Welcome to the 2009 National Beef Cook-Off Registration Page. Here you will find all the information about this year’s Cook-Off event including dates, when to arrive, event schedules, hotel where we will be staying, in addition to providing you with the convenience of registering online. You will need to make your own travel arrangements, hotel reservation and register to attend the Cook-Off event in Sonoma, California. We encourage everyone to register online this year. If you prefer to register by U.S. mail, we will be happy to provide you with a hard copy registration form that we will mail to you, just contact us to request one. This online registration page is our way of improving communication, clarifying or sharing the information and ensuring everyone’s registration will be complete.

Meeting Agenda & Event Activities

Sunday, September 20
7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.	Registration, Headquarters and Signs & Inventory Set Up
10:00 a.m.	NBCO Committee Meeting
4:00 p.m.	Pre-Convention Meeting
7:00 p.m.	All Volunteer Workers Orientation Meeting

Monday, September 21
7:00 a.m.-5:00p.m.	Registration, Headquarters & Inventory Open
7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.	Indoor/Outdoor Cooking, Judges’ Room, Pantry/Grocery Kitchen, & Press Room Set Up
1:00 p.m.	Contestant Hostess Orientation
2:00 – 8:00 p.m.	Chef/Media Challenge at Sally Tomatoes, Sonoma Mountain Village (Private event for Chefs, Press, Sponsors and Beef Industry Leadership Only)

Tuesday, September 22
7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.	Registration, Headquarters, Signs & Inventory, Indoor/Outdoor Cooking, Judges Room, Pantry/Grocery Kitchen, Pres Room Open
8:00 - 10:00 a.m.	Contestant Breakfast & Orientation Session
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.	Welcome Reception (Open to all Registered Attendees/ Sponsor Wine Included/Cash Bar)

Wednesday, September 23
7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.	Registration, Headquarters, Signs & Inventory, Indoor/Outdoor Cooking, Judges Room, Pantry/Grocery Kitchen, Pres Room Open
7:00 – 8:00 a.m.	Judges Orientation Session
8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.	Home-Cook Competition (Free & Open to all Registered Attendees)
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.	Cocktail Reception (Open to all Registered Attendees/ Cash Bar)
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.	Gala Banquet & Awards Program (Open to all Registered Attendees)
9:00 – 10:00 p.m.	Winners’ Press Conference (Private event for Home-Cook Winners, Press and Beef Industry Leadership Only)

Thursday, September 24
9:00 & 11:00 a.m.	Two Pre-Scheduled Optional Wine Tours to Kenwood Vineyards and Kunde Family Estate. Registered Attendees need to register separately for this tour by September 1, mailing a separate payment by check in the amount of $30 per person payable to: ANCW/NBCO Tour to cover ground transportation for this tour. Space is limited.

Registration

The complete registration fee is $200 per person and includes food and sponsored wine during the Welcome Reception and the Gala Banquet & Awards Program. If you choose to attend only one of these events, either the Welcome Reception OR the Gala Banquet & Awards Program the fee is $100 per person. Payment is required to reserve your space. Payment is not available online, and should be mailed to ANCW when online registration is made.

Arrival & Departure Times

Please refer to the Meeting Agenda & Event Activities Schedule to determine your arrival and departure times.

Location & Hotel

All meeting and event activities are at The Lodge, with the exception of the Chef/Media Challenge, which will be at Sally Tomatoes. Free transportation will be provided to the private group attending the Chef event.
Hotel: The Lodge at Sonoma, a Renaissance Report & Spa
Hotel Address: 1325 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476
Click here for a map of the area.
Hotel Reservations: The Cook-Off group room block is ready to reserve individual call-in reservations to the toll-free number of 1-888-710-8008, and rooms may also be reserved online using this reservation hyperlink. Simply cut and paste the reservation url and include with your electronic correspondence to facilitate the reservation process. Guests will be directed to the property’s home page with the code already entered in the appropriate field. All you need to do is enter your arrival and departure dates to begin the reservation process.
Hotel Cost: The NBCO group room block presently consists of run of house rooms at $229 per room per night, with a current cutoff date for individual reservations of September 1, 2009.
ANCW has already reserved 3 rooms for ANCW Staff, 3 rooms for CBB Officers, 20 rooms for Contestants, 2 rooms for Raley’s sponsorship, 2 rooms for Joint Publicity Subcommittee, 5 rooms for Judges, 6 rooms for NBCO Committee, 8 rooms for NCBA Staff, 6 rooms for other Sponsors TBD. If you are included in these reserved rooms please provide the hotel with your name under your guest title (i.e. CBB Officer).

Transportation

All airfare reservations should be made to arrive at the San Francisco (SFO) Airport only.
From The SFO Airport, free Bus Service will be provided to all NBCO Guests (Provided by NBCO Sponsors).
Alternate transportation will be at your own expense (Taxi fares can cost $200 from SFO to Sonoma)

The www.BeefCookOff.org online Registration Page includes the Transportation Reservation Section which is where you need to provide your flight arrival date, flight arrival time, flight number, cell phone number, flight departure date, and flight departure time in order to reserve your free bus reservation.
NBCO Greeters will meet you at the baggage claim area.
Your Greeter will call you on your cell phone if you have not shown up at your scheduled time of arrival. You will also have a number to call that will be provided at a later date, should you need to get in touch with your Greeter. If you do not have a cell phone please use an airport phone.
Your Greeter will have NBCO signs and will direct you to your bus to go to The Lodge at Sonoma.
If you miss your flight or connection you will need to call the greeter/director with up to date information on your arrival.
Refer to the hotel website at this link for driving details.

Clothing

GUESTS: Dress for NBCO guests is Business Casual for most events. The Gala Banquet & Awards Program dress is Semi-Formal (dress, skirt or nice pants and blouse for women/dress shirt, slacks, ties and suit coats for men).
VOLUNTEERS: Volunteers should bring comfortable shoes and working clothes to work in on non-Cook-Off days. On the Cook-Off day you will need to wear a white shirt and black pants or skirt. NBCO Attire Shirts and Aprons are available for up to 60 volunteers. Volunteers should dress semi-formal for the Gala Banquet & Awards Program.

Volunteer Information

If you have not already done so please be sure to email your name, address, E-mail address, phone number, cell phone number and what committee you want to work on to Fita Witte at witteranch@yahoo.com

Weather

The weather in September in Sonoma typically averages 87° for a high and 50° for the low with low precipitation. However, the moist air and light breeze make the temperatures appear a little cooler. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/

Local Wineries

There are many local wineries, so for a complete listing, general information and maps, please refer to the complete listing of Sonoma County wineries: http://www.sonoma.com/wineries/alphalistings.html

Optional Activities

In addition to NBCO, there are a wealth of activities and events in Sonoma County, such as visiting the wineries, sightseeing, shopping, golf, and community events. Refer to http://www.sonoma.com/ or the hotel website listed above for the listing of many activities.

For any additional questions please contact us at phone: 303-850-3441 email: s.hill@beef.org

American National CattleWomen, Inc.
P.O. Box 3881
Englewood, CO 80155

2009 NATIONAL BEEF COOK-OFF®

"SONOMA STYLE"