Tripleseat Insider: Brewery Events Insight from a Tripleseat Expert

If you are a brewery event manager or owner considering Tripleseat event management software, you may be looking for a little brewery events insight. Today, we feature Casey Barry, Customer Onboarding Specialist at Tripleseat. She shares her insight of working for a brewery and her experience using Tripleseat’s event management platform as an Event Director.

At Tripleseat, we like to say that our event software solutions are built for hospitality professionals by hospitality professionals. It all began with our CEO’s 20+ years of experience and passion for hospitality, which continues to be the foundation of Tripleseat’s core values and products. But what does that mean?

When developing features for our hospitality software, we strive to solve industry pain points. But how can someone truly understand the nuances and moments of high stress if they haven’t lived and breathed it? That’s the sentiment behind hiring team members who have past roles in restaurants, hotels, and other unique venues. They truly bring passion and a genuine understanding of the hospitality world.

Most of Tripleseat’s team have proudly and passionately had experience working in hospitality! But even more amazing, and what many don’t realize is that many of these professionals used to be Tripleseat end-users themselves! This offers a unique and insightful inside view, enabling the Tripleseat team to innovate and create impactful products. Additionally, our customers can gain valuable insights and benefits by revealing more about these event and hospitality experts.

Interview with Casey Barry | Carrabus Brewing, North Carolina

Interviewer: Catarina Martins is a Tripleseat Marketing Manager. In this new blog series, she will share conversations with various team members about their past hospitality and past Tripleseat event management software experiences. More interviews to come!

Interviewee: Casey Barry is a Tripleseat Customer Onboarding Specialist. Before Tripleseat, Casey was the Event Director at Cabarrus Brewing in Concord, North Carolina.

Questions and Answers

Catarina: What venue did you use to work at before coming to Tripleseat? And for how long and what was your role there?

Casey: I used to work at Carrabus Brewing in Concord, North Carolina, and I was there for about three and a half years as the Event Director. 

Catarina: Do you recall if Carrabus was already using Tripleseat before you started? Or can you tell me what the brewery’s journey was with implementing event software?

Casey: So this was a small, local business that had just started. They were about one year old when I joined. They weren’t using any event management software, but they were already in the research phase. Funny enough, we signed with Gather, who later merged with Tripleseat, so that’s what we used while I was there. 

[Editor’s note: Vista Equity Partners, who already owned Gather, acquired Tripleseseat in 2020 and merged the two companies]

Catarina: Wait, really? That’s incredible! That’s actually pretty funny, and now here you are. Okay, then, can you give me a little brewery events insight and tell me if you recall any pushback from either your manager or the owner on getting event management software?

Casey: Not so much pushback, more of a hesitation. We were just one year into the business, so really, the owner wanted to ensure that this made sense for our business. You know, do we have enough business to justify the cost? Can we use it to manage events in a specific way? Can we mold it into our system? Does it take time to set up and learn how to use it? And more importantly, can we invest in this program and get enough ROI?

Catarina: Ah, yes. The question on everyone’s minds. And rightfully so! I mean, that makes sense that, especially when the business was still in its infancy stage, you want to make sure that every dollar spent works for you. Okay, so obviously, you guys wound up moving forward with signing on with Gather. What changed for you guys that made you want to get event management software? Was there an ‘aha moment’?

Casey: There wasn’t really an ‘aha’ moment. I actually worked very closely with the ownership team, and she and I would run around putting on these elaborate events: sweeping, setting up, taking checks, and worrying about handling it securely. There were things that we’d waste our time on that we didn’t have time for. When you book small, you want to look more professional, and it got hard to keep up with that level of high-standard service that we held ourselves accountable for.

Honestly, we had so much business coming in that ultimately we knew we needed something to help us if we wanted to continue with our growth and keep up with demand. Once we were integrated with Gather (turned Tripleseat), it was a total game changer for us. It really does help small businesses look put together and saves the team so much time by taking away some of the manual aspects of the job by automating them.

Catarina: Oof. I can only imagine how hard that must have been, but sounds like it all started to turn around! Can you give us a quick recap on how Gather / Tripleseat made your job easier?

Casey: All I’d say is it can help small businesses streamline things. As an event manager, you just have more on your plate, so it really helped me better delegate tasks. It builds that professionalism for you that you strive for.

Catarina: Love that! Did you end up having a favorite Tripleseat feature? If so, why was it your favorite?

Casey: Hands down documentation creation. You just plug in some info, and it creates the docs for you. The email templates were also great; conversations with the internal team were all integrated with your email.

Catarina: Well, thank you for taking the time to share your brewery events experience with me, Casey! It sounds like you had a great time while you worked at Carrabus. Do you have a favorite memory that you’d want to share?

Casey: Every year, we would go all out with decorating for the holidays. Stacy is one of the owners there, and she was so wonderful at decorating the entire space. It was cool for the day-to-day customers and especially for events like corporate Christmas parties. People would walk in, and it would already be decorated for them, and they appreciated it. 

Catarina: I love a good theme and some great decorations – it really changes the vibe and atmosphere of a party! If you have some photos, please share them, and again, thank you for going down memory lane for your hospitality experience.

Interested in Learning More About Tripleseat Event Management Software?

Are you ready to grow your event business? Schedule a Tripleseat demo to take a closer look at our event management features.