help. So I don't know if I wanted to attach my name to it, and I didn't know you very well. Can I tell you on the first one? Rob, you added value. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I add value to anything, I tell. That's a given.
SPEAKER_01:I I pride myself in being able to identify the superstars. And Rob throws a damn good party. And so he really utilized those skills to help us throw a damn party.
SPEAKER_03:When you say superstars, you're married to one, right? I mean, that's the way I'm in.
SPEAKER_01:You are an amazing delegator.
SPEAKER_03:Oh I thought I thought we were gonna go. I love that wicked shot across the bowel there. I would say you're an amazing husband.
SPEAKER_01:You are up to him at the event, though. Yes, you're wonderful. What about my presence up front with Russ? Oh, gosh, MC skills off the charts. 10 out of 10.
SPEAKER_03:John Williams, look out, I'm coming for you. Shout out to John Williams. But let's talk about this year and like the highlights. And again, you were out in the crowd, and you're working, so you had a front row seat for all the festivities. What'd you love this year? I love the the mix-in of the live music.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:To kind of kick off the event, which was really, really nice. We had never done that before. Never done that before. We kind of opened up the space for the VIP pre and post, which I think was a big win. Um can we can we pause that, Sam? We just tell everybody what the music was that we had because tied into the chair.
SPEAKER_01:Scotty! Yes, he's uh an up-and-coming Nashville recording artist who was also the recipient of several of Penn Fed's um awards. He was a soldier in Afghanistan. He got shot 10 times, um, lost feeling in his hand. And um, I believe the story goes he he plays his guitar now with the pick kind of like wrapped around somehow to where, you know, without the sensation, he's able to play the guitar. And he's he's very good.
SPEAKER_03:It was impressive. It basically was taught. He saved his block. He self-taught during COVID.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, during COVID, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So he uh look it for purpose. He was there for purpose and found it. There was something positive that came out of COVID.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think he said he taught himself how to play the guitar watching YouTube.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's correct.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so he was amazing and he brought uh three bandmates who also accompanied him and they played for the VIP happy hour, which was ahead of the event starting, and then they hung around and played again in the in the evening. He also got up and spoke about what Penn Fed means to him. It was really incredible.
SPEAKER_03:But I do agree with you. That was a huge because every year it's like, what can we do to uplast? That was when I wasn't nice. I wasn't sure what you were gonna say on what like the but that was a key change this year. Yeah. Look, I mean, the raffle items were great again this year. Uh, you know, we had some of the same. I think uh Dave came you know strong with his bourbon locker, which was super unique. Shout out to Kit Tim Koch. Yeah, yes. We had multiple barrels this year. We had a tequila barrel, we had a bourbon barrel, uh, we had some great art again. I mean, you know, the the lineup was amazing. Yeah, I mean for Tim, I mean, uh we'll announce it in advance that Dave is going to bronze some some horse poop from from the farm and he's gonna autograph it, and Tim's gonna buy it because that's Tim's gonna buy anything that Dave brings, right?$7,000, one of one. You know, I I can't I can't speak for Tim or Dave or for you, but if you think so.
SPEAKER_01:I'll leave it with someone's playing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right. Yeah. Uh the ice cream, I think, was a huge hit this year.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Wait, how are you getting credit for the ice cream?
SPEAKER_01:Because it was my idea to have it served as dessert, and it was your idea to have it served up as an auction item.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. True story. That was some of the balance of that raise?$1,200.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That was which I mean, come on for ice cream. Name your own flavor for and that's Lisa Boris, did that, right? Shout out to Lisa. Yeah. Her and I were battling on that. She did say we can name it the Josh.
SPEAKER_01:But after the event, I got so many private messages. One thanking me and saying how amazing it was and how different it is from every other event in town. And almost everybody said, and the ice cream was incredible. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:At the end of the year. And it actually is incredible. It's almost too bad. I think they're closed now for the season, right? Yeah, I just met with him the other day. He's interested in moving to brick and mortar. So if anybody wants to shout out to our friends, honey bean. Yeah, honey beans. They are amazing. Hunter and his wife, what a cool spot. Yeah. The ice cream is. Did you have some of the ice cream? Yes, I did. Wasn't it 10 out of 10?
SPEAKER_01:It's five just for your viewers, we you, you, not me, brought bottles of bourbon ahead of time and he created a salted caramel bourbon vanilla ice cream, prepackaged it so everybody could have their own.
SPEAKER_03:So what I'm hearing you say is I didn't delegate it, I actually delivered the bourbon. No, no, no, what it would look like. But you said I delivered the bourbon. Physically brought the bottles. I didn't delegate it to Bobby to do.
SPEAKER_01:Physically brought the bottles, yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It's good.
SPEAKER_01:But even that even in the summertime, like they have the strawberry tastes like you're eating a strawberry, you know. They they do amazing flavors for the kids. So it's it's it's really good.
SPEAKER_03:What what else was a highlight? Man, I think I just rattled off six or seven, but I mean the food was very good. Yeah, the food the food was again consistent, not another home run. The VIPs, everybody got a full bottle of Buffalo Traces, yeah, right? Yeah. Which I mean, we just we're always trying to figure out to up upsell it.
SPEAKER_02:You know, upstairs after the event, everyone was just beside themselves on the success of the night. Yeah. And I love the lineup was great. You know, starting with Pappy. You know, I had a lot of friends that saw the post on Instagram, they go, Russ, why the heck do you start with Pappy been in Winkle? The most I said, well, because that's the way it flows in the lineup, because the way you stage the lineup, that's where it's gonna fit in the lineup that we had, which I thought the lineup was exceptional. But again, I think starting with a showstopper, yeah, like Pappy at the beginning, I think, helped set the tone.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, the 1S bottles, everyone everyone was engaged. I've heard more chatter this year than than the previous series for as far as the lineup, the flow, the atmosphere, the bands, just everything came together. And I don't think we the only way we could improve it next year is just by having another 50 people in there.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it's it's funny you say that. Like we've only we've this is like three weeks post. Mike Dooley was just here 30 seconds ago filming a podcast. Said it's the first time he's been there and he's in for next year. Like immediately. We were just out at Cherokee Casino the other day. Sure. Shout out to Cherokee. That's a whole other I've talked to you about that one. And we told them we want them to put an auction item in, and they go, cool, we'll do it. And we also want a table, like uh okay. Yeah, and who who else? Uh I was with Adam Cairns this morning. You know, Adam, he said you were at his house, he's the Sam's Club guy. Uh said you were at his house a few weeks ago. Oh, yeah. He said you were there on a Friday and you were talking about the event. That was the event you didn't make. Oh, no, no, no, no. I know who you're talking about. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Good dude. And he's like, hey, Rob was Matt's brother-in-law, by the way. He sounds a lot like Matt. Yeah. He was at my house. Yeah, I know who you're talking about. Yep. I swung by it. Uh, yep. Exactly. And he was telling me he says, How did I miss the event? I I gotta have it, I gotta be in it for next year. Same thing we sell in the event, though.
SPEAKER_01:Jennifer Belt, who is at the Amazum, and she was one of Carrie Morgan's guests.
SPEAKER_03:Shout out to Carrie.
SPEAKER_01:Shout out to Carrie. She sent me a private message and she goes, I don't even drink bourbon, but I want to get a ladies' table next year just because the vibe was so cool. Yep. And we'll just enjoy the vibe and and watch the auction and see how everybody goes crazy with with all the great bourbons that are so hard to find. And she goes, I don't drink it, but I have such an appreciation for it.
SPEAKER_03:There's really And we added on some cool ladies' uh auctions items this year. The Blakeman item, which again I want to give you kudos. I have to give you kudos occasionally.
SPEAKER_01:Bobby, so good.
SPEAKER_03:The Blakeman item, what was it? Like Christmas sound called. It was it's always Blakeman's. It was picked up in a private car service, right? Yeah, it was Ladies' Night Out. Shout out to Pinnacles, Jeff Wright. Then Prosecco. Yeah. Ladies' Night Out, private uh Prosecco tasting at Blakeman's and uh Forever Brook bracelets, then uh escorted over to Ruth Christ's and uh round round trip service. Yeah, yeah. I mean the the auction names that we have are just very unique. Somebody was telling me, and Ben is very generous always, but it's like, hey, it's a 10,000 shopping square, it's a 5,000 shot. It's a like we're like, we don't want to do that. Like we want to do something very experiential. And he came through as he always does. Yeah. Yep. I think next year you're gonna donate a Rolex rumor has it. You're gonna take one of your I think Ben is maybe. I think you a game worn, game used. I don't have it. Autographs.
SPEAKER_01:In addition to Ben, you have to shout out Donnie Hubbard also.
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, Hubbard shout at Donnie. I won that one. Yeah? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So it costs fitting and uh membership to the H Club for the whole year. That was a good one.
SPEAKER_03:I'm a VIP member there now. But um What do you gotta put in your locker over there?
SPEAKER_01:And see yet to be and just Josh get an invite.
SPEAKER_03:You have so many lockers. Yet to be seen. You have to be seen. So many lockers for you. Yeah, one at yours and one at Donnie's. And one at your house. Well, I mean Casa Dan Elsa. Yeah. Oh, Baron Elsa is my locker. Yeah. Yeah. Now you you do, I'm gonna put you on the spot. I mean, you do 250 events a year, right? I mean, that's kind of your living. Like, well, why is this one so much more unique, or what's different about this than some of the other ones that you do?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because I do about four or five charitable events a year around the country. First of all, living here gives me purpose to do this event and and see the give back to the community. That's for me very, very important. The unique aspect of partnering, because again, with me being an independent beverage alcohol educator, I'm not tied to distilleries and brands anymore. Which is nuts. I I am so I'm not jaded on specific uh elements of the industry like I once was, which gives me now the independence as an independent educator to put into events and speak independently the way I think these categories are, it's better being jaded or about slamming a brand, or this better is this one, this one's better than that. I go right down the middle as an independent and the and partnering that going back to a partnership, which I'm not into, but we go back, and I do it one partnership a year. This is with Bubble of Trace. And so the three that we've done, that's four, excuse me, all four lineups have been unique and different. I already know what we can do next year. I'm already thinking about the potential lineup for next year. So what sets this apart from all the other vests that I do, whether it be my professional investor or a couple, you know, like these four or five terrible events, is the we know where the money is being earmarked from. You know, there's no there's no shortcuts, there's no there's no hiding anything. Everything is up front, everything is transparent, and then the committee is a joy to work with. And again, you only work want to work with people that you want to work with. We're not forced to do this. We're doing it out of the love for everybody else and what the give back means to the committee. Well, Rob's kind of forced to do this. I tell him I need I need to be able to do that. Well, I mean, I haven't seen I haven't seen the Venmo transaction. So but I think this is this is top of mind. I mean, I'm already thinking about, you know, next year, and I think personally as a as a presenter, this was you know, I've told you this in the past, and again, every I speak from my heart, and it's very truthful. This again, this is the top three event that I did this year. You know, uh the other two were at one specific area in West Texas at a honey lodge. But this for from a standpoint of the you know, all the events I did this year in Mexico and the United States, this is the top three, just because again, you see the energy when these events start. You know, sometimes you do an event, I mean you guys are around all the time. You go to a lot of fundraiser. Yes, you're engaged in the community. Yep. You know, I'm gonna have the year around the country, but you're here in ground all the time doing these big, you know, paternal bits. You know that the buzz is different than some of these other ones. This one has a life of its own. Yes, yeah, and a pulse of its own. And that's why as we move forward into years and years and years down the road, like someone I heard someone say, this is the best event every year, even though it's only four years old, that Northwest Arkansas has to offer. And to say that is really only four years in, uh, pays testimony to Emily, your God-given talent as an organizer and the way you can just move everybody together. Yeah. I mean, you can hurt cats, so there's no doubt about that. A lot of cats and I really applaud you for your hard work because you don't get enough credit for what you do. I mean, it the the moving parts that you have to perform and execute, especially the day of and the day before, you go, how the and you have your family, you have Josh. Well, you can put him aside for a little while, but you know, you have the family and do everything, and then you have the jets place. So I I really applaud you for for your hard work and the hours and hours that you put into it. You make everyone else shine because of you.
SPEAKER_01:Well, I don't need the accolades, but I appreciate the sentiment. Um, it's it's just it's a pleasure. It is a lot of work. It's like we've talked about this planning a wedding every year for 150 people. Um, but there's so many logistical moving parts to it, and I couldn't do it by myself. So, you know, your knowledge and know-how and Josh's delegation and Lisa Boris, shout out to Lisa. David David. Great job tonight of Elena was a huge help. Shout out to Elena and um Mega with uh social media and LinkedIn.
SPEAKER_02:And then also, yeah, because we've we've added to and and you know, it with Rob too. There's what, there's eight on the committee now? Is it four of them? Yeah, well, there's four. There's then there's Lisa, David, yeah, Mega, eight of us. Eight, Elena. There's the started with four, and we're up to eight. If we if we didn't have the eight, um I don't know how we would be starting to.
SPEAKER_03:So the first year it was us three and Lisa.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Right?
SPEAKER_03:But I think David was there a little bit. Yes. Oh, David, David, yeah, David was there.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think that's why it's getting better because you're starting to pool your resources. And the people who are good at things were trying to delegate to those people to really hone it on what they're good at.
SPEAKER_02:So I think from the way the everything came together with the tasting this year, I like the one-ounce bottles. Again, that's laborious to put together. That's a little bit more of a cost, but I think that cost is a benefit for everything else.
SPEAKER_03:Well, that made it much more smooth. So for those that weren't there, instead of having to pour from bottles and running around like lunatics, we pre-poured everybody's drinks this year. So everybody walked in with a bag, and this is number one. We're gonna drink number one, here's the papy. Everybody take out number one. And so that was Well, no, no, it was nice too. And I don't know if anyone did this. Uh I didn't. But you know, if you wanted to put half of the pour of your pour in and save it for a later time, you could have put the cap back on, put it back into your bag. Yeah. Now I know you didn't do that because I saw you were full knock the whole thing out. Yeah, and then take Angie's and knock the whole thing out. That quite wasn't the case, but Angie wasn't there, unfortunately, this year. But yeah, but in in spirit, you did. Yeah. I guess.
SPEAKER_02:And Josh. Well, does does she know that she was another spectacular? Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:We were trying not to make her feel bad about it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So that's super cool. I am excited about next year. Every year I tell Bobby here that I don't want to talk about it for several months because I need a break.
SPEAKER_03:Well, on top of that, uh Russ gave you well deserved accolades, but we We were opening the gents place at the same time as this was going on. So you guys thought that she was very calm and oh man, I would take the the brunt of it at home. It was like elbow smash to the hen and fist to the throat. I mean it was a rough couple months.
SPEAKER_01:Quite, but we had a lot going on for sure.
SPEAKER_03:It was busy.
SPEAKER_01:But that's what you say the swan is graceful on the on the top of the water and they're feverishly paddling.
SPEAKER_03:You were feverishly paddling.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and and I can't wait to see what 2026 brings. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I think again, I think You already had the buzz for next year, and we only we don't even know the published date yet. Well, that was the other thing that was interesting is the first couple years we were begging people, like the last couple of days and weeks. Like that we had 20 like we sold out three weeks in advance without pushing it. And then the last week, tables out four months in advance. The tables were basically spoken for before we even exactly but the last couple days, instead of reaching out to people, we were getting calls in. Is there another ticket floating around? Do anybody on a ticket?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, begging for tickets, which is awesome. And it that that brought this up the conversation from several people is how do we keep growing it, but not add more headcount because everybody said it's perfect the way it is, don't make it too big. You know, we love that it feels like a big Thanksgiving dinner. We love that it's intimate, even though there's 150 people.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I mean we could easily add another 50, but I don't think we should. Yeah, I think I don't think maybe add one more table.
SPEAKER_02:Like maybe I said 50 a minute ago, and I think I think that's really pushing the envelope here. I think to your point, one, maybe two extra tables, that's six an extra 16. Yeah. Because again, and it's unfortunate. I know a table was paid for, a VIP table was paid for, but they know showed. Shout out to Nick Dozier.
SPEAKER_03:No, I'm just saying, this is a fully transparent B-Team podcast. Shout out to Nick. He made a very generous.
SPEAKER_02:He sure did. You know, they missed out on a great off a great evening. So I think they need to make a point to even though they they missed this year, they pay for the VIP table.
SPEAKER_03:And I saw him the week after, and he goes, God damn it, I forgot to show up. Like he he he knew he paid and he was looking forward. He goes, I forgot about the event. Thank you for how long you must have extra table to like store stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and and yeah, we'll we'll we'll have our download and all that. And I think next year there I've got I've gotten some feedback where I think we could even raise more money and do different things that people would like to see as well. Such as uh maybe I the biggest feedback I got was have a few silent auction items. Yes. Yep. Right? Yep, because the live auction goes long. The live auction goes long. Particularly when you get a brewer with a mic at the end. And uh, you know, some people don't like to get into that bidding war type of thing, but you know, there there's technology out there where we could have 10 or 15, you know, items on the side where they could quietly sit there on their phone and do their thing.
SPEAKER_01:I think additional feedback I got was have some sort of a door raffle where you're throwing 25 bucks into win a potential one thousand, two thousand dollar bottle.
SPEAKER_03:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:But you know, for the people who don't want to spend, you know, the bigger, the bigger dollars.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. Um And we talked about it for this year, but you know, logistically, manpower, so on and so forth with everything going on. But I think if we plan it this year, we could I guess my point is we could raise even more money by maximizing the 150 people and their willingness to give without having to just push the number. Here's the other thing I want to do, and thank you for signing up for this because I think it's that shows the value that you got. Is a pre-party at your house, like two weeks before, like a kickoff party with pizza and a really good bottle of bourbon. And we charge people like another hundred bucks to come. I think that that was very generous of you to offer that, and I think that really goes with what we're trying to do. Yeah, ask Angie for the date, she'll give you one and I'll be there to present the body. Yes, yes. We'll take it right at one of Bobby's lockers. I mean, it'll be a good night. They make some homemade pizza. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I do want to um uh shout out thank you again catering concepts for the food. They were amazing.
SPEAKER_03:The food was yeah, that's two years in a row, it's just phenomenal. But but I mean they're up when you go to these events, the food is typically dry, it's cold, it's not tasty. The food that we get is everybody raves about dinner.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and then Taiwan on Sue Shadlow and her team are still every year. She she has four bartenders come for those who don't want the bourbon tasting, or for those who want old fashions or other things mixed with the bourbon before, after, and during, and and they're wonderful and they did such a great job. Gray's bored with all the charcuterie and the cookie plates and there's one person that you haven't shouted out yet. Well, I haven't gotten through it, but go ahead.
SPEAKER_03:But the the person you have to shout at is who? Mike Hodgers. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Mike Hodgers, yes. Mike Hodgers, you donate him and Melody, it's not just Mike. Melody too. Melody, yeah, uh donate donate their space, um, which is an incredible barn.
SPEAKER_02:The barn is yeah, the barn sets the tone. Yeah. Well, you know, he's improved it since last year. You notice that the back wall was now pale, or last year was still a work in progress. Yep. So next year we go, there'll be something else in there because uh it keeps because he's got a lot of stuff in the back that he's still adding on. And you know for him to give the barn in his time with Melody and the and then the upstairs and open up the bar and everything. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I also want to add about that is that they make this space so welcoming to where you go to all these other events, um, like Gala's, for example, and people are leaving at 8 p.m. Like they they come, they shake hands, they have a bite or two of food, they look at the auction items, and then they're gone before the night is over. Mike and Melody have created such a welcoming space that people are there well after the hanging out, well after. Um, whether it's they're opening up their own private bourbon collection or just offering up their lounge to hang out in or listen to music. Scotty played well after um, that they are just wonderful humans to support charitable initiatives, but especially when it's surrounded by the I mean, speaking of late night, that's the night that Matt was walking home to Centered in from Bedro, right?
SPEAKER_03:I you'd have to ask Carol. I mean, I mean rumor has it that Matt, it was such a late night that Matt decided to walk home that night. All I know is I was in Big Cedar the next morning at 9 a.m. Yes, and I got a phone call from you, and you didn't sound very good. Okay. How far is Big Cedar from here? Hour and 45 minutes. Okay. And and it's windy, so I'm sure he's gonna like around the No, I kept it under control because I knew I had a You had a big day. Had a big day the next day. Planning Jake's bachelor party. Shout out to Jake. Big bachelor party coming in. Oh yeah. And Bimini. And and Well, so can anything that we could talk about for next year? W the dates we're looking at still be in that November.
SPEAKER_01:So we're looking still, we always try to have it around Veterans Day. We have found Thursdays work typically um the best. I think the Thursday before Veterans Day um is not gonna work for a couple people already, so we're looking at the Thursday after.
SPEAKER_03:We say a couple people, you mean Bobby.
SPEAKER_01:The important people, the people who spearhead is that don't plan error on me. Um but so it's it's usually the th one of the Thursdays before or after Veterans Day and before the holidays kick you.
SPEAKER_03:So it'll likely have to be the Thursday after Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01:Can you we're waiting on David's availability too?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Does that work for you, Bobby? I mean, I know again when you're traveling 360 days of the year. Yeah, yeah. Is this your son's wedding? Yeah, son's wedding.
SPEAKER_02:You know, what for a good reason? Remember, Mike, I said the SEC country, you never plan a wedding during football season. Oh. That's just that's just my hot sports opinion. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It's a good reason to miss Bobby, but we won't have to miss it.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:We can coordinate.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Cadley? Yeah. He's looking at his text. So it looks like most likely if you're gonna work around that, it'd be the 12th November.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I think that's per that's two weeks before Thanksgiving. That's perfect. Right? Let's I think that's the date to go for.
SPEAKER_01:So for everybody out there who has personal or professional charitable budgets and you have no idea where you would like to use those as the year winds down, Chancegiving will be an amazing place because we are a 501c3 and we do tax receipts for donations.
SPEAKER_03:So we're working on a save the date. We have officially announced a save the date without Dave or Mike. And now we're we're going rogue. We're going, we're going in Bobby's schedule. Yeah, a pencil. It's a pencil and not the side. The smartest pencil. The sharpest pencil would be the right answer. The smartest pencil. Yeah, so you could pencil it.
SPEAKER_01:So we're smart penciling.
SPEAKER_03:Smart penciling it in.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Russ, you remember that episode when Bobby said he's the smartest pencil. You could pencil it in. This uh should mean the secretary. Yeah. We're gonna lock that on like Hell and her. Lock it in, lock her in. And any fun plans for the holidays while we have everybody here? Yeah, I'm gonna be recovering from surgery. Yes, Bobby's gonna be by with some dummies for you.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, I've got family coming in and out uh for the balance. Oh yeah. Your your sister's in town, sister's in town. I've got good friends coming in town. Uh yeah. All good shout out to your sister. Shout out to Johanna. Shout her out.
SPEAKER_01:You may or may not be dressed up like Santa Claus next weekend.
SPEAKER_03:Santa Con is tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Not to date the podcast, but yes. I mean Santa Con would have happened a few weeks after this podcast, most likely. But I know what you meant.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I'm excited. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:We have a ton of new restaurants opening.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I know Hanukkah's the 14th. And you got I mean, you have a busy household.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, we have the kids coming back in town, which is great. And then New Year's with good friends, hopefully. And then January is the month of rest. We've determined.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Where you go Key Largo.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know that I need to go anywhere as long as I'm just resting. But yes, we hope to have some getaway to maybe a ski trip. Maybe a ski trip. Maybe maybe a boat trip, but something we haven't you know, when you're a business owner, people think that you're at home just you know, living the life and in fact you work a lot. So we're gonna take off and take some time during our slower quarter.
SPEAKER_02:Which you need you need to decompress because if you don't decompress, you're not gonna be successful as you get in. Because you need the downtime. Because you know, I I like to say I burn hot most of the year for my events. And well, I like that phrase. And I and I need my downtime. And if I, you know, I I need to I need to blow that candle out and and just decompress. Because if I don't, then I'm then I'm a mess and I need to be in my best for all my presentations. Yep. And and that's important not to mail it in. And I never mail in any of my events. Like uh someone asked me the other day, Russ, you probably just show up and present. I said, the day I just show up or present is the day I'm just gonna give it up. Yep. You know, and I I pres I prepare for every event like it's my first one. I love it. Yeah. I love it. That's why you're so successful. You're so good. Well, thank you. And you know, it's funny too. I still get a little pit in my stomach before I present. Is that ready? Yeah. I've done over 2,500 live presentations. That's awesome. And I still get that little pit right here, which means I know I'm ready. It's game. It's that nervous, that little kind of nervous energy. Yeah, keep saying that. And if I don't have that pit there, I go, Well, what did you do to prepare today? And I and I will always still get it because then I kind of my brain re-engages. But I think we all are successful because we get it and we understand what the we just keep everything moving forward and we don't shortcut. I love it. I think that's very important.
SPEAKER_03:Well, in closing, um, great event, Emily. Again, I know that you don't like the accolades, but well, because it truly is a full T P. I know, but you're you're the you're the one, what do you call it? The puppeteer, the master of ceremony is like doo doo doo doo doo doo doo dude, the ringmaster, like the the PT Barnum. That's you. You do it all. I love it. You do it all. Um, so thank you for everything excited for next year. I'm always sarcastic and breaking chops on the podcast, but it is a season to be thankful and celebrate friends, and some of my good friends are here in the room. Absolutely. I'm thankful for you, Russ. Emily, you're not right. Happy holidays, all right. Happy holidays.