Background
The Washington Brewers Festival is put on by the Washington Brewers Guild, with event producer Own The Night Productions, in the shadow of Seattle's Space Needle. This year's festival drew about 3,000 to 3,500 people, with 80 different breweries pouring - and every one of them is its own vendor.
The challenge
Eighty breweries means 80 vendors who all need to take payment the same way. With paper tickets and physical tokens, someone has to count all of it once the taps close: at the end of the night, that meant six hours and 15 people counting down 80 tills.
When we're organizing this festival, we're working with 80 different breweries. That's 80 different vendors. Being able to find a system that works for everyone is incredibly challenging.
Daniel OlsonExecutive Director, Washington Brewers GuildThe solution: FastBar
The festival went cashless with FastBar. Guests wear an RFID wristband, and the breweries take payment on FastBar tablets with a wristband reader. Guests pick a beer, tap their wristband and walk away with a pour - no paper to deal with and no physical tokens to deal with. Guests stay in control of their own spending, whether they want two more drinks or eight more.
We wanted to make a change, bringing in a contemporary, agile solution like FastBar.
Scott UrstadCOO, Own The Night Productions
When you explained to them how it worked and they were like, oh, cool!
Shawna CormierDirector of Events, Washington Brewers GuildFolks are able to utilize their wristband and everything was in their control. If they wanted more tickets for two more drinks, eight more drinks, it was up to them.
Leslie ShoreEvent VolunteerIt was very easy for folks to say, hey, here's what we do, we walk up, we scan the thing, walk away, I'm drinking beer, I'm back to engaging with my folks, I'm here to have a good time.
Ezra KoenigHead of Sales, Ravenna Brewing
Key results
Tap, tap, pour
“We literally are calling this tap, tap, pour,” said Scott Urstad of Own The Night Productions. “It's I want a beer, I want that one, tap, tap, pour.”
80
Breweries on one system
One system that works for every vendor: a wristband tap on a FastBar reader, with no paper tickets and no tokens to hand out or collect.
6 hrs
Of till counting, gone
“At the end of the night, I don't have to spend six hours with 15 people counting down, in this case, 80 tills,” said Sean Eggelston, co-founder of Own The Night Productions.
Data the producers can use
“It's the data collection and that, as an event producer, that is the most valuable asset,” said Eggelston.
Why FastBar worked for the Washington Brewers Festival
- One cashless system for all 80 breweries
- RFID wristbands - guests tap, pour and walk away
- No paper tickets or physical tokens to deal with
- Guests decide how many drinks they buy
- No end-of-night till counting
- Sales data for the event producers
Our vendors are happy, the food trucks are happy, the bands are happy, the customers are happy, our security is happy. To me as an event producer, that's what I want to hear.
Sean EggelstonCo-Founder, Own The Night Productions