Seriously, is the price of bottled water EAA's fault? Hasn't Zaugs had the concession contract at AV for the past 25 yrs? And since I've never seen any competition, perhaps they get a "no competition / limited competition" clause in their concession contract with EAA? If I had such a contract, I'd be a bit miffed to have competition in the form of exhibitors giving bottled water away for free.
FWIW, I bring my own "8 cents a bottle" water. And I don't buy any Zaugs concessions. If EAA stops attendees from bringing their own drinking water to AV, has no drinking fountains and essentially 'forces' everyone to buy $3/bottle water, they should be ashamed but for now I don't see what all the fuss is about.
Last edited by martymayes; 08-04-2011 at 07:55 PM.
I don't believe the contract was exclusive (they did have Fratello's this year and had a competing catering company in the past) there were things that kept the EAA divisions from operating their own competition (for example Tall Pines Cafe operated by Vintage could only operate at times when Zaugs didn't).
Personally, I've got a cooler and a case of Wal*Mart water in the campsite.
I buy a bottle or 2 when needed. After that I refill them at the fountains. Refuse,reuse, & recycle, or something like that.
There's a reason why next year, I'm putting up an air conditioned tent back in Warbirds camping and offering water, snacks etc as a cooling station of sorts. After seeing multiple cases of heat exhaustion and one of heat stroke, screw the overpriced stuff. It will be free but if anyone wants to make a donation to offset the costs, etc it will be welcomed.
Give it another 5 to 10 years. This year HAI had that two level exhibition building. Rod said he expected more of them in coming years, and he seemed quite proud of that. Major companies are learning that AirVenture (Not the EAA International Fly-In Convention) is very good for sales.
It's not a bad thing. The main reason I attend is to see the stuff the major companies have to offer. If I simply wanted to see a collection of experimental aircraft and drink beer and eat good food with my fellow pilots, I would skip AirVenture and just attend local fly-ins. That's a lot cheaper, less hassle and I don't have to deal with the horrendous crowds.