Looking Back at CupcakeCampDC 2013

DC's fourth annual CupcakeCamp was held this past weekend at the Brixton. Many of you showed up and ate some delicious cupcakes, won great raffle prizes, and donated to a good cause. We gathered up your feedback/voting slips and got your entries for "Crowd Favorite" award winner and your thoughts about CupcakeCampDC.

FEEDBACK

All of you said the venue was great! Thanks so much to the Brixton for accommodating us and for allowing us to enjoy the wonderful weather on the roof. Hopefully you were able to check out the Brixton if you had never been there before (72% of you hadn't!).

Organization: This year we switched it up and gave bakers aprons instead of t-shirts. This streamlined the process since there we no longer size or color choices. We continued our VIP idea from last year, but encouraged VIPs to come an hour earlier to spread out the eating and offer an additional incentive. Thanks to Harris Teeter for donating the cupcake containers for VIP donators again this year.

Charity: This was our first year choosing Becky's Fund as the charity for CupcakeCampDC. This year we were able to raise $1,621.04 for their educational support programs and direct support program for victims affected by domestic violence. Thank you all for your support and effort in changing the lives of those affected by domestic violence. We had a great presentation by Becky as well as an emotional story from a survivor of domestic violence. Hopefully you were able to stop by their table on the roof and receive more information about their programs and enter to win some silent auction prizes.


Thanks so much to our Sponsors: Harris Teeter Pentagon Row (Cupcake Containers), Patchwork Designs Aprons), Stephanie Tsong (Brochures), South Block Smoothie (Raffle Prizes), Starbucks Metro Center (Raffle Prizes), Oandasan Family (Raffle Prizes), Yida Li (Photography), Bake Shop, DJ, Uber DC, Cupcake Sponsors: Sprinkles, Happy Tart, Bakehouse, Cruncakes, Best Buns, Cake Love, Sweet n Delicious; Media Sponsors: Girl Meets Food, Cloture Club, Johnna Knows Good Food, Capital Cooking Show, Yelp DC, and of course all of our wonderful volunteers and bakers!

Please stay tuned here for updates on CupcakeCampDC 2013, 2014, and other CupcakeCamp related going-ons. If you are interested in being a judge or volunteering for next year, contact us at dc.cupcakecamp@gmail.com.

Also, if you are not able to attend but you have signed up as a baker or volunteer, please let us know you will not be attending. Half the bakers and over half of the volunteers did not show up and did not let us know they were not coming. Thankfully we received wonderful donations from Sprinkles, Happy Tart, Bakehouse, Crunkcakes, Best Buns, Sweet N Delicious and Cake Love so we were able to supplement some of the missing cupcakes. But, there were attendees that arrived later during the event that had to be turned away due to lack of cupcakes. Since we were short on volunteers, we couldn't inform attendees about the raffle prizes or silent auctions, or else we could have raised much more money for Becky's Fund!

AWARD RESULTS

The judge panel chose the winners for best tasting cupcakes and you, the attendees, wrote your favorite cupcakes in to vote for the crowd favorite. There were four judges and they tallied up their scores and averaged them out to determine the winners. 

First Place: Banana Pudding Cupcakes

Second Place: Ice Cream Sundae Cupcakes

 

Third Place: Midnight Cupcakes

Volunteer Favorite: Monika's Snickers Cupcakes

Crowd Favorite: Olivia's Amaretto Tiramisu Cupcakes/Megan's Midnight Cake/Amanda's Red Velvet Cupcakes/Janvier's Red Velvet Cupcakes/Kristen's Oktoberfest

(Note: Crowd Favorite was "Amaretto", but we couldn't find Amaretto on the judging sheet. Later, we found out Olivia had switched her flavor up to Amaretto Tiramisu instead of Almond Tiramisu but then were notified that some votes for Megan's were titled "Amaretto" due to the frosting. We went to the next high scoring which was "Red Velvet" -- same problem there! The first non-duplicated flavor name with a high score was Kristen's Oktoberfest, which was the award handed out at the event)

 PHOTO POOL

There were some great shots taken at CupcakeCampDC! Please add any photos you might have to the Flickr Group and the slideshow below will be automatically updated.

Vendors

Did you miss the jewelry bar or free makeovers? They're both continuing their Becky's Fund specials online.

• Ariel's Origami Owl Becky's Fund Party
• Heather's Younique Online Becky's Fund Party

Press Coverage

Have a link or post about CupcakeCampDC? Let us know and we'll add it to this list.

• Johnna Knows Good Food
• Cupcakes Take the Cake
• Yelp DC
• Reston Glen Apartments

Coming to CupcakeCampDC? Get a Free Ride with UBER!

The Government shutdown may be making the Metro run a little slower this weekend, but don't fret! We've teamed up with Uber DC to let you arrive to CupcakeCampDC in style.

Leather seats, air conditioning, and great customer service --- what could be a better start (or end) to this Saturday?

Use promocode CUPCAKECAMPDC this Saturday and ride for free with Uber to or from CupcakeCampDC*.

There will be unlimited mimosas for $15 so we want to make sure you get home safe!
Uber would also be a great choice for bakers that don't want to carry their cupcakes on the metro or deal with parking in U Street.

*Up to $25 value; First time riders only

Looking Back at CupcakeCampDC 2012

DC's third annual CupcakeCamp was held recently at Continental. Many of you showed up and ate some delicious cupcakes, won great raffle prizes, and donated to a good cause. We gathered up your feedback/voting slips and got your entries for "Crowd Favorite" award winner and your thoughts about CupcakeCampDC.

FEEDBACK

All of you said the venue was great! Some said it was too big, some said it was too small. A big aspect of this was the major influx of people forced inside from the outdoor Jazz Festival when the storm hit all of a sudden. This also led to a few people mentioning that it was a bit dark inside. The floor to ceiling wall of windows definitely became more gloomy when they were filled up with clouds. It was great to have the games spread out over the whole space to encourage mingling and playing. I was also glad to see that we were able to bring a lot of new people to Continental that hadn't been there before so that we could show a new area to you!

Organization: This year we limited t-shirt sales to a month before the event. We also introduced a new idea: VIP tickets! In previous years we realized people didn't want to carry around and eat cupcakes all at the same time; they want to take their time and enjoy the event comfortably. This way, leftovers could also be transported home!

Charity: Last year we raised $1k for DC Candlelighters and this year we were able to raise over $2,000 for DC Candlelighters!! Thank you all for your support and effort in changing the lives of those affected by pediatric cancer. We had a great presentation by DC Candlelighters playing throughout the event and raised awareness for Child Cancer. 

Thank you everyone for coming out and we really appreciate your feedback. We read every feedback slip and heard every word you wrote.

Thanks so much to our Sponsors: Harris Teeter Pentagon Row (Cupcake Containers), Patchwork Designs (T-Shirts), Stephanie at Copies @ Carson (Brochures), IZZE (Raffle Prizes), South Block Smoothie (Raffle Prizes), Starbucks Clarendon & Metro Center (Raffle Prizes), FreeCupcakeWraps.com (Raffle Prizes), Red Mango Clarendon (Raffle Prizes), Lime Pentagon City (Raffle Prizes), Buffalo Wild Wings Gainesville (VIP Prizes), Oandasan Family (Raffle Prizes), Yida Li (Photography), and of course all of our wonderful volunteers and bakers!

Please stay tuned here for updates on CupcakeCampDC 2012, 2013, and other CupcakeCamp related going-ons. If you are interested in being a judge or volunteering for next year, contact us at dc.cupcakecamp@gmail.com.

AWARD RESULTS

The judge panel chose the winners for best tasting cupcakes and you, the attendees, wrote your favorite cupcakes in to vote for the crowd favorite. There were five judges and they tallied up their scores and averaged them out to determine the winners. 

First Place: Joel's Chicken & Waffles

Second Place: Monika's Salted Caramel Apple

Crowd Favorite: Monika's Salted Caramel Apple

 

Third Place: Amanda's Nutella Nuff Said Cupcakes

Honorable Mention (1/10th of a point!): Shelly's Peanut Butter Cup-Cakes

 PHOTO POOL

There were some great shots taken at CupcakeCampDC! Please add any photos you might have to the Flickr Group and the slideshow below will be automatically updated.

Press Coverage

Have a link or post about CupcakeCampDC? Let us know and we'll add it to this list.

• Cupcake Crusaders
• Skinny to Be in DC
• The Cupcake Avenger
• Cupcakes Take the Cake, Live TweetedAll day

More News Coverage for CupcakeCampDC!

Were you interviewed by a reporter at CupcakeCampDC 2011? If so, you might be in this piece by Voice of Russia's Elly Mui.

Enjoy!

Voice of Russia - CupcakeCampDC 2011 by CupcakeCampDC

Press Coverage: Washington Post

Did you notice that CupcakeCampDC was mentioned in the Washington Post recently? The article says the following, asking an attendee their opinion of Georgetown Cupcake's long lines:

Washington is among the more than 60 global cities to host a Cupcake Camp, an informal, predominantly female gathering and competition with professional and amateur bakers and dozens of consumers to taste and judge.


The city’s second annual event took place in September at Local 16 along the U Street corridor. Between bites of peanut butter, salted caramel, chocolate raspberry and red velvet cupcakes, participant Helena Rusak of Washington reflected on her visit to the juggernaut that is Georgetown Cupcake.


Lured to the tourist attraction, Rusak said her motives were vaguely voyeuristic.
[...] 'Cupcakes have become totally mainstream,' says trendologist Nielsen. 'The novelty has worn off and they’ve become part of the landscape.'

Have you covered CupcakeCampDC on your blog, newspaper, or social media? If so, let us know so that we can link to you!

CupcakeCampDC 2010 Features

Here are some great sites that have written about or featured CupcakeCampDC 2010! If you've written about CupcakeCampDC 2010, send us the link via e-mail, twitter, or comment here.

Photos:

• Samer Salama Photography
• CupcakeCampDC 2010 Flickr Group <-- add your pictures here!

Posts:

• Hey Love Designs (Judge)
• Omnomnivores (Attendee)
• Rene Takes the Cake (1st Place Winner)
• Care Lee Cupcakes and Cake (Baker)
• Hanacakes (Baker)
• Gimme Dem Cupcakes (Baker & Donor)
• Honeybee Bakeshop (Baker & Donor)

We Love DC Loves CupcakeCampDC!

We were featured on We Love DC today~ It was a pleasant surprise to be reading the internet and stumble upon "the news" like everyone else in the world. Within an hour, the event attendee list went from 9 to 99! Thanks again We Love DC.

Click for the full article.