PARTY LIKE A ROCK STAR!

With all of the success of Flair bartending over the last decade it is no surprise the immense popularity it has gained not only with bartenders worldwide but the everyday masses. Now not only is “Flair Bartending” a house hold name but the “house hold” is aware of some of the names of the top competitors in our sport and even where they work!

Something that has greatly helped bring Flair to the masses is the FBA or the Flair Bartenders Association. The FBA brought us FBA certified judges and the FBA Pro Tour which is a series of Flair bartending competitions worldwide where the competitors from each event accumulate points on how well they place at each FBA Pro Tour event. At the end of the year all of the points are awarded and the final placings are announced along with trophies and additional prize money. Imagine being a sponsor of this worldwide event and having your brand in the hands of the top bartenders across the globe. Now imagine all of the fans in the audience watching their favorite bartender showcasing that brand. Now imagine that bartender pushing that product behind the bar they are working at because of that product they are able to do something they love and party like a rock star. Imagine with all of that expose for that brand… what do you think are the chances of all those people ordering the next time they ask for a drink…….? Exactly! That is why sponsors support Flair bartending with big dollars behind them.

With all of these Flair competitions worldwide comes massive media exposure. From television, radio, Online magazines (like Flairbar.com), internet, music videos, movies, websites, newspapers, magazines, etc… It is no surprise why Flair bartending is so well known.

Now with all of the popularity comes opportunities and advantages that come along with it. Privileges that would make anybody feel special and feel important. With all of that time and dedication towards the sport why shouldn’t there be rewards? For every five minutes you see a Flair Bartender on stage there are hundreds of hours of practice that you don’t see . All of that passion and dedication deserves to be rewarded.

So now we have Flair bartenders dedicating themselves to their passion of Flair bartending and with all of the sponsors and media attention they are getting well rewarded for it. With this have come some other things as well… like the pressure to stay in the spotlight. Once you are on top and partying like a rock star, who would want to give it up without a fight…? And that is what we are starting to see.

More and more we are hearing competitors complaining about anything to help better their situation during a competition. From so called bad judging, unfair rules, cheating, conflict of interests and so on. Competitors are fighting and doing what ever they can to stay in the spotlight now then they did just a couple of years ago. Maybe because the spotlight is so much brighter now then it was then. The prize money in the last ten years has “SKYY“ rocketed to new heights, the exposure for the top Flair bartenders is so much more which brings more and more opportunities and privileges that now for the first time we are seeing animosity amongst Flair bartenders.

I remember not to long ago where anybody would show anybody how to do a move or sequence without hesitation. Just as long as you didn’t use the move right before them in a competition, it was a compliment of sorts. Now knowledge is power and is rewarded. Now because the market is so big for Flair bartending we are charging for our services. Now our time is worth money. Time that we might be taking away from practicing for the next event our job or spending with loved ones. Which has it own rewards. So I ask why is making money so wrong?

If we can make a living doing what we love then why is it so wrong? If the opportunities are there why can we not capitalize on them? What is so wrong with that?

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Nothing.

There is nothing wrong with having the opportunity to make some money or even make a living doing something that we all love. But what is wrong is how you may conduct yourself and represent each one another through your actions and words. Remember Flair bartenders are a tight and well kept family. We all eventually know each other one way or another. A couple of bad apples could easily hurt the growth of our sport for the rest of us. As long as we conduct ourselves professionally and keep the growth of Flair in the right direction then we are “ALL” heading the right way. The potential pie is big and getting bigger everyday with additions from all of us. As long as we keep it like that there will always be plenty of pieces to go around.

To Flair and Friends,

-ROB HUSTED-