The Host Files: Chaos at the Cookout Brings the Heat

Summer schedules are no joke. Between weddings, festivals, concerts, and every kind of community event you can imagine, securing a venue in July often feels like solving a mystery of its own. So when our committed collaborators at Sally Port View found a sliver of availability in their packed calendar, a Wednesday evening, we leapt at the chance. We were honored to return to their space for another public mystery event, and this one? It sizzled. Literally.

Testing New Waters (and Billboards)

With just a month to prepare, we decided to try something new on the promotion front. Ashley heard about Caasie.co, a self-service platform that lets small businesses advertise on digital billboards at gas stations, gyms, and other local stops. We figured: why not? We targeted a few key locations and dipped our toes into the world of outdoor advertising.

We also experimented with paid Facebook ads and enhanced promotion through Eventbrite, learning along the way that we could actually embed our ticketing directly into the Skills Murder Mysteries website for a smoother experience. It was a season of firsts for the Skills Sisters, and while the turnout wasn’t our largest, the lessons were invaluable.

When the Crowd is Small, the Characters Get Big

It was hot. We're talking feels-like-100-degrees kind of hot. So while Chaos at the Cookout was originally envisioned as an outdoor mystery game, we made the smart move indoors, and thank goodness we did. But the weather didn’t stop our sleuths. If anything, the heat only fired up their creativity.

Our Grill Master set the tone immediately, transforming a bartop into a makeshift grill, cautioning guests about the “hot surface” while theatrically serving up imaginary burgers.

The Green Thumb nailed the costume assignment with gardening gloves, a watering can, and a wide-brimmed hat that practically screamed, “I planted those roses, and I will solve this case.”

One of our favorite moments? An older gentleman arrived in full character as the Content Creator, complete with a tablet, a phone, and the confidence of a YouTuber with a million subscribers.

The HOA President was another standout, laying down citations like a suburban tyrant. (She tried to cite someone because their curtains didn't match their house siding. Can you believe that?)

Even our audience detectives were fully locked in. They questioned suspects, connected clues, and ultimately cracked the case, proving once again that the best mystery nights are driven not just by attendance, but by energy, immersion, and passion.

The Takeaway: Community Over Crowd Size

Not every event will be a sellout. But this one? This one was special. Because sometimes it’s not about profit, it’s about presence. It's about the connections we make, the stories we tell, and the players who go all in.

Chaos at the Cookout may not have drawn the biggest crowd, but it brought the biggest characters. We laughed. We grilled (kind of). We solved a mystery together. And we left the night feeling like we’d grown, as hosts, as storytellers, and as a community.

To Sally Port View, thank you for opening your doors to us again. And to our new (and hopefully returning!) sleuths, we’ll see you at the next mystery. It’s already brewing.