Epicurean email publication Tasting Table hosted its fourth Lobster Roll Rumble on Thursday at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. The event, which sold out in two weeks, drew some 1,300 shellfish and cocktail enthusiasts and 20 seafood shacks competing for the title of "America's Best Lobster Roll."
As Tasting Table's annual marquee event, the affair has grown in size and scope since it debuted in 2010. For this year's event, the internal production team tapped We Came in Peace to design a whimsical tribute to the Coney Island boardwalk. "We worked with them last year, too, but this year we wanted to blow it out with custom pieces," said Kai Mathey, Tasting Table's director of communications and the Lobster Roll Rumble's event director. "They drew influences from the Luna Park entry gates, 1950s beach cabanas, and sideshow acts." The fabricated bars and DJ booth were built to resemble boardwalk concession stands and carnival booths, and whitewashed picnic benches outfitted with fringed umbrellas dotted the room.
Last year, for the first time, the New York-based Web start-up worked with Tagstand—a company that provides Wi-Fi-enabled devices and services for events—to supply guests with N.F.C.-enabled wristbands that allowed them to vote for their favorite roll with a simple tap of their wrists against signage placed at each station. Guests could also opt to link the bracelets to their Facebook or Twitter accounts.
After receiving positive feedback from last year's event, organizers decided to bring the technology back. But this time, Mathey and her team aimed to encourage more guests to link their bracelets to their social media accounts to increase social engagement. "In addition to staff distributing the bracelets at check-in and signage with instructions on how to register, we had an added incentive for guests to connect their bracelets: a chance to win $1,000," she said. The strategy worked: More than 600 guests registered, a 200 percent increase from 2012. Overall, there were more than 400 social actions registered and more than 1,100 votes cast for best lobster roll.
Sponsors like Evian, Häagen-Dazs, Stella Artois, Fuze iced tea, Bordeaux, and the Maine Office of Tourism took advantage of the technology by creating custom activations around the venue that guests could interact with using the prox cards. For example, guests could tap their wristbands to check in on Facebook, tweet preset phrases, win a V.I.P. gift bag, or receive DJ Jack Abramcyk's Rumble playlist via Spotify.
Voting results were displayed in real time via a digital scoreboard projected onto the walls around the venue. Last year's winner, Maine's the Clam Shack, reclaimed the fan favorite prize once again. Voting stands placed next to the Don Julio cocktail bar and the Häagen-Dazs Gelateria also let guests tap to vote for their favorite signature cocktail and gelato flavor, respectively. The results were also displayed onto the venue's walls.
While everyone stuck to the lobster-plus-roll formula, some eateries opted for more inventive submissions, like a hot dog topped with lobster mac 'n' cheese. Against the back wall of the venue was a lineup of dessert offerings, including doughnuts, blueberry pie bites, and saltwater taffy from local companies such as Dough, Salty Road, and Butter & Scotch.
Benefiting Share Our Strength, a nonprofit dedicated to ending childhood hunger, the event raised more than $19,000 for charity.
