Houston Whiskey Festival

This is the 2^nd year for the Houston Whiskey Festival. If you love whiskey I definitely recommend that you attend for several reasons: huge variety of whiskeys and an excellent band. Bonus: Chita Johnson was the emcee and she was again very gracious and posed for pics. They even had several booths with vodka and a few with wine. People dress nicely and it’s a pretty classy affair but I have to say they definitely have lots of glitches to work out. Except for the lady in the back of the cigar area who I believe was with one of the liquor companies none of the event staff seemed to move with any urgency. The attitudes of most of the event staff (NOT the booth/​liquor staff) seemed lackadaisical and very «whatever». You would think an event like this would, at the bare minimum, have staff who are well-​mannered enough to be able to make attendees feel welcome.
As to General Admission tickets vs VIP? We bought VIP tickets again and I have to say I’m not sure if VIP is worth it.
Benefits AND REALITIES of VIP
V.I.P. ticket holders gain admission to the Grand Tasting room a full hour prior to general admission ticket holders. With limited ticketing, and the extra hour of time in the grand tasting room, you can get the most out of this additional hour, having more time to talk with the distillery representatives.
— NO, we had more like an extra 20 minutes because even though we got IN LINE at 5:45 for 6:00 pm entry we didn’t get in for quite some time. They didn’t even have the lines marked clearly. At one point, even though we had been told to enter one line as VIPs there was a sign for GA.
— Again, their entry lines are not very well-​managed. The problem seems to be at the the door — not enough staff. Even when I got up front I still couldn’t understand the hold up when all they’ were doing was putting VIP wristbands on people. They didn’t even have to check us off of a list or anything. Maybe they should just hand them out instead of putting them on? Have someone directing people as they enter so it doesn’t become bottle-​necked? Bottle-​necking shouldn’t have even happened because the entry area inside was huge but laid out poorly forcing all people entering the building to be stuck by the very front right area until someone put a wristband on you. So, no, we did not feel very VIPish at all.
— The VIP room was crazy hot and stuffy with no air circulation at all. This is especially important when a large number of attendees are wearing suits or sportcoats.
V.I.P.‘s will enjoy their own private Hors d’oeuvres buffet provided by the amazing Smith and Wollensky Steakhouse within the designated V.I.P. Area of the HWF
— The food lines were seriously ridiculous and by the time the line died down there were 6 pieces of some sort of cream cheesyish wrapped in a fried won ton cone on the table. And garnish lots of pretty, pretty garnish but we didn’t feel like eating garnish, not even pretty garnish.
Houston Whiskey Festival commemorative glass.
V.I.P gift bag.
Also all V.I.P. attendees will have the ability to vote in all people’s choice awards that include; Best Artisan Distillery Award, and Best Whiskey Neat.
Other:
Parking
— The off duty officer directing parking from the street seemed utterly clueless. He directed EVERYONE to the same entrance for parking even though there was at least one other entry point.
— There was a sign that stated «Über Drop Off» that took you right to the front door. Tragically, it also put you in the same line as the Über drop offs and it was also the same area for the valet. There were about 5 or 6 valets just clustered at the end of the covered area by the door while a whole bunch of cars, both people who wanted to valet and Ubers who had already dropped off just waited, uselessly burning time that could’ve been better spent VIPing. The valet situation was seriously a terrible example of management. Those guys only make money if they’re parking cars not when they’re huddled in the driveway.
Cigar Area
— The cigar area was nicely set up in a tent. It almost looked like a club. The problem was again, seriously no air circulation.
One word — FANS! They have them at Walmart. They’re not that expensive.
Despite all of this we will go again next year if only because the whiskey selection is absolutely worth it. I just don’t know if paying twice the price for VIP is worth it.