Tailgates

[msualumnifoundation]

Bobcat Fans,

After a season without football, plus a new coach, there is much excitement around football season, including our tailgates. We love you, and we love seeing all of you. But we were hoping you could do us a favor. When you receive an email from us announcing a tailgate, we need you to take the next step and register for the tailgate right away. We are challenged with people registering past the RSVP deadline, and not just a handful of people are trying to register after the RSVP deadline. Hundreds of people are calling after the deadline and showing up the day of the tailgate. We want to welcome as many Bobcats as possible to our tailgates, but the significant number of those wishing to show up makes it difficult for us to plan a tailgate and plan it well. It's not easy to turn people away from the tailgate.

When we plan an away tailgate, we are a visiting team, and we play by the rules put forth by the school. As a visiting team, we receive a designated space. Often, that space comes with stipulations, how many people we can host, whom we can use for a caterer and a bar, and sometimes, the school itself will determine the cost of our tailgate registration price. While we recognize you may want a parking lot with a cold case of beer so you can gather with other fans, it's often not that simple. We need to abide by the school's standards and our own standards to meet insurance requirements for a sizeable high-risk gathering with alcohol. For us, that means we are serving food at our tailgate and having to set a guarantee for food one week in advance of the tailgate. That guarantee also helps ensure our caterer has enough bar staff to meet the demand at our tailgate, enough restrooms, and seating. Plus, there is the physical space of the tailgate itself. If a school gives us a space designated for 400 people per their fire Marshall, that's our cut-off number. If we know in advance that you are going to show up in full force, we can better work with the school. But if the week of, we receive hundreds of RSVPs past the deadline, our hands are tied.

In addition, the event industry all over the country is struggling with event staffing. We can't just add on 100 people to our tailgate the day of; believe me, I did try for the Wyoming Tailgate and I do always plan for extra. We need you to register and register early. Just like tickets to a football game sell out, tickets to the tailgate are going to sell out.

I'm excited that so many of you want to gather! And I'll continue to plan for as many people as possible at our tailgates, but I need you to meet me halfway. I have been planning the MSU Alumni Foundation tailgates for nine years. I remember attending one of my first tailgates in Northern Colorado with hardly 50 people at the tailgate. And we have come a long way since then. So please help me, help you have a better game day experience, and get those RSVPs in for the tailgates. All of our information is posted online at www.msuaf.org/tailgate. There are still several not posted due to staffing challenges away venues are having. Emails will also drop several weeks prior to each one reminding you to register.

And THANK YOU to those of you that did take the time to register for the Wyoming tailgate before the deadline.

Let's make it a great season!



Go 'Cats!

Jen Poser-Hayden
Director of Alumni Engagement | Tailgates

[kwcat]

Bobcat Fans,

After a season without football, plus a new coach, there is much excitement around football season, including our tailgates. We love you, and we love seeing all of you. But we were hoping you could do us a favor. When you receive an email from us announcing a tailgate, we need you to take the next step and register for the tailgate right away. We are challenged with people registering past the RSVP deadline, and not just a handful of people are trying to register after the RSVP deadline. Hundreds of people are calling after the deadline and showing up the day of the tailgate. We want to welcome as many Bobcats as possible to our tailgates, but the significant number of those wishing to show up makes it difficult for us to plan a tailgate and plan it well. It's not easy to turn people away from the tailgate.

When we plan an away tailgate, we are a visiting team, and we play by the rules put forth by the school. As a visiting team, we receive a designated space. Often, that space comes with stipulations, how many people we can host, whom we can use for a caterer and a bar, and sometimes, the school itself will determine the cost of our tailgate registration price. While we recognize you may want a parking lot with a cold case of beer so you can gather with other fans, it's often not that simple. We need to abide by the school's standards and our own standards to meet insurance requirements for a sizeable high-risk gathering with alcohol. For us, that means we are serving food at our tailgate and having to set a guarantee for food one week in advance of the tailgate. That guarantee also helps ensure our caterer has enough bar staff to meet the demand at our tailgate, enough restrooms, and seating. Plus, there is the physical space of the tailgate itself. If a school gives us a space designated for 400 people per their fire Marshall, that's our cut-off number. If we know in advance that you are going to show up in full force, we can better work with the school. But if the week of, we receive hundreds of RSVPs past the deadline, our hands are tied.

In addition, the event industry all over the country is struggling with event staffing. We can't just add on 100 people to our tailgate the day of; believe me, I did try for the Wyoming Tailgate and I do always plan for extra. We need you to register and register early. Just like tickets to a football game sell out, tickets to the tailgate are going to sell out.

I'm excited that so many of you want to gather! And I'll continue to plan for as many people as possible at our tailgates, but I need you to meet me halfway. I have been planning the MSU Alumni Foundation tailgates for nine years. I remember attending one of my first tailgates in Northern Colorado with hardly 50 people at the tailgate. And we have come a long way since then. So please help me, help you have a better game day experience, and get those RSVPs in for the tailgates. All of our information is posted online at www.msuaf.org/tailgate. There are still several not posted due to staffing challenges away venues are having. Emails will also drop several weeks prior to each one reminding you to register.

And THANK YOU to those of you that did take the time to register for the Wyoming tailgate before the deadline.

Let's make it a great season!



Go 'Cats!

Jen Poser-Hayden
Director of Alumni Engagement | Tailgates

Curious how many did show up in Wyoming? Did you get a rough count?

[coloradocat]

I heard there were 400 people at the tailgate and a wait list of 200+. It definitely looked that way when I walked by. There were a lot of people outside the fencing just hanging out.

[WalkOn79]

Really good crowd and well executed for the first one of the year. Thanks Kerri and crew!!

[BobcatDel]

Bobcat Fans,

After a season without football, plus a new coach, there is much excitement around football season, including our tailgates. We love you, and we love seeing all of you. But we were hoping you could do us a favor. When you receive an email from us announcing a tailgate, we need you to take the next step and register for the tailgate right away. We are challenged with people registering past the RSVP deadline, and not just a handful of people are trying to register after the RSVP deadline. Hundreds of people are calling after the deadline and showing up the day of the tailgate. We want to welcome as many Bobcats as possible to our tailgates, but the significant number of those wishing to show up makes it difficult for us to plan a tailgate and plan it well. It's not easy to turn people away from the tailgate.

When we plan an away tailgate, we are a visiting team, and we play by the rules put forth by the school. As a visiting team, we receive a designated space. Often, that space comes with stipulations, how many people we can host, whom we can use for a caterer and a bar, and sometimes, the school itself will determine the cost of our tailgate registration price. While we recognize you may want a parking lot with a cold case of beer so you can gather with other fans, it's often not that simple. We need to abide by the school's standards and our own standards to meet insurance requirements for a sizeable high-risk gathering with alcohol. For us, that means we are serving food at our tailgate and having to set a guarantee for food one week in advance of the tailgate. That guarantee also helps ensure our caterer has enough bar staff to meet the demand at our tailgate, enough restrooms, and seating. Plus, there is the physical space of the tailgate itself. If a school gives us a space designated for 400 people per their fire Marshall, that's our cut-off number. If we know in advance that you are going to show up in full force, we can better work with the school. But if the week of, we receive hundreds of RSVPs past the deadline, our hands are tied.

In addition, the event industry all over the country is struggling with event staffing. We can't just add on 100 people to our tailgate the day of; believe me, I did try for the Wyoming Tailgate and I do always plan for extra. We need you to register and register early. Just like tickets to a football game sell out, tickets to the tailgate are going to sell out.

I'm excited that so many of you want to gather! And I'll continue to plan for as many people as possible at our tailgates, but I need you to meet me halfway. I have been planning the MSU Alumni Foundation tailgates for nine years. I remember attending one of my first tailgates in Northern Colorado with hardly 50 people at the tailgate. And we have come a long way since then. So please help me, help you have a better game day experience, and get those RSVPs in for the tailgates. All of our information is posted online at www.msuaf.org/tailgate. There are still several not posted due to staffing challenges away venues are having. Emails will also drop several weeks prior to each one reminding you to register.

And THANK YOU to those of you that did take the time to register for the Wyoming tailgate before the deadline.

Let's make it a great season!



Go 'Cats!

Jen Poser-Hayden
Director of Alumni Engagement | Tailgates

Curious how many did show up in Wyoming? Did you get a rough count?

It was packed when I was in there. Tables for sitting to eat were 95% full and many standing. And yes they were limited by local rules. A lot of folks hanging around outside. And get this……they had to order in more beer…..go figure!!!

[gtapp]

I heard there were 400 people at the tailgate and a wait list of 200+. It definitely looked that way when I walked by. There were a lot of people outside the fencing just hanging out.

They limited us to 400 at the tailgate. At least 800 tried to get a spot I think I heard. Section A of the stadium sold out (1200 MSU fans) plus another 300+ throughout the stadium, I sat on the 50 in their Booster section. The Wyoming fans were great. Friendly, honest about their team and thankful we made the trip. I probably got thanked a dozen times for coming either at the game or at breakfast that morning. We took over one of the bars on Friday evening. I was by the door much of the night and Wyoming fans would step into the bar, take one look around and say nope, wrong bar. It was a good venue. Their stadium is much improved from 10 years ago. Great weather. Lot of fun. Especially when I had not seen any of these people for 2 years. It was wonderful to see so many Bobcat fans for the first time in 2 years.

[msualumnifoundation]

Hi-
Yes, you are correct; we took 400 RSVPs and ended up turning away hundreds of people from Wednesday night until gameday. As of Monday last week, we only had 200 RSVPs, so we doubled our attendance in several days and didn't have a way to adapt from a logistical standpoint to accommodate tripling the tailgate. Bartenders in Laramie were a sore subject as there was a huge labor shortage there. A LOT of phone calls were made to make sure no one went thirsty.
Jen

[Rich K]

While it is too bad that the alumni foundation didn't get the numbers early enough to properly plan, I think this indicates a general direction of EVERYTHING MSU related! Even our away game tailgates are the best of the best, and getting better!

[GoCats18]

What is the earliest time people can start tailgating for the Gold Rush game this weekend?

[BobcatDel]

What is the earliest time people can start tailgating for the Gold Rush game this weekend?

The official rules are 3 hours before game time.

https://msubobcats.com/sports/2021/8/17 ... g-map.aspx

[kwcat]

I have a couple of good tailgate spots at 11th and Kagy and may not be able to use them a couple of weekends likely in October .
If anyone wants to chip in and use them please PM me. I might be a little slow getting back to you but will answer.