News
Seats are getting scarce with only 99 more for sale...
Remaining places will be allocated on a first-paid first-served basis, no exception.
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman
This number actually was our initial allotment, a safe estimate according to professional hoteliers.
After the mid-March "gold rush" we decided to add extra capacity to cope with the demand and we were right.
At the moment we have 275 rooms left as follows:
* European "party" District -> 100 rooms @ EUR 89
* Historical "tourist" Centre -> 80 rooms @ EUR 125
* Tour "venue" & Taxis -> 95 rooms @ EUR 85
Since no deposit is required you'd better hurry up if you want to secure a room at our discounted prices.
The only catch is you'll need to be fully paid up before receiving the hotel booking links. With the pledge balance fee increase looming in 5 weeks you now have two incentives to make your mind up ;-)
Cheers from the Chair!
We're back to fully automated payment reconciliation so easier for everybody.
* Click here for purchasing a New Registration
There are currently 125 spaces left before we reach our limit of 3,000 registrations.
* Click here for paying your Pledge Balance
Just 42 days left before the price goes up by EUR 10.
Don't procrastinate, open a beer and do it today before you miss out!
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins, Registrar ad interim
Posted on our message board today. Is this some overachieving or what?
"Phantom and Plunder from Auckland will be attending Interhash in Hainan and then driving to Brussels 2014.
We will ship our vehicle from New Zealand to Vladivostok and fly there to collect it after Interhash. From there we intend heading across Russia and possibly detouring into Mongolia and Kazakstan before crossing into Europe.
Our plans are very loose at the moment, but we expect to be on the road for about three months.
Is anyone else planning something similar, or interested in joining us on our prelube?"
Birdbrian from Munich H3 - Early Bird #43 - won the EUR 135 prize.
Lady Luck must have spent some time with him during Belgian Nash Hash since he initially wanted to purchase our new long sleeve shirt but with only EUR 5 cash in pocket bought the only remaining raffle ticket 30 minutes before the draw.
We're now considering a new time-limited raffle starting towards the end of May, the prize being a 4-night hotel stay during our event.
Stay tuned for more info...
Higgins, Raffle Master ad interim
Easter weekend saw overachieving Stockholm H3 not only recceing their 2014 trail in Grimbergen on Saturday but laying it for BMPH3 on Sunday as well.
Termite, Marmite and Standing Ovation had the good idea to bring along some Swedish aquavit for fighting the local (still) freezing temperatures.
In general Yark Sucker (Vice Chair) is in charge of trails and will contact all visiting lead hares by mid April. With 13 visiting kennels stopping over this August on their way to EuroHash things look pretty much under control 8-)
Checking? On On!
Higgins, Chairman
A mega sales record with 100 new registrations and 500 pledge conversions in just 3 weeks - Waow! Who said deadlines don't work?
This also means we're opening the very last range (2,800-3,000) before selling out.
There will be a lot of drinking to be done in July 2014!!
Two hands, Six beers!
Higgins, Chief Bean Counter
I just received a message from PayPal asking a zillion of questions/proofs before unblocking our account. I guess the drastic increase in sales over the last 2 weeks raised a potential fraud/money laundering alarm in this post-9/11 era - oops!
From hearsay this might takes weeks to solve... so we're activating plan B:
Pledge Holders - individual payments: please wait and have a beer or twelve, no hurry anyway since current balance price is valid until June 21.
Pledge Holders - group payments: find a leader to collect your money and tell him to contact us at payments2014@gmail.com for obtaining our bank account details.
While that person is working his/her butt out have a beer or twelve and discuss how simple life is when someone else does the job ;-) Don't forget to buy him/her a beer as well.
New registrations: only 14 left at the current price (45 sold this week!). Don't procrastinate! Go on-line, fill in your data, accept the disclaimer then ignore the payment page. I will personally contact you for payment via another PayPal address.
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman and Chief Problem Fixer
400 hotel rooms booked over a period of 7 days by 1,000 hashers. Waow!!
Do NOT panic though, we still have 500 more rooms available at the time of writing.
Considering this "gold rush" situation I took the executive decision NOT to publish the hotel info on-line anymore.
Dedicated booking links, tasting notes and background information will be sent to fully paid up hashers only.
First mail went out today. Weekly updates will be sent to newcomers (= new registrations + pledges converted).
Cheers from bed paradise!
Higgins, HHHotelier ad interim
2,000 fully paid up hashers onboard! Waow!!
That's 1,500 Pledges already converted - at the rate of 200 balances paid per week over the last two weeks - plus 375 new registrations and 125 Early Birds.
Who said deadlines do not work? ;-)
By the way if you have NOT paid your balance you haven't missed the boat yet. This time the price has gone up by a gentle EUR 5 but don't miss the 21-JUN deadline to avoid the steep EUR 25 increase.
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman and Chief Bean Counter ad interim
Temporary on-line offer for a chance to get your pledge money back (yes, we're talking EUR 145 here) - only available to Pledge Holders (fully paid or not).
Only 100 tickets, 50 sold off-line already.
Want to play? Send a EUR 5.25 personal payment via PayPal to: HHHHiggins@gmail.com before April 15. First come, first served.
Raffle draw will take place at Belgian NH on April 21.
Good luck!
Higgins, Chairman
Sales is STILL going strong with 50 sold in one month, leaving only 97 registrations at the current EUR 230 price before we open the very last range.
The Who's Coming list has been updated accordingly this evening.
Taking into account 1,075 converted Pledges and 125 Early Birds that's already 1,500 fully paid up participants 500 days before the opening!
Party anyone?
Higgins, Head of Sales
Spring is only 3 weeks away in Europe and so is the deadline for converting your pledge before 20-MAR-2013!
All you need to do is log in our registration database, provide additional boring yet necessary info (T-shirt size, food, drinks and trail preferences) and pay the EUR 145 balance. This shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes and you can have a glass of beer/wine at the same time ;-)
You may also want to tell your hash buddies that we only have 120 registrations left at the current price.
Here comes the sun...
The winter 2012/2013 newsletter
is now available on-line and has been sent to all registered participants with a valid e-mail address a few days ago.
The following pages have been seriously updated:
* The Event , with a high-level program
* Pre & Post Rambles , with 8 supporting events of which 2 are already open
* Contact Us , finally killing that unfriendly CAPTCHA routine
* FAQ, now replaced by an on-line forum
Quick registration update: 51 full registrations @ EUR 230 have been sold since 21-JAN meaning we have 149 spaces left at the current price before the fee goes up one last time by another €20. Then we'll be fully booked.
On On to Madrid H3 Javea weekend
Higgins, Chairman in need of sunshine
Target acquired: just 2 months after opening our balance payment on-line facilities 800 hashers have already converted their pledge!
Congratulations to Shop Teacher (BVD H3) pledge holder #1,826 who won his balance money back through our second and final free draw last night.
The new incentive to pay before the deadline is a head-up on accommodation since fully paid up hashers will receive hotel booking information on 1-MAR i.e. 2 weeks before it's available on this web site.
So pledge holders make sure to update your personal data and pay the EUR 145 balance by 28-FEB for beating the queues. Otherwise check out the Register page for future payment deadlines.
To access your personal data click on Register (top menu) before selecting Pay Balance for authenticating yourself.
You may also want to tell your hashing friends there are only 375 places left before the event is sold out.
Still 18 months to go!
Higgins, Chairman
Seems that hashers finally recovered from the end-of-year festivities looking at the whopping 26 new registrations purchased this week.
The Who's Coming list has been updated accordingly.
Please have a look at the Who's Lost list since we're still missing valid contact data for 42 pledge holders.
Registration fee is now €230 for the next 200 to sign up.
Paaarrrtyyyy!
Higgins, Head of Sales
DO NOT PANIC! (in big friendly letters ;-)
The contracts were duly signed in September last year with 8 hotels so the number of rooms (1,000 in total) and prices (from EUR 65 upwards) are guaranteed.
However the hotels have been extremely sluggish moving on since. Clearly I would not hire any of their admin guys, with one exception, to work for me even for free.
At this stage I feel confident to commit that individual bookings will open on 15-APR (yes, that's three month late!) but would not risk an earlier date.
We should have a clearer view by the end of next week and will update you through our forthcoming quarterly newsletter due for mailing on 31-JAN.
Sorry about this delay. Looking on the bright side there's still 18 months to go until Brussels 2014 so I guess you can relax and have another beer or wine.
On a more positive note the list of pre/post-rambles will be published by the end of this month.
Cheers from (snow covered) beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman and ass-kicker
Congratulations to Reluctant (Perth H3) pledge holder #2,083 who won his balance money back through our free draw last night. How? Simply by paying the balance for converting his pledge by Xmas passed.
Do not despair, there's still a last chance for you as well. January typically being Winter Sales season in Europe we're extending our special offer one more (and last) time.
So Pledge Holder make sure to update your personal data and pay the EUR 145 pledge balance by 23-JAN for automatically taking part in our ultimate free draw. Otherwise check out the Register page for future payment deadlines.
To access your personal data go to www.brussels2014.net and click on Register (top menu) before selecting Pay Balance for authenticating yourself.
You may also want to tell your hashing friends there are only 35 registrations left at the current price.
Hashy New Year!
Higgins, Chairman
550 pledge holders took our special offer by paying their balance by Xmas. Their name will therefore be entered in the free draw for a chance to win their balance money back.
The draw will take place during the On Inn of the first 2013 hash in Belgium i.e. SHAPE H3 run #7 on 2-JAN.
(rumour has it there might be another special offer in January since it's the winter sales season in Belgium)
Good luck to all!
Higgins, Chairman
The pledges we sold from February 2011 to September 2012 were a deposit guaranteeing its owner a cheaper deal.
To convert a pledge into a full registration one must provide additional data and pay the balance.
Pledge holders can now go to the Register section and select Pay Balance for converting their pledge in three easy steps:
1) Authenticate yourself to access your personal data
IMPORTANT NOTE: filling the First Name field correctly proved a challenge to a significant percentage of our testers, although it's not case-sensitive. So if it doesn't work the first time, try one of the following spelling:
* as per your passport/ID → e.g. Anthony Peter
* the shorter version → e.g. Anthony P
* the shortest version → e.g. Anthony
* the everyday version → e.g. Tony
2) Select your choice for each proposed option then accept the disclaimer
3) Pay the balance via our PayPal interface (credit card or PayPal account)
Balance price is €145 with a deadline of 20-MAR-2013. Do it before Xmas 2012 and you will automatically enter a draw for winning your balance money back!
Remember that Brussels 2014 aims at zero profit so if things go well you'll receive some cash back upon check-in on the last weekend of July 2014.
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins and Yark Sucker, Chairs
Just over one month after reopening on-line registration we've sold 100 places. Latest person to join our party is Anyname from Perth Harriettes H3.
Top-10 by country
1) U.S.A. (534)
2) Australia (462)
3) England (411)
4) Malaysia (235)
5) Indonesia (148)
6) Germany (120)
7) New Zealand (61)
8) Scotland (48)
9) Canada (44)
10) Belgium (41)
Top-20 by kennel
1) Palm Family, Indonesia (68)
2) BMPH3, Belgium (47)
3) Tawau, Malaysia (33)
4) Hardy's, England (32)
5) Klang, Malaysia (31)
6) Austin, U.S.A. (28)
7) DC, U.S.A. (27)
8) Cambridge, England (25)
9) Kota Kinabalu Bunnies, Malaysia (24)
10) Townsville, Australia (24)
11) Long Beach, U.S.A. (23)
12) Stuttgart, Germany (23)
13) Aberdeen, Scotland (22)
14) Orange County, U.S.A. (22)
15) Wessex, England (22)
16) Copenhagen, Denmark (21)
17) Perth Harriettes, Australia (21)
18) Bunbury, Australia (20)
19) Frankfurt, Germany (20)
20) Yorkshire, England (20)
Logically the Who's Coming list has been updated today.
The autumn 2012
snapshot is available and will be e-mailed to all registered participants in the coming days.
Quick registration update: 2,450 onboard today so just 150 spaces left at the current price before fee goes up by another €20.
On On to Amsterdam 1000th
Higgins, Chairman in a festive mood
Our revamped website is up and r*nning!
Registration has reopened for the last 599 places. If you missed the pledge offer now is the time to register and save €20 on the next fee level.
Please note our new address: www.brussels2014.net
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman
Contracts have been signed last month with 7 hotels (1 more pending) for a firm option on 1,000 rooms. All are well-located downtown Brussels within a 3-km (2-mi) radius from central station and near a public transport stop.
Five are in the European District near Place Luxembourg with plenty of nearby bars and restaurants. Two are in the Historical Centre next to Grand Place with again many watering holes and yummy restaurants. One is just 10-min walk from the venue with a private 3,000 m2 courtyard and garden alas no "soft" infrastructure around.
Price per room per night varies between €80 and €125 incl. all taxes and full buffet breakfast for two. A very good deal for a European capital city with discount on low season prices up to 40%!
More info will be provided in our forthcoming newsletter scheduled for October.
Cheers from the city with 23,000 hotel rooms!
Higgins, provider of fine deals
Congratulations to More Leggs and Porkless (Dayton H3) for purchasing the very last two pledges online this evening.
This special offer is now sold-out. We will re-open registration with full pre-payment on October 1st once our system has been updated.
Cheers from beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman and Registrar ad interim
Save €10 plus get a 6-month credit to pay the balance by purchasing our very last pledges. For sale now at €57.75 in our online store.
Don't procrastinate, this is your very last opportunity for a better deal.
On Out to Brussels Beer Weekend!
Higgins, Chairman and beer connoisseur
We have concluded our negotiations with the outstanding help of Brussels Booking Desk, the accommodation arm of Visit Brussels. Prices will be starting at €80 per room per night including full buffet breakfast for two and all taxes. We even have a deal at €65 without breakfast.
From the 5 districts and 150 hotels in Brussels we focused on 2 convenient districts and established a shortlist of 20 hotels then went through site visits and three round of price negotiations to finally select 7+1 hotels.
All hotels are within a 3-km (2-mi) radius from central station and near public transport. 5 hotels are located in the European district (party!), 2 in the historical centre and 1 near the venue.
Booking conditions should be the best ever for a big H3 event since ... [ready for it?] ... no deposit will be required and you'll be able to cancel your room at no charge up to 7 days before the event.
We're aiming at signing the contract with the hotel association by the end of September for opening bookings on-line in January next year.
Cheers from hotel paradise!
Higgins, Chairman
Only 96 pledges Mk IV left before we are out of stock!
After that we will switch to the next price level and the entire fee will be payable at the time of registration.
On Oooonnnn!
Higgins, Registrar ad interim
At a price of £27m and tickets above $2,000 for the opening ceremony involving 10,000 athletes representing 204 nations the 2012 Olympics will open two days from now in London.
With a drastically much modest price tag and tickets for the full event costing between €160 and €240 the 2,000+ hashers representing so far 70 countries will start rocking the Belgian capital city and EU seat of power two years from now for Brussels 2014: A Beer Odyssey.
And because one three-day party is not enough we'll be staging a not-to-be-missed Red Dress Run prelube the day before with the haring and fashion expertise of San Diego hares.
No armchair hashing for us, be there or miss it!
Countdown started: D-730
Today we reconfirmed our option for the fantastic venue identified two years ago: Tour & Taxis.
Located downtown 2.5 km from Central Station it's perfect for our kind of partying since we can use the venue until 2am and bring our own drinks without corkage fee.
Easily accessible by public transport it's only a 10-min walk from the nearest underground station. Moreover the venue is modular, offering plenty of indoor and outdoor space taylored to the number of attendees.
Contract should be signed in October, once our not-for-profit company is officially established.
On In(n)!
Higgins, Chairman
A record sale of 56 pledges in one week!
Tomorrow we're opening the last batch of 200 pledges Mk IV for grab until 21-SEP or once we've run out, whichever comes first.
On Oooonnnn!
Higgins, Registrar ad interim
Neptunus - our original Brussels 2014 ambassador - will be recycling the fabulous EuroHash 2011 venue for your enjoyment.
Located in the Dutch countryside near Venlo - the hilly part of The Netherlands - Castle "De Berckt" provides an ideal location for an all-inclusive event.
Taking place the weekend before "Brussels 2014: A Beer Odyssey" the 2014 edition of Dutch Nash Nash (not a typo) has already attracted 42 hashers by word-of-mouth. There's only 200 beds available so don't delay and sign up today!
www.DutchNashNash2014.nl (not a typo)
A good first week selling the remaining pledges Mk III with 32 newcomers.
This offer remains valid until #2,200, on a first come first served basis.
FYI we currently have the following demographic spread:
* Europe 32%
* America 23%
* Asia 22%
* Pacific 20%
* Africa 3%
Top 5 countries are U.S.A. (443), Australia (363), England (332), Malaysia (232) and Indonesia (147).
On On from beer paradise!
Higgins, Chairman
I am happy to announce that despite NOT winning the World InterHash 2014 title there will be some serious partying and r*nning in Brussels over the last w/e of July 2014.
No sour grapes since our bid effort attracted over 2,000 pledge holders and delivered a flawless on-stage presentation. Also, both bidders had decided beforehand to host an event in 2014 regardless of the vote outcome: Hainan in March and Brussels in July.
Always looking at the bright side we'll have a smaller event (2,000 to 3,000 attendees) only attracting those really interested to do trail, socialise with hashers from different cultures plus discover Belgium and Europe, regardless of the moniker on the event T-shirt.
On-line registration is now open again so you can purchase pledges Mk III while remaining stocks last.
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Chairman
Congratulations to Hainan. The voting procedure was fair, all bid teams in good spirit and the interaction between bid chairmen very positive during and after the whole event. Actually Ma Hai - Hainan 2014 Chairman - bought a pledge for Brussels 2014, signing up and paying the total registration cost on top of a yet unopened ballot box during the vote count! A perfect gentleman he even invited both chairmen from the losing bids to join him front stage for the WIH 2012 grand finale.
Clearly Hainan 2014 back to the mothership campaign targeting the many ethnic Chinese attendees proved unbeatable despite their very poor stage presentation, vague answers to the Q&A session and lack of attractiveness of the host city. Their bid team excelled in making sure that each and every potential supporter found the poorly indicated voting booth and casted their votes.
To be complete official figures give 2,313 hashers voting (1,079 on Friday evening + 1,234 on Saturday evening) i.e. only about 50% of those attending this superb Borobudur 2012 event. Hainan won straight during the first round with 59.6% (1,378 votes) against 34.1% (788 votes) for Brussels and 5.4% (125 votes) for Fiji.
Brussels sold 2,071 pledges while Hainan sold about 1,200 early birds.
On On to Hainan 2014 World InterHash before Brussels 2014 Beer Odyssey!
Higgins, Chairman REGARDLESS
With an illuminated world heritage temple in the background and a huge stage to fill the Brussels 2014 bid team and ambassadors delivered a top-class presentation tonight at Prembanan.
The Perth Harriettes "bunnies" bringing our banner on stage was an attractive start followed by a short introduction by yours truly. Then an excellent delivery in both English (Dr PP) and Bahasa (Hardy Boy) before a selection of ambassadors confirming their commitment to organise p-rambles. A well-thought script, rehearsal and proper briefing plus a dry-run in Mombasa certainly helped and the big cheer from a large section of the audience at the end of our presentation was very encouraging!
The following Q&A session by the MC gave us the opportunity to provide detailed data such as hotel prices and show our advance degree of planning.
We possibly couldn't have done better with 30 ambassadors in blue shirt on stage and in comparison outdid the competition big time . Best feedback received was from Horn E - who attended 14 of the latest 15 InterHashes - and told me only Tasmania 2000 bid presentation was at that level.
Now let's hope our supporters make the difference by voting in numbers to compensate the demographics which by default is to our disadvantage.
On On to Brussels 2014 and beyond!
Higgins, Chairman with a big smile
During our Ambassadors drink at Kopitiam Hash Pub in Jogjakarta we sold raffle tickets for pledge #2,014.
The lucky winner is Chopper from Redlands H3 in Australia
On On On!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
Another 125 supporters signed up for our pledge Mk II offer in Dar-es-Salaam (Bagamoyo Relay), Zanzibar (Spice Islands Cruise) and Mombasa (Great Hash Migration).
We now have a full house and are on our way to victory in Jogjakarta!
Cheers to InterHash 2012 Borobudur and beyond!
Higgins, Brussels 2014 Chairman REGARDLESS
Find the main intercontinental European airports, high-speed train stations and pre/post-rambles locations served by convenient regional airports.
Just a high-level map at this early stage to give you an idea of connections in Europe.
Now can you pin the Manneken Pis onto the map?
2014 Cheers from your Project Manager
18 visiting kennels are now commited , latest entries being:
* Kuala Lumpur H3 aka Mother Hash, Malaysia
* Kuala Lumpur Harriettes H3, Malaysia
* Hannover H3, Germany
7 pre/post-rambles are in the starting blocks:
* BE-The Bus Tour from HHHell! #5: "Tour de Belgium revisited", 5 days, 2x40 pax
* NL-Amsterdam Canal Hash, 23 or 30 July, 100 pax
* NL-Dutch Nash Hash 2014, 18-20 July, 200 pax
* DE-Breweries and Castles Tour of Germany, TBA
* FR-DIVA Champagne Tour, 5 days (Alsace, Champagne, Paris)
* UK-Glasgow Commie Hash, 18-21 July, 100 pax
* EI-Dublin Paddywhack weekend, TBA
Other major cities such as London and Madrid have already expressed interest to welcome visiting hashers.
That's 7 of the Top-10 European airports covered. Take your time to explore then jump on the high-speed train to Brussels from:
* Amsterdam (1h53, € 80 return)
* Frankfurt (2h45, € 98 return)
* Paris (1h22, € 58 return)
* London (1h57, € 75 return)
One thing for sure: you'll be spoilt for choice! Whether you're into pilsner, wheat, Guinness or abbey-style beers we've got it covered. Same on the wine front with sparkling, white and red then even a wee bit of single malt for the whisky lovers.
Thirsty? I would!
On On to discovering Europe one drink at the time!
Higgins, Chairman and "bon vivant"
15 visiting kennels have already committed 6 hashers each for haring on Saturday and Sunday. More are th*nking about it ... seriously.
EUROPE
* Brussels H3
* Copenhagen H3
* First UK Full Moon H3
* London H3
* Milton Keynes H3
* Munich H3
* Oxford H3
* Stockholm H3
* Yorkshire H3
plus the European BallBreaker team (Automatic Balls, Loping Scrotum, Biggles & Hazukashii)
AMERICA
* Atlanta Area H3
* Colorado H3
* DC H3
* Pittsburgh H3
ASIA
* Klang H4
Moreover Deep Throat and Zulu Boy - the original hares of the very first RDR ever - will be leading a dozen San Diego H3 hashers for organising the Brussels 2014 Red Dress Run. You will even have a chance to personally meet The Lady In Red, the former Playboy bunny who inspired the RDR craziness. All pledge holders of course!
Checking...
A great video on Belgian beers as well as the history of the country by Tim Webb, author of the indispensable Good Beer Guide Belgium.
This video showcases the Cantillon brewery that produces the unique gueuze and kriek through open fermentation. The brewery is located in Anderlecht, a district of Brussels, only 30 minutes by foot from Grand Place.
Very refreshing for the start of spring.
Santé!
Higgins, VP GoNAD Open Beer University
On-line pledges are now sold out !!
Last one bought by Goldilocks (Holzwickede H3) this Sunday lunch time on the shore of Lake Constanz.
We now stand at 1,850 (!) with the remaining 150 earmarked for the Great Hash Migration in Mombasa and World InterHash 2012 in Jogjakarta.
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Captain of the party boat
Our on-line store will be closing this coming Sunday @ 20:14. For your last-minute shopping go to:
http://register.interhash2014.com/registrations/add/
Just make sure to sign up and pay in one go (automated system). We accept PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
Pledge price is still €36.69 with one year credit for paying the balance and will allow you to save €20 on the registration fee.
... 20-14 ...
On On!
Higgins, Chairman
Dates are 25-27 July 2014 with the Red Dress Run on Thursday 24.
Venue and dates are now casted in stone after meeting Tour & Taxis manager this Tuesday and confirming our option. If you want to see what the venue looks like go to our photo album and check The Plan. The venue is modular with 4 sheds totalling 12,000 m2 (multiply by 10 for square feet) i.e. a footprint 20% bigger than the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. Sheds are contiguous and separated by (huge) sliding doors.
We'll be using between 1 and 3 sheds depending on the number of participants so it will be the right fit, not too big neither too small. That's waaayyy more space than the recommended event management standard of 1 m2 per participant.
And if the weather is really nice there's an esplanade in front of the sheds calling for a beer garden :-)
FYI the party place is a subset of a huge 25 ha outdoor space that will eventually be fully developed into a new district of Brussels by 2020.
In the mean time the venue is licensed for playing music any day until 2am. Guess when the party wil stop? Last call by 1:30, hashficially ;-)
On On to Borobudur!
Higgins, Chairman with a huge... venue
Another milestone for the Brussels 2014 project today since we decided to do business with Haacht Brewery (www.haacht.com). The deal will include 4 of our 7 beers and the wine as well.
We're talking about 36,000 liters of beer and 4,000 liters of wine. Besides being a family-owned brewery where you speak to a person rather than an employee they also have amazing logistics - we're talking tankers and pipelines, not kegs. Actually the brewery has its own Event Manager and a Special Services department equiped with 154 mobile taps plus pipelines that can be extended and/or refrigerated by water!!
The whole equipment - including 100 meters of bar - will be provided for free while we get a 25% discount on wholesale price for cans and 50% for kegs errrr I mean tankers.
The 4 beers we tasted and selected are Primus (5.2 % pilsner), White (5,1 % wheat), Tongerlo blond (6,5 % abbey-style blond) and Tongerlo Bruin (6.5% abbey-style dark).
For the wine we'll have to sacrifice the committee in summer and pay a visit to the brewery for wine tasting (it sounds strange, doesn't it?). Selected wines (one red one, one white one) will be from the brewery own vineyards in France.
I guess I deserve a beer (or two) now!
Next week the venue...
Cheers from beer paradise indeed!
Higgins, Chairman with a HUGE smile and COLD beer in hand
'nuff said!
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Chairman with a BIG smile
The first information session with local hares for reviewing the draft selection criteria and proposed run sites took place yesterday evening.
We're rather comfortable with an approved shortlist of 38 to eventually reach our target of 30 run sites compliant for hosting up to 200 hashers.
Each run site will offer a choice of 2 trail lengths between short (4-6 km), medium (6-9 km) and long (10-15 km). Sunday offering will be a subset of Saturday.
Saturday will also present a Ball Breaker (21+ km running) and a Ball Bender (15+ km walking).
Since Belgium is blessed with many historical cities we'll have several sightseeing trails on offer in Brussels, Leuven and Mechelen. The others will mostly be in the countryside and/or forests.
To optimise party time we're aiming at 80% of the bus journeys taking less than 45 minutes. Upon return we'll stop close to your hotel at one of the designated drop-off points.
Time to buy new shoes??
Check-ing!
Higgins, Chairman in need of more exercice
A very good start with 17 sold on opening day and a total of 99 during the first month.
We now stand at 1,670 pre-registered hashers.
On Up to 2,014!
Higgins, Chairman
We had the idea, now we also have the technology!
Pledges Mk II are now available on-line @ € 36.69 while stocks last.
To grab this good deal go to:
http://register.interhash2014.com/registrations/add/
The registration process is simple but must be completed in one go:
1) fill in your personal data
2) press the SUBMIT button
3) press the PAY NOW button
4) pay via the PayPal interface
Here you can either pay using a PayPal account (top right option) or a credit card (bottom right option).
Once you have registered AND paid you will receive a confirmation message. -> NO payment = NO registration.
Please note at this stage you can only register+pay one hasher at a time. For signing up another hasher you'll have to repeat the 4 steps again.
Hashy new year from beer paradise!
--
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
Psssttt... Want a sneak preview at what we'll have on offer in summer 2014?
Beery Xmas!
Higgins, Chairman
With another 201 pledges sold at Pan Asia and the remaining in Kuala Lumpur this weekend we are now sold out of original pledges!!
Top-5 kennels are:
* Palm Family H3 (Indonesia) with 68 hashers
* Brussels Manneke Piss H3 (Belgium) with 32 hashers
* Tawau H4 (Malaysia) with 30 hashers
* Klang H4 (Malaysia) with 28 hashers
* Austin H3 (U.S.A.) with 25 hashers
Top-5 countries are:
* U.S.A. with 305 hashers
* Australia with 269 hashers
* England with 247 hashers
* Malaysia with 197 hashers
* Indonesia with 125 hashers
We will open another range of Pledge MkII around Xmas and this time on-line but first I need some sleep ;-)
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Chairman with a BIG smile
Ultimate lucky winners of the pledge draw for a fully paid-up registration are:
* Draw n°11 [1,400-1,499]: #1,448 Tji Lien, Pelita H3 (Indonesia)
* Draw n°12 [500-599]: #521 Jimmy Leggett, Mother Hash (Malaysia)
* Draw n°13 [151-250]: #220 Preacher, Royal Lake Club H4 (Malaysia)
* Draw n°14 [the rest]: #499 S&M, Coffs Harbour H3 (Australia)
Brussels 2014 - Still the best Return-on-Investment in 2011 ... regardless!
On Out with 1,569 pledges!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
A big thank you is in order for those hashers who volunteered countless hours at the promotion booth and beyond for selling pledges.
* Hardy Boy & Rooster (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
* Hot Dick & Icebox (San Francisco, U.S.A.)
* Tazzy Crumpet & Mad Cow (Brisbane, Australia)
* Fire in da Ho (Wellington, New Zealand)
* BarterBitch (Melbourne, Australia)
Many others helped for a few hours here and there manning the promotion booth, moving stuff around or bringing us refreshment.
Special mention to Enos (Perth, Australia) who seemed to have traveled as much as I did this year and was always here, there and everywhere for tackling whatever background job was needed.
Hail to the team and the active ambassadors!
On On to Borobudur 2012!
Higgins - Chairman with a BIG smile ;-)
Remember there is only one World InterHash, it's in Jogjakarta (Java, Indonesia) next May 25-27. And that's where the vote for InterHash 2014 will be taking place.
The "One hasher, One vote" policy will be strictly enforced and you have to be in attendance to cast your vote - no proxy! The voting process has been designed by the Organising Committee with inputs from all bidders and is now casted in stone after agreement from King Kong (Java 2012), Ma Hai (Hainan 2014) and Higgins (Brussels 2014 ;) during PanAsia in Bandung.
So it's time to make your mind and save USD 50!
To be complete let's mention the same deadline applies for The Great Hash Migration taking place the w/e before in Mombasa (Kenya).
Selamat malam & Hakuna matata!
Higgins
Latest lucky winners of the pledge draw for a fully paid-up registration are:
* Draw n°8 [1,100-1,199]: #1,180 Purple Pecker Eater, Columbian H3 (U.S.A.)
* Draw n°9 [1,200-1,299]: #1,243 Tie Me Down Dick, Tampa Bay H3 (U.S.A.)
* Draw n°10 [1,300-1,399]: #1,337 Maid Marion, Sydney Northern Beaches (Australia)
Brussels 2014 - Still the best Return-on-Investment in 2011 ... regardless!
On Up to 1,500 pledges!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
Mussels kindly volunteered his current pad - the Belgian Ambassador residence - for a Belgian beer tasting in Kuala Lumpur.
Brussels 2014 supporters gathered this Sunday for a taste of Belgium which included Stella Artois, Hoegaarden and Leffe - service courtesy of the local Brussels Beer Café. A quiet evening if it wasn't for the 160 litres of beer syphoned by the 80-100 attendees.
Another succesfull mission (and 30 more pledge holders)!
Higgins, Chairman and GoNAD Beer University VP
Klang H4 has now 28 pre-registered hashers, 1 more than host club BMPH3. Congrats!
Cheers from "Where It All Began"!
Higgins, on tour in Asia
Good sales at InterAmerica this w/e in Savannah.
But even more impressive is the unprecedented 50% hit ratio on a regular trail with the Austin H3 late September. 50 participants, 25 signed up!
The Body - AH3 Hash Cash - assisted those with not enough cash via a cool app and hardware for iPhone (https://squareup.com)
On On to Mekong IndoChina!
Higgins, Brussels 2014 Sales Director ;-)
Lucky winners of the pledge draw for a fully paid-up registration are:
* Draw n°5 [800-899]: #853 Glass Woman, Kota Kinabalu Bunnies H3 (Malaysia)
* Draw n°6 [900-999]: #932 Padre, Riviera H3 (France)
* Draw n°7 [1,000-1,099]: #1,067 Lips, Plympton H3 (England)
Brussels 2014 - Still the best Return-on-Investment in 2011 ... regardless!
On Up to 1,250 pledges!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
With enough hotel rooms for hosting 23,000 guests (this is not a typo) you won't have a problem finding a good deal during the off-peak summer season (15-JUL to 15-AUG).
A hotel room for 2 participants incl. full buffet breakfast should be in the EUR 75 to EUR 140 price range depending on the rating of the hotel (3*-4*-5*).
Additionally there are 700+ hostel beds at EUR 25 pppn incl. continental breakfast.
All hotels and hostels are located within a 3-km (2-mi) radius from Grand Place, Brussels historic square in the city centre.
We aim to finalise a deal during Q1 2012, in due time for Borobudur 2012 InterHash!
On On to a good night of sleep!
Higgins, Brussels 2014 Chairman
With 1,000+ committed hashers it was about time to publish who's supporting our bid.
So here comes the pledge list updated today.
Entries in red denote a pledge that is not yet fully validated due to missing personal data. Please tell those hashers to get in touch with us ASAP.
On Out to a HHHell of a party!
Higgins, Brussels 2014 Chairman
Good sales at UK NH this past weekend, breaking the 1,000 pledges barrier at the speed of real ale!
We're not on FaceBook, Twitter or other open-to-all social networks but you can find us on HashSpace (of course!).
Just go to www.hashspace.com , login and search for the Brussels 2014 group. Then click on the "Join Brussels 2014" button on the top right of the group page. This forum will help you to keep automatically abreast (oh yeah!) of this project developments.
If you're not a HashSpace member yet (16,500 to date) ask a fellow hasher to introduce you or ask us via the contact form on this website.
In the meantime welcome to Sister Maria, our latest group member #358!
On On HashSp@ce!
Higgins, Brussels 2014 Chairman
The initial 1,000 pledge target looks closer than ever...
ASI Gispert, the main founder of the Hash House Harriers, was born 108 years ago today!
Save $25 by registering online by August 31st.
Lucky winners of the pledge draw for a fully paid-up registration are:
* Draw n°3 [600-699]: #655 VD Viking, SPOR&DIC H3 (Sweden)
* Draw n°4 [700-799]: #725 Goldwing, Hannover H3 (Germany)
Brussels 2014 - Still the best Return-on-Investment in 2011 ... regardless!
On Up to 1,000 pledges!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
The 13th edition of this event will see 47 breweries presenting a total of 200 beers. Not the best beer tasting in Belgium - we're picky - but the best setting in the middle of a World Heritage site.
Local hashers usually pay a visit on Friday (6pm-10pm) and/or Saturday (11am-9pm). On Sunday 3pm it's time for hashing with BMPH3.
Give it a chance and get in touch if you happen to be around!
Cheers from beer paradise! (We told you)
Higgins, VP GoNAD Beer University
We just finished a very efficient 3-hour meeting of the bid committee. I have to say pretty much everything is under control and looking good. The three main subjects were marketing and sales, project management and building up the event budget.
Marketing & Sales
799 pledges have been sold so far this year and we still have some big events coming up, the Top 5 being:
* Borneo Nash Hash (957) in July
* UK Nash Hash (620) in August
* InterAmerica (1,500) in October
* Klang H4 30th anniversary (800) in November
* PanAsia (2,698) in November
So we revised our initial sales target of 1,000 and raised the bar to 1,250 pledges sold by 31-DEC-2011
Project Management
Today we're switching from a "best effort" to a strict "project mode" approach with deliverables, deadlines and realistic commitments. We have identified 7+1 workflows for the bid phase:
* WF-1 Marketing
* WF-2 Sales
* WF-3 ICT
* WF-4 Trail
* WF-5 Finance
* WF-6 Legal
* WF-7 WIH 2012
* WF-0 Project Management
To make sure we reach our deadlines with the necessary quality we have appointed a Project Manager for helping us. A very good deal since he's a recently retired hasher with a long experience of organising BIG hash events as well as Quality Assurance. Currently busy drafting the Project Plan and Action List.
Event Budget
We've listed all budget items in a spreadsheet and will fill the blanks (costs) over the next 6 months. Unsurprisingly the Top 5 will be food, beverages, transport, venue and goodie bag.
We also wants to minimise the promotion (2% max) and administration (5% max) costs. More money for food and beer!
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
For a population of 10 millions Belgium boosts a total of 10,000 bars. Unfortunately so far it was a much smokey affair so a night in the pub would mean putting your clothes in the washing machine the next day.
This now belongs to the past since a smoking ban officially started today. So your Belgian beer will taste even better and you'll save on washing!
Smoking hot harriettes are fine, of course ;-)
APRIL
* Melaka World Heritage (~1,400 pax)
* London 2,000th (~300 pax)
MAY
* Africa Hash (~300 pax)
* Bay to Breakers (~270 pax)
* Belgian Nash Hash (~100 pax)
* EuroHash (~540 pax)
JUNE
*Moscow 1,500th (~50 pax)
*InterScandi (~100 pax)
EuroHash 2011 is over and was a great success beside a rocky start with accommodation on Friday. Brussels 2014 adopted one of the bar and dispensed 24 crates of various Belgian beers, ranging from the "safe" Palm (5.0%) to the more potent Rochefort 10 Trappist (11.3%).
Saturday night was also the occassion to present our new promotional item in the form of a drinking vessel. The first 250 visitors of our Belgian bar that night received one plus a free Belgian beer.
Incidentally we sold 140 pledges that weekend (25% hit rate!), now reaching a new tally of 780.
On On to Moscow 1,500th in two weeks!
Higgins - sometime home, never alone
Still one year before the result of the Interhash vote is announced on the magnificent world heritage site of Borobudur. In case you just woke up competitors are:
* Brussels
* Hainan
* Fiji
Thanks for your support so far, the momentum is definitely here!
Cheers from Beer Paradise!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
Following a "quiet" GoNAD 200th gathering cum pubcrawl last night downtown Brussels today is the start of a discovery Tour of Belgium, hash-style.
7 days, 42 beers and many places of interest later (historical cities, national park, breweries, ...) 36 hashers should be more knowledgeable on what Belgium has to offer to visitors off the beaten track.
Cheers to HHHell in Beer Paradise!
Higgins, Tour Leader
Good sales at London 2,000th and Africa Hash in Addis Abeba! Two different events, two different continents yet same number of participants (~300) and same number of pledges sold (~45). Looking good for reaching the 1,000 mark by the end of this year :-)
Higgins, travelling salesman with a cause
"Cause we want to get pissed!"
Following a very interesting and open chat with two Malaysian hashers last month I would like to clarify one important point: all people hashficially involved in the bid effort are doing it for fun, on their free time and without any form of personal compensation besides the odd free beer (usually paid by another hasher from his/her own pocket anyway).
That also applies to the air fares for my own numerous trips abroad. Let's face it I am lucky being able to afford a sabbatical 2011 year while extensively travelling around the world at the same time visiting friends, doing some sightseeing, hashing and - yes - promoting Brussels 2014 bid. No miracle beyond it, just sound financial management of personal assets over 20 years!
The most refreshing aspect of this exercice is also to prove the hashing world you do NOT need big money from your regional tourism ministry or an elusive corporate sponsor to raise interest and put a (hopefully) successful bid on. Time and word-of-mouth works as well!
Brussels 2014 promotion budget was raised via the sale of Early Birds from 2006 to 2008 then by using 20% from the Pledges sale in 2011. All together we are limiting our promotional expenses to 2% of the overall event budget.
The only perk the ambassadors received was a free polo shirt while the stock lasted. Don't dream, it's over :-(
Now what about that FREE beer? Belgian, of course!
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
Finally back home after 7 weeks on the road first in Australia then throughout Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia). Big contrast so far between the strong enthusiasm of the Aussies for our Brussels bid versus the low interest/awareness of the Asians for any 2014 bid.
Great time all over with some challenging trails in Bali for Bali2 1,000th and with Mother Hash on a regular Monday outing.
Enjoyable sites visit to Jogjakarta under the drinking wing of Disco Wanker with a sneak preview of the "control room" where Midget Molester is planning Java 2012, all 747 parts of it. Bir Bintang rocks under the tropics!
Time for some rest and Belgian beers
Zzzzz... Higgins
JANUARY
* New Zealand NH (~120 pax)
FEBRUARY
* Aussie NH (~1,020 pax)
MARCH
* PI Hash Bash (~150 pax)
* Bali2 1,000 (~200 pax)
Lucky winners of the pledge draw for a free registration are:
* Draw n°1 [251-350]: #330 Jumbo Haggis, Park Beach H3 (Australia)
* Draw n°2 [351-450]: #379 Azaria, Townsville H3 (Australia)
Lucky winner of the raffle ticket draw is:
* Raffle n°1: Hooka, Wagga Wagga H3 (Australia)
Brussels 2014 - Possibly the best Return-on-Investment in 2011 ... regardless!
On On the Road Again!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
The Tasmanian hashing community proved again that they can put on top hash events with an incredible Aussie NH 2011 and a record attendance just above the 1,000 mark. Perfectly organised, interesting trails, great fun and offering a fantastic choice of drinks and food - what else could a hasher wish for?
The Brussels 2014 ambassadors team did a great job at advertising our bid and exploded our sales target by convincing 201 hashers to buy a pledge. Actually we sold half over the 3 days of registration while the other half went like berocca under 3 hours on Sunday afternoon.
Congratulations to Mad Cow & Tazzy Crumpet, Hot Dick & Icebox, Puff, Fire N Da Ho & Deep Throat as well as Jackoff for their help manning the promotion desk.
On On to a seriously hot bid campaign in 2011!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
Save $25 by registering online by February 28th.
Expect to see many Brussels 2014 ambassadors on the road this year! We will be attending all major hash events and should have a promotional stand in the registration area at each continental gatherings.
We have been good boys in 2010 (sorry about that!) so Santa Claus brought us a lot of bright ideas.
Beside distributing the new 2011 flyer we will be selling pledges and raffle tickets.
The pledge not only guarantees you the cheapest registration fee (only available to pledge holders!), it also automatically enters you in a draw for winning a free registration (1/100 odds). We will even throw in a limited edition patch for free. Pricing is €25 cash and we shall be accepting major hard currencies for your convenience.
The raffle ticket gives you a chance to win a free pledge (1/50 odds) while gambling as little as £€$3. Add another £€$2 for a limited edition patch on top.
Please note that all these promotional items are only available off line so no armchair hashing this time ;-)
On On to a year of promotion around the world!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
This long and wet meeting focused on promotion in 2011. We reviewed the final draft of the new flyer and talked about pledges and raffle tickets.
All new promotional stuff will be launched at Aussie Nash Hash in Hobart, Tasmania (February 25-27).
Look out for our pissboy on his best behaviour ;-)
On On to 2014!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
Thanks to Cyberflasher you can now discover the bid committee CV's, our bid status and a new promotional video. We have also added some colours with our banner that was unveiled in Kuching. Enjoy!
Higgins, Bid Chairman
Even for a hasher that should be long enough to make your mind. Talking of which our bid website will be upgraded in just a few days with new content including a promotional video.
Did we forget to mention our new ad is on the back page of Harrier International 2011 Q1 edition? Damn it, must be the festive season ;-)
Check it out on page 47 of Harrier Magazine
And for those who keep asking the event date will be 25-27 July 2014.
I knew there were several reasons for scheduling Brussels 2014 in summer...
As I met with XYZ and Tipm (respectively Perth 2008 Chairman and Goodie Bag Manager) this first Saturday of December I was reminded fair weather is one of these. The falling snow gave us a very good reason to get inside for a few warmers. After the first Glühwein of the season we settled for Belgian beers. To be perfectly honest we first had a 1-hour working session while perfectly sober before productivity and focus started dropping. A very instructive and fun day out followed by a good night sleep.
Thanks to our Aussie visitors for sharing the highs and lows of their hand-on experience at organising an InterHash. If you are from Down Under and want to check how strong Belgian beer is XYZ might be your man ;-)
Cheers from (snowy white) Beer Paradise!
Higgins, Chairman
Thinking about it since 2004 - Cardiff
Thinking about it SERIOUSLY since 2006 - Chiang Mai
Thinking about it SERIOUSLY online since 25-OCT-2008
This year we secured support from the local authorities then selected the venue, the brewery and the bus company. I guess it is not bad 4 years ahead ;-)
Cheers from Beer Paradise!
Higgins, Chairman
Save $30 by registering online before October 1st. You can now pay using a credit card!
It is the number of days left until we open the festivities in Brussels. That is if YOU decide to vote for us in Java 2012!
The last thing you want is to subcontract drinks to a brewery to find their beer is not to everyone taste.
So we blindfolded 5 handpicked hashers on BMPH3 circle this Sunday and fed them 6 different pils: Maes, Jupiler Blue, Vedett, Primus, Stella Artois and Jupiler N/A. To be sure, to be sure!
Without any coercion everyone picked Primus as the best of the lot. Conveniently it is the pils produced by Haacht brewery, our partner for 2014!
No need for tasting the abbey-style, it already passed with flying colours at Belgian Nash Hash 2010.
Next tasting: the wheat beer.
Cheers from Beer Paradise!
Higgins, VP GoNAD Open Beer University
This meeting focused on the debriefing from Kuching WIH (lessons learned, promotion results and competition) in order to fine tune our stategy.
A very productive brainstorming session it was, resulting in an action list for completion by the end of this year.
Expect one or two major announcements plus a new flyer by February 2011 !
On On to Brussels 2014!
Higgins - Bid Chairman
Weather in Brussels this weekend was brilliant with temperatures of 27°C / 80°F (day) and 16°C / 60°F (night) plus daylight from 6:00 to 21:30.
Mombasa (Kenya) and Jokjakarta (Java, Indonesia) were competing for the privilege to play host city to the next World InterHash.
Discowanker and its team won 60% of the votes so off to Indonesia over the last w/e of May 2012 with promise of Borobudur temples as the background to the venue.
Hakuna matata since Kenya will nevertheless host an event the weekend before.
Anyone working for an airline ? ;-)
Located in the Hash Bazaar, our promotional booth was difficult to miss thanks to 3 big blue 15ft x 3ft banners produced a few days before in KL, courtesy of Hardy Boy.
Many visitors with relevant questions stopped by plus the "odd" ones only looking for freebies.
We actually had about 250 T-shirts from previous events recycled with our motto to give away and so did we. Empty cupboards at last!
On Friday night we had 5 minutes on stage for a short skit and promotional video. The low setting of the screen was anything but optimal and the ambassadors on stage seemed to distract the part of the audience who could actually see the screen. Thanks to the many feedbacks received we know exactly what to do and not to do for the actual bid presentation in 2012.
BTW, our two competitors for 2014 will be Hainan (China) and Fiji.
(Brouwery) Those 12.5 liters per head for 2 days, that is way too much!
(2014 Reps): No, no. It is 12.5 liters per head for 3 days!
(Brouwery): Ah! That makes sense. You guys drink a lot!
THE OTHER meeting of the year. We had shortlisted this brewery because of its size, products quality and beer range. Dr PP and Higgins met with Mr Talbut - Event Manager - who stressed that the brewery is still family-owned and do focus on customer service. "What we might not get from larger breweries" (read: f**k InBev - right so!).
Very thorough discussion involving 10,000-l tankers and a special beer tasting bar with naked staff. If you believe the latter, you believe everything ;-)
Today saw the first work meeting of the Executive Committee. We focused on promotion material, shared the latest news, discussed beer options, brainstormed for the new motto and had a first look at the draft budget.
We chose to spend the day out so started the meeting onboard the train to Oostende before continuing the proceedings in Café Botteltje.
Several hours and beers later we had achieved much more than expected thanks to a smooth, focused and fun half-day.
100 buses + drivers during summer school holidays? Well, THEY can do it! And to avoid the usual logistical Saturday morning nightmare, EuroBussing will also provide an experienced in-house transport coordinator.
We were also offered the very tempting option of a "welcome hostess" onboard each bus but this is not forecasted in the budget right now ;-)
THE meeting of the year. What is more important than a good venue for a World InterHash? Beer and trails I hear you say - but that is a given, no?.
Tour & Taxis, a 25-hectare site, initially started as the European hub for postal mail (we are talking horses and carriage here) in the 16th century (see!). Fast forward to the early 20th century when the Belgian Customs and Excises moved in, building some serious warehouses..
Three buildings have now been renovated. Entrepôt Royal - listed as national trust - is now hosting office spaces and temporary exhibitions. Another one is long enough for hosting horse jumping shows! The third one - the sheds - is available for private functions. This is where you will be dining, drinking and partying in 2014..
Not only are we getting 50% discount on the rental price (off-season), the site comes with a permanent 2am music licence!! Needless to say we are not expecting many hashers to be left standing at that time after all those unlimited Belgian brews...
Thanks to the lead from BI-TC we managed to directly get in touch with the right person (Brecht) and even met the big boss at national level. They are eager to help us introducing our sponsorship file with Brussels Airlines (newest Star Alliance member) and help whenever they can.
Good genoeg voor ons, zeg maar !
First face-to-face contact today with BI-TC since our feasibility study in August 2006.
Our new named contact is Elisabeth, a young enthusiastic person who th*nk our project is fun. Good to hear: "my job is to help you and that is what I am paid for". Interesting leads for tourism offices and event professionals.
We welcome Harrier International (formerly Asia-Pacific Harrier) magazine onboard. Sealed after many Lao beers in a Belgian (!) pizzeria downtown Vientiane, the deal aims at supporting each other work. I must say that the magazine has become very attractive over the years, not only because of the eye-candy usually found on the front cover but also due to its truly international appeal and bunch of contributors.
The 2010 Q1 edition features a "Hashing in Belgium" section as well as a half-page add for our bid. Try also to find the subtle hint on the front cover :-)
Check it out online at: www.harriermagazine.com and do not forget you can also subscribe for reading the glossy paper version on the road. Bimbo is always looking for additional sponsors to advertise in the magazine so get in touch with him if you are willing to help.
Today the train links Brussels-Cologne and Brussels-Amsterdam are switching to full high speed. So you are even closer to our four major neighbouring cities than before:
* Paris in 1h22
* Cologne in 1h47
* Amsterdam in 1h53
* London in 1h57
That means all European capitals are now within a 2-hour journey from Brussels either by train or plane, besides Helsinki and Athens.
So what is your excuse for staying home ?
We will be shifting gears in the coming months for a higher profile marketing campaign culminating at InterHash 2010. Expect an ad in the next issue of Harrier International magazine (formerly Asia-Pacific Harrier), a promotional stand at registration and 5 minutes on stage before the "serious" 2012 bid presentations on the Friday.
It is coming on very nicely, baaaaaby!
Higgins Powers
From Brussels with laughs
Today, enjoying a beer or 12 without being submitted to passive smoking remains a challenge in Belgium. Very likely not anymore by January 2012 since a piece of law is being voted by the lower house. This would apply to indoor spaces serving food or drinks.
Note that smoking hot harriettes are OK ;-)
Already one year since Brussels 2014 hit the web, thanks to Cyberflasher.
Cheers !
Higgins, bid Chairman
(note by Cyber: Thanks to YOU all! :-) )
100 ambassadors have received their full credentials and are now proudly sporting a royal blue promotional shirt at hash events. The remaining stock of 50 shall be ventilated between now and Kuching 2010. Be aware, be very afraid ;-)
5 minutes, 5 lines, 7 ambassadors on stage.
After the lead balloon last year on stage at Perth IH, we managed this time to get our message accross and understood with great on-the-spot feedback from a laughing audience.
Nothing like having a script (see below) and a bare-to-the-bone sober rehearsal, I would say.
* Welcome to Brussels 2014 !
* Open container is not a policy, it is a way of life
* 1,000+ microbrews !!
* 23,000 hotel rooms, all en-suite
* We speak English as well ;-)
Hasta la proxima!
Higgins, fluent in Gibberish
... have landed in Brussels today. coming soon to a hash event near you (or on you).
51 years ago today, Brussels hosted the world fair on the newly built Heysel area. The centre of the fair had its own main square, impersonating the markt of an old Belgian town with no less than 170 houses and so rightly called Merry Belgium (Vrolijk Belgie / La Belgique Joyeuse). If you think Brussels never organised a major piss up, look at these figures:
* 1 out of every 3 buildings was a bar
* 52,000 beers were poured every day in each bar
* 713,000 people visited the fair each day
* 2,000 kids got lost
-> which only amounts to an average of 4 beers per head per day, not including lost childs. Do not put the blame on me, I was not born yet.
The only landmark remaining from those days is the Atomium, better known in hash terms as Brussels balls. They have been renovated a few years back and are now all shiny. Worth a picture...
www.brussels-expo58.be
On On
Higgins, bid Chairman
Others had PowerPoint slide shows, technical problems and 15-minute talks about great shopping. We had Candyfloss, Baldrick, cue cards, drinking problems and a 1-minute visual presentation.
According to independent reports it seems we had the best RoI ;-)
Higgins, stuck at work for once
On a quiet Friday morning it was a big surprise to find 20 copies of the same postcard sitting in my good old snail mailbox. Seems like the Danes had been drinking enough for th*nking about it seriously, incl. some threat or treat about not waiting until 2014. Little do they know we have reinforced our first line of defence a few months ago by expanding the drinking area of the Delirium Café to almost the entire (dead-end) street. A perfect trap for unsuspecting thirsty hashers...
Did you notice there is just 2,000 days left until InterHash 2014 opens in Brussels ? Only one glitch, we need to win your vote first ;-)
On On
Higgins
Higgins - our "head-huncho" for Interhash 2014 - and your humble webNerd CyberFlasher are having a BELGIAN beer in Brussels! Eagerly waiting for REAL news about the bid for "Brussels Interhash 2014" to flow in...
Just FIVE years and a bit to come....
And counting...
Cyberflasher, WebMaster
Hand-delivered by Automatic Balls during BMPH3 Xmas black tie dinner, plastic stencils and spray paint will allow us to move one step forward on our T-shirt recycling project. We now have the technology for (limited) mass production on top of craftsman technique.
For a sneak preview see the result on Neptunus tuxedo by visiting the "Supporting ads" folder of the "Impressions" picture section.
In exactly 69 months, I hope to declare Interhash 2014 open in the city of Brussels. Proposed dates are 25-27 July 2014 i.e. European summertime. Come back to this page on a regular basis if you want to monitor our progress.
In the mean time, have a beer or twelve for us!
On On
Higgins, bid Chairman
