Miami Spice Kick-off

Since Miami Spice starts in a few days I am reviewing the two Miami Spice Kick-​off events I went to a few years ago. One star for 2010. Four stars for 2011.
The first year the Kick-​off was held was in 2010 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. There was a lot of advertising promoting this as a wonderful opportunity to try all these great upscale restaurants. It sounded so good that I bought tickets for myself, my husband, my mom, and my best friend Joan. On the night of the event we got there early and there was already a very long line of people standing outside, sweating in the Florida heat. I tried to get the guards at the door to let my mom in early since she was there with a walker. I even asked if there was a handicapped entrance. No way I was told, she had to wait like everyone else. When the doors finally opened it was like a mad rush to get in. People were pushing and shoving and cutting into the line. When we finally got in there were two areas that had tables set up. You could go right or left. We went right, which was the larger of the two rooms. I couldn’t believe how long the lines were. People were cutting in front of other people. It was awful. We got one or two samples, then decided to try the other room. It was just as crowded. We waited in lines only to be told that most of the restaurants had already run out of food. We went back to the first room. Guess what, most of the tables there had run out of food also. People were still coming in the front doors and there was nothing left.
The list of problems went on and on. I had paid for tickets to a food event that didn’t have food. I didn’t see any chairs or places to sit. I was so tired from waiting in lines that I went to a corner and sat on the floor. A few days later I called my credit card company and asked them to remove the charges from my bill. They refused. I called the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, who put on this event. I complained so much that they agreed to give me four tickets to the 2011 Miami Spice Kick-​off.
*****
A year went buy and it was time again for Miami Spice. In spite of the price of the tickets going up, I didn’t have to pay. I was told I could pick up the four tickets at the ticket window. Me, my husband, Mom, and Joan walked up to the ticket window. Our tickets were waiting as promised. There were no lines of people outside waiting to get in. There was hardly anyone around. When we went in it was a totally different experience then the year before. Everything was set up in one very large room. There were many restaurants represented. We didn’t have to wait in any lines, in fact there weren’t that many people there. They even had a section with tables and chairs. The food was great and there was plenty of it. We stayed until the end, and I didn’t notice any restaurants running out of food. It was a terrific event and I was prepared to go the following year.
When I called the next year to find out when the Kick-​off would be I was told there was no kick-​off event planned for 2012. Nobody told me Iron fork would be taking the place of the Miami Spice Kick-​off. It’s probably a good thing since the Unilocal reviews of Iron fork 2012 weren’t that good.
Here we are in 2013. The Iron fork Kick-​off is in a few days. It’s at a new venue. I’d love to know if it will be a hit or a miss.