It may seem as if we just threw a couple buses, some random bars, beer on the bus, made up some drink specials at the bars and ordered some t-shirts but believe it or not, there is a lot that goes into creating one of our Bus Tours. One of the largest and most important element is what bars to go to! How to select a bar is so important because it can make or break the fun of the trip. if you get to a bar that is run down, mismanaged or overall not fun, people will be begging to get back on the bus and leave! This will impact them not to go on another Bus Tour!!
Start with a List - When we are in the pre-planning stages of the bus tour the first thing we do is start listing all the possible places we could go to. We take into account past places and feedback we receive. We also ask around and see if anyone has a person experience with a place they think might work for us.
Visit the Bars - Once we have our list of about 10 places we venture to see them personally. You wouldn't believe how many places we went to and decided it just wouldn't fit our group, the place was too small, there wasn't enough bartenders or there just wasn't anything to entertain the group there! Another element taking into consideration is the locations. We don't want to bring a bunch of crazy partiers into an establishment with a bunch of kids or families. Awkward!!
Bar Distance - Once we have about 5 possible options we try and map out a bus route. We are merely making sure people are sitting on the bus longer than 1/2 hour in between stops. If you get more than that, people start getting anxious and wanting to get off.
Bar Negotiations - Another important element to out Bus Tours is making sure that once the tour fee is paid, there isn't a lot of other expenses. This is where we negotiate with the bars to see what they can offer the group. Whether it be food & drink specials, visits by alcohol brand girls, free drinks... whatever. If a bar is unwilling to negotiate with us, we move on to another one as there are a lot that will. Believe it or not, the "specials" or "free drinks" at the bars do make a difference to the group! They do remember the times that they received a free shot or that the manager came out and mingled with them and gave some drinks at the table and so on...
Once all the above elements fall into place, we can choose the bars we feel fit our group the best! In the past we have used several bars that may be fun to hang out at, just not for a group of this size. If we let a bar know we are bringing 55 - 110 people to the bar at a specific time then the bar staff better be ready! If not, we know not to go back there again!
Upcoming Bus Tour
The upcoming "Off The Beatin' Path" bus tour features Wall Street Cantina, Hagan O'Reilly's, Lakeside Bar & Grill (formerly Benchwarmer's) and Trotter's. All of the bars were great to work with and are very excited to have our group come visit! We have created a perfect mix of things to do and great people together to make this bus tour even better than the last two were!! We hope to sell out two buses and give everyone an experience to remember as well as a trip worth the money they spend on it!
If you are interested in going on the Off The Beatin' Path Bus Tour, sign up by Sunday, October 11 to get your official t-shirt ordered: http://bit.ly/yx9Bo The tour is on Saturday, October 24th at 3:00 PM meeting at Wall Street in Orlando, FL.
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