How 1000+ sausages made for great networking (and raised $10,000)

On June 25, 150 people convened in Toronto. Ostensibly there to contribute to charity and make a dent in the 1000+ sausages awaiting them, what unfolded was, to quote: “the most relaxing networking I have ever experienced.”

Going into the Sausage Showdown, most people had no idea what to expect. Going out, most people had only one question: “so when’s the next one?”

In this article, I’m going to breakdown how to combine a love for food, relationships, and charity to create something truly kick ass and memorable. How to bring it all together to build up your network and your community.

(I already have a few friends doing it, and you can too)

I’ll also reveal the most delicious sausages in Toronto 🙂

What is the Sausage Showdown?

20 chefs and butchers competed to win the title of best sausage in Toronto. 100 tickets were available for purchase at $100 each. 100% of the ticket sale went to charity (thus, raising $10,000).

Everyone voted for their top 5, with the winner announced at the end of the night.

Consider it the savory sequel to my Chocolate Chip Cookie Off 2017.

Why Sausages?

The first question I always get: why sausages? (I’m sure you’re thinking that right now).

Hell, I love talking about food, but you will rarely never hear me rave about sausages.

“Why not?” accurately reflects my thought process.

The simple truth: I wanted a challenge.

It’s not hard to coax people to show up for cookies. For pie? For mac ‘n cheese? For ice cream? They’re all delicious, and people turn out in droves for them.

But sausages? That’s a weird one.

Not only is it a bit of an odd sell (“oh hey come eat sausages”) and laden with innuendo (so many), but it’s also logistically a lot harder to manage. Cold sausage sucks, and so there are practical considerations in ensuring the sausages stay delicious.

I previously wrote about how I convinced 27 professionals to make cookies. This was me stepping up the game – harder to convince people to bring cooked meat, harder to convince people to eat meat, and harder to make it all work.

I have to be honest – I did not know one could be so creative when it came to sausages. The chefs and butchers utterly blew everyone away with their creations.

I chose sausages because it was both unsexy and not-so-easy to pull off, and thus appreciated the challenge of making it happen.

Making it happen

In the end, it turned out to be easier than expected.

My friend Logan manages the space we used for our Chocolate Chip Cookie Off. He easily solved the logistics problem: have the chefs show up early with pre-cooked sausages, finish them off in a frying pan, and then toss them in chaffers.

Furthermore, as an accomplished pastry chef who was starting his own bread business, he said he’d also take care of the bread and sauces.

With the logistics taken care of, it was now time to recruit the sausage makers.

Recruiting turned out to be easier than expected. A few reasons:

1. I had already done a charity food off (the Chocolate Chip Cookie Off 2017), which helped show people I was serious about this event (and could fill up space).

2. Because of my love for food, I had built up a network of people in the food industry. These people were more than happy to refer me to their friends.

In fact, half of the competitors were via referrals.

3. The charity – CFCC – was one a lot of chefs knew about, cared about, and respected. It was a lot easier to get them onboard knowing that their hard work was going towards a charity they liked.

4. I mentioned how Forbes had written about the event, about how Globe & Mail was sending someone, and that there may be other press too. Not to mention it would be their peers. Combining a good cause with good exposure and good networking? A win-win for everyone.

By utilizing my existing network, I was able to find a venue, figure out logistics, and recruit sausage makers.

But what if I’m not there already?

I’m very cognizant and self-aware of where I am; it’s easy for me to talk about getting from C to D while you’re at A yourself and trying to get to C.

Read about how I made the Chocolate Chip Cookie Off happen, as that covers getting from A to C.

Selling Tickets

I sold 50 tickets before I attempted to recruit a single competitor.

I got this idea from Jayson Gaignard and his Mastermindtalks event. He is so well respected that he never announces who is coming or speaking at his event. He simply says “My event is at X time, for $Y, and you should come.”

I adopted this approach and messaged my entrepreneur friends in Toronto, and versions of this happened:

and this:

That was it. Because I had built the relationships and had a reputation of 1) someone who can pull this off and 2) loves food, I sold tickets fairly quickly.

Not only that, I contacted quite a few people I knew from the Internet (but had not met in person) and told them to roll into town for it:

21 tickets were sold to people not in Toronto!

I should note that a ticket to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Off was $15 online and $20 at the door. For the Sausage Showdown, I raised it to $100, with no sales at the door.

Even at $100 I feel it was underpriced – AYCE sausage combined with a curated set of awesome humans that I knew? No-brainer.

I only had two people say no thanks because of the price, and one of them only because he didn’t like sausages.

Building a solid reputation made it far easier to sell tickets. Furthermore, I asked for the sale (and followed up on people who said yes but didn’t pull the trigger).

Having a Team in Place

I came home pretty frustrated after the Chocolate Chip Cookie Off.

By all measures it was a huge success: we sold out, people were in sugar comas by the end, we raised money for charity, and everyone had a blast (and were clamoring for an immediate sequel).

But it had not been a smooth ride for me.

It was the first event I had ever run, and a lot of little glitches happened. Right after I got home, I wrote down 27 things that had gone wrong. The very next day I wrote an eight-page playbook to ensure the next one went smoothly.

The key thing I did? Getting my team on the same page, and trusting them to make it work if something went awry.

I had 17 friends who showed up to help me out. Some manned the front. Others were runners, connecting the chefs to the kitchen to their food. A few others were chopping up sausages. Logan was frying up a storm. A few were taking pictures. One was in charge of labeling all the sausages. Others were running around making sure it was all running smoothly.

I could have never done this without them. Having warm food created an extra layer of complexity, and the team rose to the challenge and made it all purr.

Dominic Toretto was onto something:

One smart thing I did was a shared spreadsheet that everyone used. When a competitor came in, their sausage was assigned a letter. All their information was connected to that letter, so anyone could immediately look up and see the status of any sausage:

Getting everyone on the same page, going through the process together, and empowering everyone made operations run a lot smoother.

Sausage Showdown 2017

The event itself was fabulous. The chefs started rolling in around 6:30. Attendees at 7pm. We were worried about possible rain, but it held off, and so everyone got to enjoy the sunlit patio with a view of Lake Ontario.

I knew roughly 95% of the people attending, so it was a highly curated event. This lead to a very positive effect: you know that you could say hi to anyone and have me as an obvious connection (“So how did you meet Sol?”), and have the conversation roll from there.

The sausage makers brought the heat. And we’re not talking about an extra-hot Italian sausage… we’re talking about taking sausage making to an art form (more on them later).

Logan also brought the heat when it came to the bread. Quite a few people commented on how damn delicious it was – a delightful complement alongside the main event.

It was incredibly gratifying hearing and seeing people bonding. You’d capture snippets of conversations – “you gotta try these sausages,” “I didn’t know you could make that into a sausage,” “this is blowing my miiiiind,” and so forth.

Seeing people smiling, laughing, and pigging out (my one pun for this article) on sausages was incredibly satisfying.

The entire event was a success. Nothing brings humans together quite like delicious food does.

Surprise and delight

While we counted up the ballots, we surprised everyone with some dessert.

The winner of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Off (Le Gourmand) had donated 50 of their infamous cookies (they’re really big). Furthermore, the gelateria Death in Venice had given us a tub of their sublime smoked bourbon chocolate gelato.

It was hilarious watching people go from comatose to perked up and ready for more when the surprise dessert was unveiled.

A small surprise can go a long way.

The results

When it was all done and the ballots were counted, we had a tight photo-finish at the top!

Top 6 Sausages in Toronto

 

  1. Rueben sandwich, by Maple Leaf Tavern
  2. Foie gras with ice wine, by Seed to Sausage
  3. Chiang Mai, by Khao San Road
  4. Jalapeno, by Seed to Sausage
  5. Macedonian, by Uncle Stan’s
  6. Chorizo, by Baro

We had people not only vote on their favorite sausages, but also pick one that they found the most interesting.

Top 3 Most Interesting Sausages

  1. Chiang Mai, by Khao San Road
  2. Philly cheesesteak, by Khao San Road
  3. Rueben sandwich, by Maple Leaf Tavern

My friend Karthik made these artistic trophies to reward the Top 3 sausage makers:

My friend at Soxy had these delightful sausage themed socks made too:

Yup, I have cookie socks now!

Spectacular Sausages

I want to thank the sausage makers for coming out and supporting the event. Every single one brought creativity and resourcefulness that delighted our taste buds.

B – Reuben sandwich by Maple Leaf Tavern
C – Weiss sausage by Maple Leaf Tavern
D – Smoked Italian verde by Rocco Agostino
E – Foie gras with ice wine by Seed to Sausage
F – Jalapeno by Seed to Sausage
G – Wild boar by Olliffe
H – Tikka Masala chicken by Olliffe
I – Macedonian by Uncle Stan’s
J – Chorizo by Baro
K – Pork Hot Leek by Butcher by Nature
L – Thanksgiving Turkey Sage by Butcher by Nature
M – Chicken by Epicater
N – Italian hot by Sorella
O – Berkshire sausage by Off the Bone
P – Pork Breakfast by Brennan Irish Foods
Q – Goose hunter by Bespoke Butchers
R – Barese by Di Liso’s Fine Meats
S – Merguez by Di Liso’s Fine Meats
T – Chiang Mai by Khao San Road
U – Philly cheesesteak by Khao San Road
V – Sumach and Beer by Rural Roots Catering
W – Great Canadian by Sanagan’s
X – Lamb Merguez by Sanagan’s
Y – Apple Wood Smokey by Parkdale Sausage Co
Z – Duck hot dog by Stock in Trade
AA – Foie gras by Niagara Food Specialties
AB – Pork Pastrami BBQ by Stock in Trade
AC – Kranjska by Florence Meats
AD – Merguez by Florence Meats

Over 1000 sausages in total! Best of all, the extra sausages were donated to a shelter; we made it a point to mention that we wanted to minimize waste.

I gave every chef a warning – I hope they were taking notes, because they now have 12-months to test, refine, and perfect their entry for Sausage Showdown ’18.

The sausage makers brought more artistry and deliciousness than I thought possible. A huge thank you to them.

A happy coincidence with Pride

I want to note that when we initially set the date, none of us had realized it was on the same weekend as Pride. I found the Sausage Showdown falling on Pride to be a fitting homage.

Unlocking why this was a smash success

Ever heard of Williams Syndrome? I learned of it while reading a fascinating article titled The Secret to Small Talk. The article described it as such: “sometimes called ‘cocktail party syndrome’ because it makes people extremely outgoing and irrepressibly friendly. ”

(It’s a fascinating article – read it and then come back).

What struck me in the article were two simple truths:

  1. You just need a simple icebreaker. The hard part of meeting someone and having a conversation is just getting it started. Eli’s icebreakers were straightforward and readily begat conversation.
  2. You need to be real. Even when Eli committed a social faux pas, it rarely had a negative effect because of the earnestness he displayed. It didn’t matter that he confused acne for scars (and asked about them!) It didn’t matter that he said someone’s voice was akin to a monster’s. Due to the genuine way he engaged with others, people knew he came from an authentic place.

Inadvertently, these two simple truths are why the Sausage Showdown was such a hit:

Firstly, the icebreaker was ready for you. You could go with the simple – “so what’s your favorite sausage?” You could get punny – “hey, nice meating you here.” And of course, the innuendo-route – “so do you prefer your sausages cut or uncut?”

The possibilities were endless, but the beauty was that even the most nervous and shy person could readily use sausages as a hook to connect.

Secondly, it was pretty much impossible not to be excited. I walked around with a shit-eating grin the entire time because the overall concept was ridiculous! 29 types of sausages, 1000+ total sausages – and let’s eat them all and rate them? Younger me would have gaped and asked: “is this what adults do?!”

It’s awesomely absurd! And it’s absurdly awesome!

This shared absurdity helped bring a level and energy and revelry and camaraderie (“I never knew I could get so stuffed with sausage” and “I too thought the Philly cheesesteak was the most unique sausage”). And nothing bonds people together like shared experiences.

Those two, combined with the fact that I had curated who attended the event made it ripe to be a delightful evening.

By creating an environment that made it easy for people to start conversations and a place of joy, it became much easier for people to connect and have a genuinely good time.

My hope is that by reading this, you are spurred to do something similar.

Bringing humans together with food builds communities in some of the most positive way possible.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Gelato/Ice Cream/Sorbet crawl to help plan that’s in 10 days’ time.

xosotin chelseathông tin chuyển nhượngcâu lạc bộ bóng đá arsenalbóng đá atalantabundesligacầu thủ haalandUEFAevertonxosofutebol ao vivofutemaxmulticanaisonbethttps://bsport.fithttps://onbet88.ooohttps://i9bet.bizhttps://hi88.ooohttps://okvip.athttps://f8bet.athttps://fb88.cashhttps://vn88.cashhttps://shbet.atbóng đá world cupbóng đá inter milantin juventusbenzemala ligaclb leicester cityMUman citymessi lionelsalahnapolineymarpsgronaldoserie atottenhamvalenciaAS ROMALeverkusenac milanmbappenapolinewcastleaston villaliverpoolfa cupreal madridpremier leagueAjaxbao bong da247EPLbarcelonabournemouthaff cupasean footballbên lề sân cỏbáo bóng đá mớibóng đá cúp thế giớitin bóng đá ViệtUEFAbáo bóng đá việt namHuyền thoại bóng đágiải ngoại hạng anhSeagametap chi bong da the gioitin bong da lutrận đấu hôm nayviệt nam bóng đátin nong bong daBóng đá nữthể thao 7m24h bóng đábóng đá hôm naythe thao ngoai hang anhtin nhanh bóng đáphòng thay đồ bóng đábóng đá phủikèo nhà cái onbetbóng đá lu 2thông tin phòng thay đồthe thao vuaapp đánh lô đềdudoanxosoxổ số giải đặc biệthôm nay xổ sốkèo đẹp hôm nayketquaxosokq xskqxsmnsoi cầu ba miềnsoi cau thong kesxkt hôm naythế giới xổ sốxổ số 24hxo.soxoso3mienxo so ba mienxoso dac bietxosodientoanxổ số dự đoánvé số chiều xổxoso ket quaxosokienthietxoso kq hôm nayxoso ktxổ số megaxổ số mới nhất hôm nayxoso truc tiepxoso ViệtSX3MIENxs dự đoánxs mien bac hom nayxs miên namxsmientrungxsmn thu 7con số may mắn hôm nayKQXS 3 miền Bắc Trung Nam Nhanhdự đoán xổ số 3 miềndò vé sốdu doan xo so hom nayket qua xo xoket qua xo so.vntrúng thưởng xo sokq xoso trực tiếpket qua xskqxs 247số miền nams0x0 mienbacxosobamien hôm naysố đẹp hôm naysố đẹp trực tuyếnnuôi số đẹpxo so hom quaxoso ketquaxstruc tiep hom nayxổ số kiến thiết trực tiếpxổ số kq hôm nayso xo kq trực tuyenkết quả xổ số miền bắc trực tiếpxo so miền namxổ số miền nam trực tiếptrực tiếp xổ số hôm nayket wa xsKQ XOSOxoso onlinexo so truc tiep hom nayxsttso mien bac trong ngàyKQXS3Msố so mien bacdu doan xo so onlinedu doan cau loxổ số kenokqxs vnKQXOSOKQXS hôm naytrực tiếp kết quả xổ số ba miềncap lo dep nhat hom naysoi cầu chuẩn hôm nayso ket qua xo soXem kết quả xổ số nhanh nhấtSX3MIENXSMB chủ nhậtKQXSMNkết quả mở giải trực tuyếnGiờ vàng chốt số OnlineĐánh Đề Con Gìdò số miền namdò vé số hôm nayso mo so debach thủ lô đẹp nhất hôm naycầu đề hôm naykết quả xổ số kiến thiết toàn quốccau dep 88xsmb rong bach kimket qua xs 2023dự đoán xổ số hàng ngàyBạch thủ đề miền BắcSoi Cầu MB thần tàisoi cau vip 247soi cầu tốtsoi cầu miễn phísoi cau mb vipxsmb hom nayxs vietlottxsmn hôm naycầu lô đẹpthống kê lô kép xổ số miền Bắcquay thử xsmnxổ số thần tàiQuay thử XSMTxổ số chiều nayxo so mien nam hom nayweb đánh lô đề trực tuyến uy tínKQXS hôm nayxsmb ngày hôm nayXSMT chủ nhậtxổ số Power 6/55KQXS A trúng roycao thủ chốt sốbảng xổ số đặc biệtsoi cầu 247 vipsoi cầu wap 666Soi cầu miễn phí 888 VIPSoi Cau Chuan MBđộc thủ desố miền bắcthần tài cho sốKết quả xổ số thần tàiXem trực tiếp xổ sốXIN SỐ THẦN TÀI THỔ ĐỊACầu lô số đẹplô đẹp vip 24hsoi cầu miễn phí 888xổ số kiến thiết chiều nayXSMN thứ 7 hàng tuầnKết quả Xổ số Hồ Chí Minhnhà cái xổ số Việt NamXổ Số Đại PhátXổ số mới nhất Hôm Nayso xo mb hom nayxxmb88quay thu mbXo so Minh ChinhXS Minh Ngọc trực tiếp hôm nayXSMN 88XSTDxs than taixổ số UY TIN NHẤTxs vietlott 88SOI CẦU SIÊU CHUẨNSoiCauVietlô đẹp hôm nay vipket qua so xo hom naykqxsmb 30 ngàydự đoán xổ số 3 miềnSoi cầu 3 càng chuẩn xácbạch thủ lônuoi lo chuanbắt lô chuẩn theo ngàykq xo-solô 3 càngnuôi lô đề siêu vipcầu Lô Xiên XSMBđề về bao nhiêuSoi cầu x3xổ số kiến thiết ngày hôm nayquay thử xsmttruc tiep kết quả sxmntrực tiếp miền bắckết quả xổ số chấm vnbảng xs đặc biệt năm 2023soi cau xsmbxổ số hà nội hôm naysxmtxsmt hôm nayxs truc tiep mbketqua xo so onlinekqxs onlinexo số hôm nayXS3MTin xs hôm nayxsmn thu2XSMN hom nayxổ số miền bắc trực tiếp hôm naySO XOxsmbsxmn hôm nay188betlink188 xo sosoi cầu vip 88lô tô việtsoi lô việtXS247xs ba miềnchốt lô đẹp nhất hôm naychốt số xsmbCHƠI LÔ TÔsoi cau mn hom naychốt lô chuẩndu doan sxmtdự đoán xổ số onlinerồng bạch kim chốt 3 càng miễn phí hôm naythống kê lô gan miền bắcdàn đề lôCầu Kèo Đặc Biệtchốt cầu may mắnkết quả xổ số miền bắc hômSoi cầu vàng 777thẻ bài onlinedu doan mn 888soi cầu miền nam vipsoi cầu mt vipdàn de hôm nay7 cao thủ chốt sốsoi cau mien phi 7777 cao thủ chốt số nức tiếng3 càng miền bắcrồng bạch kim 777dàn de bất bạion newsddxsmn188betw88w88789bettf88sin88suvipsunwintf88five8812betsv88vn88Top 10 nhà cái uy tínsky88iwinlucky88nhacaisin88oxbetm88vn88w88789betiwinf8betrio66rio66lucky88oxbetvn88188bet789betMay-88five88one88sin88bk88xbetoxbetMU88188BETSV88RIO66ONBET88188betM88M88SV88Jun-68Jun-88one88iwinv9betw388OXBETw388w388onbetonbetonbetonbet88onbet88onbet88onbet88onbetonbetonbetonbetqh88mu88Nhà cái uy tínpog79vp777vp777vipbetvipbetuk88uk88typhu88typhu88tk88tk88sm66sm66me88me888live8live8livesm66me88win798livesm66me88win79pog79pog79vp777vp777uk88uk88tk88tk88luck8luck8kingbet86kingbet86k188k188hr99hr99123b8xbetvnvipbetsv66zbettaisunwin-vntyphu88vn138vwinvwinvi68ee881xbetrio66zbetvn138i9betvipfi88clubcf68onbet88ee88typhu88onbetonbetkhuyenmai12bet-moblie12betmoblietaimienphi247vi68clupcf68clupvipbeti9betqh88onb123onbefsoi cầunổ hũbắn cáđá gàđá gàgame bàicasinosoi cầuxóc đĩagame bàigiải mã giấc mơbầu cuaslot gamecasinonổ hủdàn đềBắn cácasinodàn đềnổ hũtài xỉuslot gamecasinobắn cáđá gàgame bàithể thaogame bàisoi cầukqsssoi cầucờ tướngbắn cágame bàixóc đĩaAG百家乐AG百家乐AG真人AG真人爱游戏华体会华体会im体育kok体育开云体育开云体育开云体育乐鱼体育乐鱼体育欧宝体育ob体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育亚博体育开云体育开云体育棋牌棋牌沙巴体育买球平台新葡京娱乐开云体育mu88qh88

Serious about being an entrepreneur?

Leave behind the unqualified gurus who have never done it themselves. Follow SJO.com for real-life experienced advice and thoughts.

I won’t send any spam & you can unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *