Those in the bartending community may have recently read or heard of a situation in Russia regarding Diageo's World Class bartending competition. For those that haven't here's a little bit of background into what happened;
As the competition was taking place in Russia for the first time, Diageo's local office in Moscow decided which bars, and essentially bartenders, were allowed to compete based on their usage of the Diageo Reserve Brand portfolio which the competition is built around. The decision was also taken that only bars from Moscow would compete excluding all other Russian cities.
As you would expect this created some grievance with a number of Russian bartenders who felt they were being excluded from the competition. In this case Roman Milostivy from Bamboo Bar, well-known globally for his bartending expertise and success in competitions such as Bols Around the World, posted on his Facebook page about his annoyance that he could not take part.
The power of social media was then shown as bartenders across the globe rallied to back Roman with some threatening and apparently pushing ahead with removing all Diageo products from their bars.
Before I go any further I would like to point out that I am in no way affiliated to, or making this post on behalf of, those at the heart of this matter, namely Diageo's World Class team and the many Russian bartenders aggrieved at their exclusion from the competition. This is solely based on me looking at the facts and becoming a tad baffled by the reaction of a vast number of bartenders across the globe given that I have been putting together ideas for a bitters competition of my own (which I will touch on later).
From what I have seen and read the whole situation has spiralled into something that it should never have become with people jumping in to say their bit when they hadn't taken on board the full facts of exactly what was going on and/or disregarding the inner workings of drinks competitions.
Roman was, and is, fully entitled to ask the question of why he couldn't take part in this year's Russian leg of the World Class comp, whilst at the same time Diageo have a right to reply. With an obvious misunderstanding of what was actually happening, call it chinese whispers if you will, we have ended up with bartenders across the globe threatening to boycott products for no real reason whatsoever. Anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook will have no doubt read my opinion on this current phenomena of mock outrage, the humour of which is found in the picture below...
The collective unity of the global bartending community is unlike anything I have witnessed in other professions and I for one am delighted and honoured to be a part of it. My career has been built on the network I have built and without it I wouldn't have achieved anything, however there's a distinct difference between showing support to a fellow bartender and making rash decisions/assumptions based on hearsay.
Regardless of what anyone tells you ALL bartending competitions are about raising awareness and knowledge of products first and foremost, everything else is secondary. In this case, from my own experiences of the competition and also speaking with people behind the comp and bartenders that regularly compete and have achieved a great level of success in it, Diageo are also doing their utmost to give bartenders a platform in which they can showcase their talents and to elevate our standing in the public eye. The promotion of one leads to success of the other, and vice versa.
However, what mustn't be forgotten is that Diageo is a business who will run things in a way which benefits them. The growth of the competition in the few years it has been on the go tells me that they will roll this comp out across as many territories as possible and to as many bartenders as possible, logistically this isn't a straight-forward process and there are hurdles which need to be jumped first and hitches that will need to be overcome.
Success will in turn give room for expansion and the World Class comp is one that fits perfectly here. With regards to the Russian leg of this global competition bartenders need to let them get their feet under the table and then take it wider next year. This is the same for any bartender that feels they have been excluded in their country. At the same time it must also be remembered that no one person has an entitlement or divine right to enter/compete in any comp.
Diageo are big enough to fight their own battles and don't need me to offer my tuppence worth but as mentioned before my interest in this stems from my desire to hold a bitters competition later this year. If a company such as Diageo can't get it right in the eyes of bartenders then what hope is there for a much smaller company like mine?
If the inaugural World Class competition in Russia is limited solely to Moscow and select bars who stock the Reserve Brands portfolio so be it. This is no different to any other drinks competition that I have seen with heats usually selected in prominent cities and certain bartenders invited to take part at various stages dependent on their profile/etc. I know because it's happened to me...
For the last few years through my work for Evo-lution and Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Bitters I've been doing my utmost to get my home city of Aberdeen on the professional bartending map alongside the likes of Edinburgh and Glasgow. I can safely say that I have succeeded in doing so with competition heats now regularly held up here whereas before we were continously overlooked. Part of the reason for Aberdeen being ignored wasn't solely down to the ignorance of brands but also due to bartenders who had no desire to progress in the trade. Thankfully there has been a change in mind-set recently and we are no longer being ignored.
This change also transmits to trainings, tastings and the like. Whereas before I had to hop on a train to Edinburgh or Glasgow, even further sometimes, it is now with increasing regularity that I will receive a phonecall from a brand/ambassador/etc. who will ask me to help set up a tasting or training in Aberdeen. Those who have already held sessions reads like a who's who of the bartending world (Jamie Stephenson, Craig Harper, Steffin Oghene, Daryl Haldane, Ian McLaren and Jamie Mac to name but a few) and the list of people who have expressed a desire to hold one in the near future is also staggering.
It is no surprise that an increased number of sessions has seen an increase in the passion, commitment and level of quality in Aberdeen. As mentioned before, the promotion of one leads to success of the other.
It is people like Roman who make a difference and will ensure that every Russian bartender benefits next year. Hopefully by raising the issue with Diageo next year's World Class Russia will include an increased number of bartenders from cities across the country. What doesn't sit right with me is people, who really should know better, jumping on the bandwagon to have a go about something that they didn't know the full facts of.
From the outside looking in, these same people are undermining the hard work being carried out by the vast number of people involved in the competition (too many for me to mention here). As I type, last year's winner Erik Lorincz is holding training sessions and seminars for hundreds of bartenders in Korea, just a small part of the good that is coming from this comp.
Those in the hospitality trade will be more than aware that when you do something good it's rarely applauded but if you mess up there's no hesitation in people wishing to complain. I'm not suggesting that Diageo are faultless and that they couldn't have done things better but those who have been quick to deride them should also be the first to applaud them for some of the great things to have come from World Class.
If in a year's time we have a similar situation you're all more than welcome to grab your pitchforks but until then let's all relax with a Japanese Cocktail courtesy of the great Professor Jerry Thomas;
1 table-spoonful of orgeat syrup
½ teaspoonful of Boker’s Bitters
1 wine-glass of brandy
1 piece of lemon peel
Method: Add all ingredients to mixing glass fill with cubed ice and stir for 15-20 seconds.
Glass: Frozen vintage coupe
Garnish: Lemon twist
Ice: N/A
Sláinte!
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Adam Elmegirab
Bar Consultant / Compounder
Evo-lution / Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Bitters
E-mail: adam.elmegirab@evo-lution.org
Web: www.evo-lution.org / www.bokersbitters.co.uk
Facebook: Adam Elmegirab / Evo-lution Bar Consultancy / Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Bitters
Twitter: @AdamsBitters
Nicely said, Adam. Disclaimer: I do some work for Diageo and I've been involved with the Worls Class Competition from the start. Because of that, though, I know the key players at Diageo fairly well, and I know for sure (and this is true of every company I've worked with on similar projects) that the people who put this competition together have the best intentions to benefit bartenders worldwide. How could it be otherwise? They want the bartenders to be on their side.
ReplyDeleteAdd to that the fact that many of the people in running these sort of things these days come directly fom the bartending community, so they are completely aware of what bartenders are looking for.
As Adam says, there are bound to be screw-ups along the way, but from where I'm standing, all of the major liquor companies seem to be jumping through hoops to help bartenders excel, make money, travel, and generally make the job a real career. Now if only they'd help us get laid, too . . .
Dear Adam
ReplyDeleteagree with Gary - nice article. Still, we had this on FB before - I do disagree in a few point. If a global player calls something the WORLD CLASS with the search for the WORLDS BEST BARTENDER - they may get a WORLD ATTENTION from bartenders all over the World. This happen on facebook. Roman, neither me, call WORLD CLASS a bad competition. We made both clear, that it is an awesome event. We never said something against all the work all this people do. Roman mentioned, that this year the Moscow office made a mistake in his view. And, as far as I now know DIAGEO‘s and his Story, I think, he is right in a few points.
I, from my point of view, could understand that he was confused and disappointed.
I am not sure, if you may thing that I jumped on someones bandwagon? If so, I liked it. I liked to publish my open letter to DIAGEO in the first case to make some misunderstanding clear, which may also came from me. In my first FB Status I misunderstood Roman and thought that he was taken off the Competition. That was not true. How the fire on FB run around showed just a few things: WORLD CLASS is on the attention of many bartenders - congratulations DIAGEO! Bartenders are very well connected worldwide - and I love it! Roman, even if he is in Moscow, is nearer to me than lots of Hamburg Bartenders. He visited Le Lion, me Moscow, and we both see each other on quite a few events per year. That FB Status was just a shout out to a brother. Nothing more. No big deal (for me). And, even if this ended up in a uncontrolled storm on FB - I liked it! The result is amazing: The Moscow Case is on the Desk of the Main Office of the Biggest Player in the World. AMAZING .... this had never happen Years before! I think DIAGEO, even if WORLD CLASS is a great killer Event, will check all new Countries even harder next year. And Moscow will be also SET UP WORLD CLASS!
I like this results. Normally many Bartenders complain about many competitions (and most of this complain is BULLSHIT btw) and nothing ever changes or nobody is listening.
I like the fact that DIAGEO is listening with „all ears“ after one day.
Regards
Joerg
Adam, Gaz and Joerg,
ReplyDeleteI'll only add that in reality we have always been listening, certainly in the case of World Class. It's just now that we have true real-time GLOBAL forum in which to respond. The way the global bartending community has taken to social networking is astounding. We can harness the power of this to work together to make things like World Class better, for everyone in the industry. louise.mcguane@diageo.com
I told Roman my story with the WCC Spain... A bit sad. But yeah, we probably missunderstood the whole concept since the begining. After my conversation with a Diageo Reserve rep in Madrid, I think I got their point and yes, I was dissapointed; I felt unfairly left aside, but I did a bit of exercise of not forgetting they're a private company focused on selling cases, just as I'd do if I had a company like that, and the competition is meant to be a marketing tool. Many of us in Spain were disappointed about how the comp was conducted last year (being some of us improvised guests and others competitors); the rules, exceptions and results, apart from the fact of being, as I told him, so supportive and enthusiastic since the very beginning of it all, asking the company to bring the competition to Spain, promoting it among spanish bartenders community when nobody knew about it here, encouraging them to participate and then, in exchange, not being invited to it, not even as guests to watch...
ReplyDeleteNot that I agree with them, of course, but well, it's their company, their competition and their rules. If we all know that's a marketing thing, directed to sell cases in bars and that we don't have to take it as a personal failure, maybe a few less sad faces would arise... I'm still in my cure process, though, hehe.
By that time nothing happened, no answer from Diageo was shown, but well, I guees we didn't make any noise. I'm glad, though, all this noise from Russia helped us to see what kind of fantastic community we're part of. And I hope we bartenders don't loose our path, wich is not becoming a celebrity.
Cheers,
Miguel.