Drink Tickets

Hosting a large spring BBQ/Home Brew competition at my house this year (74-100 people). This is the first time we are doing it and I am a bit concerned with the possibility of people over indulging and then driving afterwards. Were going to have a "bar" where people will come to get drinks rather then just in open coolers. Thinking about giving everyone a set number of drink tickets when they arrive to help control things a bit. Obviously there will be those who take advantage of things, but at least well be doing something...

Any thoughts? Anyone have any experience with this?

I don't quite understand your question. Are you asking where to get drink tickets? Or how to stop people from drinking and driving?

You can get rolls of drink tickets from a dollar store, or any party supply stores.

You can ask people to turn in their keys when they pick up their tickets. But ultimately the risk and the onus falls on you, the proprietor of the event, to make sure stuff doesn't get out of control. I don't know how they do things in Arizona, but in Canada, you need to apply for a one day event permit to serve alcohol from your municipal government. Security, washroom availability, transportation, are all plans that you will already have to have in place, which will factor into your ability to get the permit. That is, of course, only if you want to keep it legal.

Make double sure that you don't have to jump through similar hoops in your hometown to throw such a party.

Guess just wonder what people think of the idea of giving out drink tickets.

I'll double check o make sure there aren't any issues with the even but there shouldn't be. It on my private property so I don't see any issues. Thanks

jwalk4 said:

I don't quite understand your question. Are you asking where to get drink tickets? Or how to stop people from drinking and driving?

You can get rolls of drink tickets from a dollar store, or any party supply stores.

You can ask people to turn in their keys when they pick up their tickets. But ultimately the risk and the onus falls on you, the proprietor of the event, to make sure stuff doesn't get out of control. I don't know how they do things in Arizona, but in Canada, you need to apply for a one day event permit to serve alcohol from your municipal government. Security, washroom availability, transportation, are all plans that you will already have to have in place, which will factor into your ability to get the permit. That is, of course, only if you want to keep it legal.

Make double sure that you don't have to jump through similar hoops in your hometown to throw such a party.

Click to expand...

I've never had to get any sort of permit to throw any kind of party.

I assume everyone attending and drinking is a "grown up"? I don't believe them drinking and driving falls on you. They're old enough to make their own decisions. They should be old enough to decide to plan ahead for a sober driver or take a cab. Personally I wouldn't attend any party where the host tries to babysit me

I don't think drink tickets are a bad idea, but doesn't quite seem necessary. But you do know your friends better than I do

I wouldn't be keen on going to a party with a drink limit/ drink tickets. Between my wife and I we will figure out who is staying sober to drive, and if your guests can't take care of themselves and be responsible adults I wouldn't invite them.

I find drink tickets and over planning equals a boring party. The responsibility falls on the drinker choosing to take a cab, but not to say you cant influence the drinker not to drive.

Just something to remind your drinking friends that Arizona might be a .08 BAC state, but they can still get you for a DUI for a .01 BAC being that we are a zero tolerance state.

As for the 74-100 people. I'd check with Chandler PD to see what you need for your specific zip code. I dont think you'll need anything, but then again that a lot of patrons, and the PD might show up often based on parking and street crowds.

Clearcut23 said:

I've never had to get any sort of permit to throw any kind of party.

I assume everyone attending and drinking is a "grown up"? I don't believe them drinking and driving falls on you. They're old enough to make their own decisions. They should be old enough to decide to plan ahead for a sober driver or take a cab. Personally I wouldn't attend any party where the host tries to babysit me

Click to expand...

http://www.agco.on.ca/en/whatwedo/permit_special.aspx

Bam, read it and weep. This is for Ontario and not the states mind you, but it wouldn't surprise me if Arizona had something similar. In xfevv's case, I think he would need a "No sale - Special Occasion Permit", wherein a "No Sale: A No Sale SOP is issued when alcohol is served without charge or when there is no money collected for alcohol – either directly or indirectly – from guests".

I am assuming that xfevv's party will be primarily an outdoors affair, since he is thinking of having 100 people. Therefore, any outdoor space is not considered "Private". As stated by the AGCO, a Private Place is restricted to "an indoor place to which the public is not ordinarily invited or permitted and is not available for rent to the public for occasional use".

I'm just saying, cover your ass. You don't want to be caught without a permit should you get shut down.

No such regulation in Arizona.

Word, I'm jealous!

Indytruks138 said:

I wouldn't be keen on going to a party with a drink limit/ drink tickets. Between my wife and I we will figure out who is staying sober to drive, and if your guests can't take care of themselves and be responsible adults I wouldn't invite them.

Click to expand...

This.. If you go forward with this drink ticket idea you may as well invite these guys

If you're worried about running out of drinks, I think the tickets are ok to help ensure everyone gets a fair shot at a limited supply.

I don't think they're such a hot idea for responsibility encouragement. Your guests are adults, and if the drinks are being served, leave it up to the servers not to serve more drinks to someone who's already clearly intoxicated. Also, legally speaking, it's the sort of thing I'd worry might make you potentially more liable should something terrible happen, since it could be interpreted as your volunteering to take responsibility for everyone and then not doing a good enough job at it. (IANAL, though)

It's great that you're thinking about this, though. If you really want to do something to reduce the chances of DUI, I think cutting off the supply some reasonable amount of time before you expect things to completely wrap up would be a less intrusive method. Whether it'd be acceptable depends a bit on the nature of the party, though.

Have them trade their car keys in for a number of drink tickets and a key voucher. At the end of the night you use the voucher to make sure the right person gets their keys back. Maybe incorporate a prize raffle or something, I think there's a way you could make the ticket system effective but also provide some fun along the way.

Could also scout out ride home services in the area (and give both sides a heads up) or see who'd be willing to DD.

jwalk4 said:

http://www.agco.on.ca/en/whatwedo/permit_special.aspx

Bam, read it and weep. This is for Ontario and not the states mind you, but it wouldn't surprise me if Arizona had something similar. In xfevv's case, I think he would need a "No sale - Special Occasion Permit", wherein a "No Sale: A No Sale SOP is issued when alcohol is served without charge or when there is no money collected for alcohol – either directly or indirectly – from guests".

I am assuming that xfevv's party will be primarily an outdoors affair, since he is thinking of having 100 people. Therefore, any outdoor space is not considered "Private". As stated by the AGCO, a Private Place is restricted to "an indoor place to which the public is not ordinarily invited or permitted and is not available for rent to the public for occasional use".

I'm just saying, cover your ass. You don't want to be caught without a permit should you get shut down.

Click to expand...

Bam Read it and weep

An SOP is required if you are planning to sell or serve alcohol at special occasions, such as weddings, charity fundraisers and receptions. An SOP is needed any time alcohol is offered for sale or served anywhere other than in a licensed establishment or a private place (for example, a private office or a residence).

Click to expand...

Not sure about up North, but in the States, your Back yard is part of your Residence, and therefore this law wouldn't apply to a party at this house.

Problem I see is placing yourself as judge in drunkenness. Meaning the cops have to learn how to administer a test how can you be sure that you are correct in giving the keys. Also who is to say they do not have beer in the car and continue to drink before the DUI.

I would say let them accept the responsibility for their own actions instead of trying nanny state them

Clearcut23 said:

I've never had to get any sort of permit to throw any kind of party.

I assume everyone attending and drinking is a "grown up"? I don't believe them drinking and driving falls on you. They're old enough to make their own decisions. They should be old enough to decide to plan ahead for a sober driver or take a cab. Personally I wouldn't attend any party where the host tries to babysit me

Click to expand...

Agreed. Why not let people be responsible for themselves?

In Oregon, at least, the liability can and has fallen on the person hosting the party and the property owner, from a civil court ie lawsuit standpoint. I can't quote the exact law but if I remember when I get home I will ask "the law firm" aka SWMBO, of course it could be different where you live, I think responsible people serving and you may want to look in to some liability insurance for the event, its actually quite reasonable in price and provides piece of mind.

AnchorBock said:

Agreed. Why not let people be responsible for themselves?

Click to expand...

Because this day and age, you do that, someone leaves your party and gets in a wreck, then they and the people they hit sue you. Has happened several times to both private parties, and bars. The OP is trying to do the responsible thing, only issue is there is no way to win. I personnaly wouldn't take the repsonsiblity of having that many people at my place and having to worry about it.

Thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like the idea of drink tickets is best left dead.

I know most of the people coming to the party and they are responsible adults but there will be some who I don't know coming out as well. I'm a pastor so I tend to think a bit more about stuff like this than maybe I need to

Appreciate the feedback

The people who are going to drink too much and drive will probably find a way to get extra drink tickets from the light drinkers. Either way you do it I think there will be someone out of the 100 who shouldn't drive, but will.

To provide an example if you served a person at a party the then got into an accident on the way home and injured or killed someone that person or their family theat was hurt could sue you, even if you are at no fault, the attorney cost would be expensive and liability insurance would cover those costs

jwalk4 said:

http://www.agco.on.ca/en/whatwedo/permit_special.aspx

Bam, read it and weep. This is for Ontario and not the states mind you, but it wouldn't surprise me if Arizona had something similar. In xfevv's case, I think he would need a "No sale - Special Occasion Permit", wherein a "No Sale: A No Sale SOP is issued when alcohol is served without charge or when there is no money collected for alcohol – either directly or indirectly – from guests".

I am assuming that xfevv's party will be primarily an outdoors affair, since he is thinking of having 100 people. Therefore, any outdoor space is not considered "Private". As stated by the AGCO, a Private Place is restricted to "an indoor place to which the public is not ordinarily invited or permitted and is not available for rent to the public for occasional use".

I'm just saying, cover your ass. You don't want to be caught without a permit should you get shut down.

Click to expand...

Yah I know that's how it is in Canada. I was pointing out that down here we dot have that big brother crap. Not yet anyways. I don't know how you guys do it in Canada but down here my backyard is not considered a public place where people can just show up uninvited. We call that criminal trespassing down here. Every square inch of my property is private. Doesn't matter if its fences or in view of the public or I have signs up or not.

Clearcut23 said:

Yah I know that's how it is in Canada. I was pointing out that down here we dot have that big brother crap. Not yet anyways. I don't know how you guys do it in Canada but down here my backyard is not considered a public place where people can just show up uninvited. We call that criminal trespassing down here. Every square inch of my property is private. Doesn't matter if its fences or in view of the public or I have signs up or not.

Click to expand...

since most of what we brew is higher abv, I would prominantly mark the abv of what is being served as well as a marking of what the abv is for the BMC drinkers so that they are aware what they are getting into. True, nothing is funnier than seeing homebrew sneak up on the uninitiated, but for responsibilitys sake I would make it known. As for drink tickets... yeah, tickets tend to irritate people and most people are responsible enough to pace themselves. those who won't, won't regardless.

I'd be very leery of holding an event like this at home.

DrunkleJon said:

since most of what we brew is higher abv

Click to expand...

I agree that it's a great idea to label the ABV, but I disagree that most of what we homebrewers brew is high ABV beers. I (and plenty of other homebrewers) make a lot of session strength beers in the 3-4% range (Scottish Ales, Bitters, Low ABV APAs/IPAs, etc). It's actually one of my favorite things about homebrewing since it's so hard to find decent commercial session beers.

Call your insurance company and see about increasing your liability insurance...I believe you can do this for one day events like weddings, parties etc. Worse they can say is "no".

I'd also strongly consider BYOB for the event, since it sounds like you will be unable to control who is drinking and how much. I'd keep my homebrew completely out of the picture. That is just me.

edit: just reread and saw that its also a homebrew competition. Still stick to what I wrote, unless homebrew will only be consumed by judges (whom I know and trust not to drink and drive).

Ok, well I pulled the municipal codes for the city of chandler and found the following information. But a couple questions first, how much land do you have to host these 100 people on? How did you find these 100 people for your party? What is the reason for the party?

Chandler has something called a special events permit:

32-1. - Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter, the following words, terms and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section:

Special event means any fair, parade, march, procession, festival, street dance, circus, carnival, concert, performance, rodeo, race, Christmas tree or pumpkin sales lot or other temporary activity using outdoor spaces and inviting public participation and patronage (with or without charge) whether held on public or private property. There are two (2) types of special events: civic events and commercial activities.

Special events do not include block parties or private events to which the public is not invited or allowed to participate.

Civic event is any special event using or occupying public sidewalks, streets, rights-of-way, or other publicly owned property

Commercial activity is any special event using only private property.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Because your inviting such a large number of people, its likely that your city will view this as a special event and require you to obtain a permit.

We have a 1/4 acer lot. Everyone invited is a personal friend. We invited about 25/30 close friends and their families which will come out to be around 100 people or so. This isn't the first large event we have hosted at our house so I'm not worried about needing a permit or anything.

My main concern was simply liability for anyone who may over drink and do something stupid. Most of those coming out are responsible and I'm not too worried but we do have a few new friends coming that I don't know as well.

Checked with my home owners insurance and I'm covered for a fairly large amount for liability so I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Thanks again for all of the input and feedback. Appreciate it.

xfevv said:

We have a 1/4 acer lot. Everyone invited is a personal friend. We invited about 25/30 close friends and their families which will come out to be around 100 people or so. This isn't the first large event we have hosted at our house so I'm not worried about needing a permit or anything.

My main concern was simply liability for anyone who may over drink and do something stupid. Most of those coming out are responsible and I'm not too worried but we do have a few new friends coming that I don't know as well.

Checked with my home owners insurance and I'm covered for a fairly large amount for liability so I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Thanks again for all of the input and feedback. Appreciate it.

Click to expand...

So... we're all crashing your party I take it?