This event was SO BAD...PEOPLE WERE STARTING TO RIOT! It was open ONLY 12-5:00, but the LINES WERE 2 HOURS LONG. The staff was stressed & hostile to the attendees in line, and the people leaving said booths RAN OUT OF FOOD by 2:00. I never even got in & emailed for a refund...we shall see... We showed up around 1:30, and the line was all the way around the corner of the "mall" inside the Westin hotel. We joined the end, assuming people were backed up getting their tickets checked on the way in. Then, I look up and see and guy in a suit with a name tag, about half way up the line, talking to ticket holders. I sent my friend up to see what he was saying, and was informed he told that group they wouldn't be letting them, or anyone in line after them, into the event for 2 HOURS! I walked up to talk to the man, but rushed away, telling people to "go to Neiman Marcus with all questions." What on Earth does that mean? Where in NM do we go? I went to the front of the line, where I saw a girl in a jacket with a name tag, and asked her if the 2 HOUR WAIT was true, since this event only ran until 5PM, and it was already past 1:30. She was obviously already angry and was EXTREMELY HOSTILE & RUDE. She tried to simply ignore my questions, but I repeated them politely, and added "I purchased tickets in advance." "EVERYBODY PURCHASED TICKETS IN ADVANCED!" she spat back at me. "We didn't overbook the event, ANTHEM did, so call them for your refund," she added in exasperation. I asked the obvious next, "who is ANTHEM & how do I contact them...Is the number on my ticket?" She rolled her eyes and sighed out "I don't know...you can look it up on the internet." At this point the line was antsy and agitated, and I didn't want to surround myself in that negative energy for 2 hours. Then, the group in front of us got let in...after we were told noone would be. I look up and see droves of attendees leaving early. Listening into their conversations, I heard several offer the advice "don't bother" and "1/2 the tables are out of food already," and it was ONLY 2:00. None of this was enticing me to wait in line any longer. A man in a jacket made another announcement. Now he claimed we'd be let into the event in ONE HOUR, at 3:00...or we could apply for a FULL REFUND. Again, I approached the snarky girl in the jacket, as I saw she was giving refund instructions to another group. I saw she had ANTHEM and a number written down, and simply asked to copy it. She snapped at me, "fine...but it would be quicker for you to just Google it!" In what world is it quicker to look a number up on Google than copy one down in person. I realize she was stressed, and possibly underpaid too, but...MANNERS ARE FREE. read more

The idea here is fantastic. The execution was a failure. You may notice, the good reviews come from the folks who showed up at 11 and then at least some of them state the bad reviews are from folks who showed up at three. Well, I was there at noon. By noon, the line was already through the walkey into Copley and out the door by Neiman Marcus. I had a friend in line already, so you could say, in essense, my party was there at 11:30 and my place in line started in the glass enclosed walkway. Folks in line behind me got turned away. Scores of people. It was ridiculous, but my friend and I got in and let's talk about the event from there. It's not the vendors fault, although some where more prepared than others (thank you Konditor Meister!), but it was ridiculous inside. TOO many people. The crowd was very poorly regulated, you have to fight ot get to tables that you didn't know what was on them until you got to them and often found them already empty. It was a complete shit show. Nobody bothered to decorate the space in any way either. It's was a mess to walk around in. Trash cans were overfilled. Event staff was... where? Also, the VIP tickets were a joke. They came with a bag of "goodies" that were really coupons and advertisements and a single bag of chips. POTATO CHIPS. This was a dessert showcase, remember? Giant waste of money and not worth the wait, no matter what deal you got to get in. It would be my heartiest recommendation not to waste your time with this ever. ---- Unrelated to Anthem or the venue, I'd like to say to the greedy cow in front of the Konditor Meister table that snuck into the event (I saw you, I know what you did) and then pushed people out of the way so she could stand there and shove cake in her mouth - eff you. No, I take that back, you have a problem lady and should get help. You know who you are. Actually, I love you. You make for a great story. read more

All the other 1- 2-star reviews have stated exactly what I went through, which was not even being able to get in because of the Anthem Group's gross incompetence in overselling tickets to the point that people were turned away only an hour after the event started! Imagine that? Apparently, ensuring audience capacity respective to the number of tickets sold is beyond the scope or ability of the Anthem Group. Whose bright idea was it to offer tickets through Living Social, then Groupon, without ensuring the venue itself could hold the maximum possible number of ticket-holders? Guuuuh, math is hard! To the Anthem Group: People are upset because, regardless of where they bought their tickets, they expected (and had every right to expect) to be able to get into this event any time between 12-5pm and not be turned away due to lack of capacity/food. That is what is expected of food expos, or else you should have specifically asked people to please arrive at a certain time. I went to Lamb Jam at the Charles Hotel a few months back, with discounted tickets purchased via BuyWithMe. The event started around noon and was scheduled to end around 6pm. I got there early afternoon (2ish) and stayed 'til 6pm, and at no point was the event too crowded, nor did the exhibitors (restauranteurs creating lamb dishes) run out of food. Considering it was all-you-can-eat with free unlimited beer, wine, cocktails, soda and water, this was a real feat. The event was never ridiculously crowded either. Now, how do you think they accomplished that? Could it be because they chose a venue with large capacity and made sure they didn't sell tickets to more people than the venue could hold? If your answer was this, you get a free mango tart you'll never get to try because the exhibitor ran out and you got turned away. read more

Given that other people are now writing in to say that this was a great experience and only those who didn't get in are the ones complaining, I want to again reiterate that I WAS someone who got in right at the beginning, before they ran out of food and before they closed it off to more guests. I have serious doubts about the recent glowing reviews of this event when it is clear that those reviewers JUST joined Yelp and only have one review--this one. Totally not suspicious at all (hey Ashley H, if you are going to pretend to have been a guest, you could at least remove your nickname as Ashley "Anthem Entertainment" H. I'm sure all those events you've posted in the last two years just HAPPEN to be be Anthem events). Regardless of what did or did not happen with the Westin's security, this is why it was a poor event: 1) Anthem reserved too small of a space relative to the number of tickets they sold for the event. OF COURSE the Westin had to restrict access; there are these silly things called fire codes. This clearly represents poor planning on Anthem's part. If it was my hotel, I would be pretty annoyed, too. But I never, NEVER had a single bad experience with any of the Westin staff and I was there for almost two hours. It was also apparent that the vendors were not prepared for the crowds. I talked to and overheard several different vendors frantically calling their bakeries to see about getting more food. Some of them just looked like deer in headlights. Clearly Anthem did NOT do a good job of communicating with their vendors. 2) I should clarify that the poor behavior I saw from people was directly related to the overselling of tickets. While I still don't think it was cool for people to leave their trash everywhere, it was because that it was SO CROWDED that you couldn't find the trash cans unless you looked hard. And see below in my original review--I'm tall, therefore I had the advantage. My shorter brethren never even had a chance. I had to walk around with my empty plates for several minutes before finally locating a trash bag. That doesn't excuse people demonstrating poor manners, but it does put it into perspective. Same thing goes for the hoarding of food. It was very easy for those fools to fly under the radar because it was so chaotic in that room. Had this been an orderly event, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to go sneaking off with tons of food. 3) The dessert vendors themselves were mostly awesome. There were a few "meh" desserts, but overall I was really satisfied with that part. If it was not for the poor planning for this event, I would definitely have bumped my rating up to 4 stars. I have nothing to complain about in regards to the desserts. If anything, the biggest screw up with this event was the execution of it. read more

See all

New England Dessert Showcase Fail Back-story 2 months ago I saw on Living Social a deal for half off the New England Dessert Showcase on Sept 18th, 2010. I was very excited because my boyfriend's birthday was coming up and I thought it would be an amazing surprise for him. He has a major sweet tooth. So I purchased 2 VIP tickets which was supposed to include admission to the showcase, 2 VIP gift bags, and admission to a VIP party the night before. So here's what happened... Yesterday, Saturday September 18, me and 10 other friends headed down to the showcase that was supposed to start at noon. On our way there (a little after noon) a friend called me and told me that the line was over 400 people deep and they hadn't opened the doors yet. We got there and she texted me to say the line was moving so we rushed upstairs. To our surprise the line was going all the way from the Copley Westin in the Prudential Center. A very very long line. We figured since it was moving we would just go a head and wait in line. That was not to be. We got in line and a hotel person came up to tell us it would be a 2 hour late the show was OVER SOLD and OVER CAPACITY. It would be a 2 hour wait. A guy walked by at the same time and said don't bother it sucked, too crowded, and is a waste of time. So guess what, my boyfriend who had been excited for 2 months to go to this event, could not go and neither could me or any of my friends. The chances of an over capacity event having any dessert left after a 2 hour wait was definitely slim to nothing. So dear ANTHEM GROUP here is what you HAVE TO LEARN FROM THIS EVENT a. DO NOT OVERSELL YOUR SHOW b. Sell tickets in wave time slots or extend it to 2 days c. Tell people to purchase tickets there and when the show is sold out it is sold out. So that all of the people who PRE-PURCHASED tickets don't get left with a ticket and NO DESSERT d. Do not put tickets on LIVING SOCIAL and GROUPON without a cap. YOU WILL SELL OUT AND OVER SELL. e. You better issue refunds to every single person who was not able to attend this event due to your under planning and over selling. f. Apologize to the Copley Westin for what you put them through, not a single person going was happy and a fair amount of people were rude to them. I didn't see a single person for you company come out and apologize. In conclusion, I vow to ensure Anthem Group will be hearing fro me every day until I receive a refund for a very disappointing event. And I will never ever go to a single Anthem Group Event. Ever. read more

What a terrible, terrible event. We stayed for about ten minutes. My friends and I got tickets through Living Social and we feel like we were scammed. There were maybe 10 vendors in one of the Westin's ballrooms. Basically a room full of people wondering what the heck they paid money for. It was bad, bad, bad. I will never attend again and will avoid any Anthem events in the future. read more

I can understand if you're upset with the lineup, seeing as how it was overbooked and all. There were also definitely people in there who were hoarding food and not finishing what they purchased. There was a huge lineup of maybe 30 at Japonaise for their azuki creams -- when they put 10 out at once, one guy took two for himself. The amount of waste was ridiculous, especially with the ginormous Boston cream pie, whose 'mini-servings' were still too huge for most people to eat. But, anyone who purchased a ticket should have known that the lineup would be huge -- especially if they purchased it from Groupon or LivingSocial or something like that. You couldn't possibly get there at 3 and expect everything to be just like it was at 12. OBVIOUSLY. So when it's your own lack of foresight, you have no one to blame, really, except yourself. Stop complaining, America. At least they were nice enough to offer a refund to anyone who couldn't get in. Whether this pans out ... idk. Inside, the exhibitors were really, really good! Some of the FAILURES: Top of the Hub - a mango/ginger/tapioca mousse, which seemed pretty classy. Unfortunately, the ginger was way too powerful and the mousse and tapioca combined were a little too soft and gooey. Mantra - so last weekend, I had their gulab jamun and it was amazing. This time, it was on top of this weirdly-spiced pannacotta, and since both were semi-solid, it was hard to get the contrast of the soft pannacotta and the hard gulab jamun at the same time. Sweet Alternatives (or something like that) - cool concept, being vegan and all. What's uncool is it really having no taste. The only time one of mjy friends spit something out was at this stall, and the orange/olive oil cake I had was overinfused with orange extract. Some of the SUCCESSES: Japonaise - So I love this place, and them giving out free ichigo creams, strawberry shortcakes, and azuki creams shows a pretty strong commitment to the event. All of the bakeries at the front of the room - There were tons of cut-up strudels and muffins, all of which were still very moist and fresh! I especially liked the apple and raspberry strudels and the chocolate chip muffins with crust on them. Unfortunately, in the chaos of the event, a lot of the stands lost their name tags. I think Anthem and Finale were there, though! Budi bar - A vegan nut bar with chocolate which actually made a lot of sense! It was crunchy but not too hard, and had the right amount of sweetness in it to not feel like it was cavity-inducing. The Chart House - A great hot chocolate lava cake + cold ice cream + crunchy nut topping, which they prepared for you on the spot! (The lava cakes were premade, they just heated them up lol). The lineup wasn't even that long, and the end result was pretty much orgasmic. I have a food orgasm photo here. I'd definitely go again next year. I'll be in the lineup at 11 =] read more

Holy crap. I went in 2008 and it was awesome. This year was the worst thing I've ever seen. 10 vendors, some of them are charging you to try food. Go awful. Anthem should be ashamed. I wish I could get a refund read more

I wish I could give this a zero. One of the worst experiences of my life. Truly terrible. I purchased three tickets and got caught in the " come back in two hours" situation. No one is exaggerating about the lines. It was a dangerous situation, to be honest. No way they were complying with fire codes with that many people, and the rowdy crowd with little security was another nightmare. I have no idea what the desserts tasted like, and the VIP swag bags were a complete joke. I have always had success with Living Social deals, but this sure wasn't one of them. read more

I purchased two VIP tickets for Anthem Group's New England Dessert Showcase via LivingSocial, which was advertised as including a "Swag bag filled with products and offers from participating exhibitors" but no Swag bag was given! I brought the problem to their attention and they denied that a swag bag was included in the deal. They said they only gave us a discount on Anthem Group catering, a deal for a 4 course meal at Finale and two other coupons... It seemed that they were giving these to everyone, even those without VIP tickets. Additionally, they had very little in terms of options for food. Most of the food came from Anthem Group themselves and by 3:00 (most tickets had a 2:00 entrance) some of the places were out of food. There were some good places there, but I wouldn't call it specialty or designer foods that they were providing... read more

It isn't a dessert showcase so much as a "dessert trough," as a fellow attendee described it. I had gone with the idea that I would see a variety of exhibitors showing off their latest and greatest creations, demonstrations that would be educational and/or fun, and talks by people in the industry. I don't think that I really saw any of those things. The event had a very high attendee to exhibitor ratio, such that everyone got into long lines that would just make their way across the room from one table to another. There was no waiting in line for just one vendor. The waiting was not terrible - after all, how much dessert can you eat in 2.5 hours - but it felt like we were just making the rounds trying free samples in a food court, rather than being able to really look and appreciate what was being offered. In between the vendors, there were bizarre tables that would feature a single plate of cubed cake or torn pastry pieces, labeled "Assorted Exhibitors." These unidentifiable who-knows-whats came from who-knows-where, served without cups/dishes/napkins, toothpicks, or even serving spoons. Just dig right in with your fingers and you could have all the "?" you wanted. I was surprised by the absence of certain vendors. For instance, I think I saw only one vendor with cupcakes, and that wasn't their primary selling point (decorated cookies was their forte). I saw a single table for wedding cakes, but there were no beautiful cakes on display, only sheet cakes and eclairs (which, by the way, were not very good). There was a single vendor who offered frozen treats like sorbet, but he charged for the samples. The demonstration area was up on a stage, but the audio was terrible, and there was no area around the stage for people to watch, as though no audience was expected. The registration area that was much roomier and empty for most of the time could have been utilized for demonstrations. As far as I could tell, there was also no indication as to when demonstrations would happen, so people who were already waiting in line would need to leave it in order to watch, rather than plan accordingly. There were plastic cups available around several water coolers in the area, but they ran out of water within the first hour. On tables for registration/random "?" foods, there were large messes of frosting and crumbs that should be embarrassing for anyone in the culinary arts. Plates and/or napkins would have been helpful for attendees as they made their way through the lines for samples. In sum: I was greatly disappointed by the poor event planning, from the small number of exhibitors, to the lack of simple things like water and signs. I definitely do not plan to return unless there is a serious overhaul in the event management, and would not recommend this event to others. read more

Imagine my joy when I discovered that my fiance and I won tickets to the New England Dessert Showcase complements of the Beantown Bloggery. Chocolate, brownies, cheesecake, ice creams, dessert coffees and liqueurs, cookies and truffles for days and days. It's basically an opportunity for local bakeries, restaurants, caterers and other businesses who serve sweets to showcase their scrumptious items to other businesses and to the public. Yay for us! The event started at 11 am and ended at 4 pm, and if I could have managed to stuff sweets into my belly for that long, I would have, but with that much sugar, you know how it goes. My favorite dessert was the caramel brownie offered by Simply Divine Brownies from Maine. If you get a chance to go next year check it out. It's a family friendly event to sweet to be missed. read more

New England Dessert Showcase - Cupcakes almost too pretty to eat....almost. - Desserts Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Kickoff Party at Nix's Mates: Horrible experience. The place looked great and would have been a fun place to eat at, but this was not a Kick-Off Party so much as people that were going to Dessert Showcase happened to be there. By the Dessert Showcase's email it sounded like they needed to rent out 2 locations because it would booked full of attendees, I think less than half of us were attending the showcase. There was one free alcoholic drink available in exchange for a coupon ticket upon signing in and they gave out tiny sample appetizers every 15 minutes while we waited in line with nothing to do. Dessert Showcase: Long lines as to be expected. What other reviewers said was true about random pastries by Anthem placed randomly around the show room as space fillers. Dessert samples were sometimes the size of a dime...not kidding (from Chocolate Therapy and the waffle place). Variety: Or lack there of. Lots of brownies and cookies. There were some definite favorites like milk chocolate bar samples and the nacho dessert. Worst Part - Ran out of water... there should have been no reason for this. After Party: Totally skipped this because of the horrible experience with the Kickoff party. Would like to hear if that was worth going to. Overall: I think it was worth the $20 ea. we paid to get in via Living Social, but not if you paid the $40 retail price. read more

This was a ridunculous failure. I don't care what some people are saying, we were told by people leaving, that they were running out of stuff before 2 PM. And, we were told to leave, and come back at 3 PM and MAYBE be could get in. And we were promised a refund, which we totally didn't get. And, finally, Dawn got in because she totally cut the line. I was there, waiting for her ass to show up, and she got in, and we didn't. Why? She cut in ahead of us. She's evil. read more

I spent the week out in Boston, and this Dessert Showcase was one of the highlights of my trip! I can't believe how many people are complaining about the line. Sure, it was crowded, but what event isn't? I dunno. Maybe because I grew up in LA and have gone to tons of shows and events, I'm used to it. Yeah, it sucked waiting in line for that long, and the hotel staff *did* come off as incompetent and rude, but that is in no way Anthem's fault. The event itself was great! The desserts were delicious, and I thoroughly enjoyed trying different concoctions from the various vendors. I'm not sure how the rumors got started that the food had ran out, because I was not shortchanged at all! There were plenty of desserts available; even as I was leaving. I had a few friends who, unfortunately, weren't able to get in, but they called Anthem for a refund. Not only is Anthem refunding them, but they took the time to actually call my friends back. Plus, I was able to meet up with them after the event, and we still had a great evening in Boston. read more

This is for the review of the 2012 New England Dessert Showcase. I've read reviews here, and it almost scared me off from checking it out this year. My friend and I bought a LivingSocial deal for the Afternoon admission. We went there at 2 pm (as noted on the ticket) with other friends. For our V.I.P portion of the deal, we got a goody bag with a rewards card from Finale (can't tell if its gift card or something else), some promo of coupons for things like Chocolate Tour or a local bakery shop. Interestingly enough, there was the KIND health bar (those healthy nut/granola bars) in it. Talk about it being the irony of a dessert showcase, yes? Not much dessert really. As expected, there were large lines of crowds for each exhibitor or vendor. My friends and I couldn't tell what we were in line for, but we went anyways. There were definitely a lot of desserts to sample from, and imagine the sweet tooth aching from the sugar overload! My friends and I had to end up splitting some of the samples we got among each other because we couldn't handle anymore amount of chocolate and sweets! (Aye, Finale's Chocolate Decadence sample pretty much killed our tastebuds with its richness! I didn't say it was bad tasting! Just that it's too much!) The vendors were really nice. The only thing that really stood out to me out of the desserts sampled was Havla and the sample of Green Tea Truffle and Cold-pressed Olive Oil Truffle from Chocolate Therapy. There was also a health-friendly type of vendor that made nut-based sweets, but it didn't suit my tastebuds much personally. We had a free ice cream sundae (I believe they ran out close to the end of the showcase): vanilla ice cream and chocolate lava cake with Heath bar topping and chocolate fudge. My friends and I liked the lemon sorbet the most out of the desserts tried out because of how it was cold and it cleansed the palette immediately. I wish there are more variety of desserts in the showcase, because my friends and I noticed that there were mostly Western-style (like usual chocolate cakes, eclairs, fruit tarts, cream puffs, brownies, cookies, truffles, salted caramels, etc.) desserts in it. Plus...why isn't Japonaise Bakery in it?! Why isn't Cafe Fleuri taking part in it?! (give some hint of their awesome Chocolate Bar and chocolate fountain?!) I know Zinnekin's is in it (Waffles and such, eh). But perhaps some savory options might not hurt to balace the dessert portion out. Then again, it is called New England Dessert Showcase for a reason. There was an olive oil vendor, but I wish there was a way to sample the oil aside from just tasting it in a shot size! In all honesty, I gave it a 2.5 stars. My friends and I probably had too much expectations of how it'll turn out, but we can safely say that we enjoyed samples (even in the stomach pain from too much sweets) and we did come in the Afternoon time rather than Morning (which I'm sure might be better?). The event was pretty much between okay and so-so for me (not the best but not the worst). I know the Anthem Group worked hard on it, but I wish they can improve the sound system because I could barely hear them talk onstage in the entire room full of people. Great idea indeed, but needs some more planning for the execution. Some vendors may be selling some of their products, so there's a heads up for that! read more

I enjoyed the event. However, it may be because I received free tickets via Yelp and I was in good company. I don't believe the price of the tickets was right for the size of the event. I probably would've paid $10 and been happy but not more. It was nice to sample desserts from bakeries I'd never heard of before, and I picked up a lot of business cards to order things from later on. It was also nice to get some deals for the future at places like Chart House (free app) and Melting Pot (free chocolate fondue). I'd attend again but not if I have to pay full price for a ticket. read more

This event was terrible. Or actually, maybe that's not fair for me to say... because I was never even got in!! I had VIP tickets, showed up at 1:00 and was immediately turned away because the room was already at capacity. I was told to come back in 2 hrs to try again, but whose to say that there wouldn't be a line then or even any desserts left? I wouldn't know- I did not go back, won't go back... and am definitely going to try to get my money back. Poor poor event planning! Side note- wine expo puts on a fantastic show, with way more people. Maybe these people need a lesson from them? read more

The price for the tickets and the products received don't even come CLOSE to matching. It was a complete waste of $60 for two people to attend this event!!! It is NOTHING like a typical expo at all. Though it does seem the event was more prepared than 2010's, I left after maybe a half an hour. It would have been worth it at $10 a ticket, not $30. The VIP swag bag consisted of a pen, a granola bar, and coupons of random things that no one would ever use. The desserts were great, however there weren't that many tables. Didn't really meet the expectations we had for the event at all. read more

Alas, like so many other Yelp members, I joined Yelp specifically to give this review. Do not waste your time and money on the New England Dessert Showcase. I am getting married next week. My maid of honor is awesome. One of the reasons she is awesome is that she had planned a fun weekend for us, and thought, what could be better than a Dessert Expo? Turns out, lots of things. If it weren't for the fact that I got to spend time with my best friend, this would have been a complete waste, and I would rather have been cleaning my bathroom. The event was grossly oversold. I have never in my life seen anything that was so oversold, and I have taken the Greyhound from New York to Boston more than once. You can read the other reviews -- I got there at 1:30 only to find a line spanning the Westin Lobby to the sidewalk outside Neiman Marcus. After waiting some time, we were told we couldn't go in, but we MIGHT be able to in an hour. Excuse me? There must have been hundreds or so people turned away. We went back around 3:30, only to find that there was almost no food left. However, the vendors that were still there were very friendly and pleasant and fun to talk to. But for the most part, there was more litter and half-eaten food left lying around on empty tables than anything else. It was depressing. New England Dessert Showcase, you screwed up my BFF's grand master plan -- but hey, at least you did it in a really spectacular way. read more

You all know the drill. Got there. Giant line. Waited an hour. Got kicked out of line saying you'll get a refund. Anthem hasn't returned my calls for my refund. Probably flooded. Yada yada. Food for thought- Go to the American Craft Beer festival. The line extends longer than it did at the Dessert Showcase. And that line moves fast and we all get in. Anthem needs to maybe look into that? Also, I got an e-mail from Anthem that very same morning stating that tickets were still available That's pretty poor planning when they're trying to sell more tickets to a show they were by and large overbooked for. I ended up going to The Foundry and Flatbread Pizza that night, both in Davis Square. Ended up having a great day, gotta make the most of things, right? Both are highly recommended! read more

Don't go! What a waste of time and money. Desserts that were available to taste were marginal. More empty vendor tables than participating vendors. HORRIBLE ! ! read more

What a huge disappointment. I'll never buy tickets for this again. I did the $20 Living Social ticket that included the VIP lounge and am so glad I didn't pay full price. There were about 4 vendors there with free samples that were literally one tiny bite. There were a few others that had food to purchase, which was annoying because we had to pay to go in the first place. The s'mores bar was pretty pathetic, crowded, and included people roasting marshmallows over a sterno flame. It was gross. The VIP lounge just had another cash bar (aside from the one in the main room) and two vendor tables that were duplicates of what was in the main room. I'm not sure the point of it. We visited every table in less than 30 minutes and left to go eat lunch. read more

HORRIBLE!! AWFUL! Wish I could give the New England Dessert Blowcase negative stars. Everything about this event was a disaster. I can not bayonet the dessert showcase without also torching Living Social and Groupon for their large part in this fiasco. Where were the limits on tickets sold??? The NE Dessert Showcase website led me to believe this was going to be a large venue with fancy desserts up the ying-yang. Bait and switch tactics have never been better utilized. I saved my appetite and was excited to be going with my girlfriend because she had never been to a food show. We showed up around 1:30 and could not believe our eyes when we saw how long the line was. It was the longest line I had ever seen for any event in my life. Now the question - do you wait it out and get the reward of all the (expected) goodies, or do you value your time too much and just forfeit the price of the tickets? I, like everyone else, had purchased tickets through Living Social, so it would have been a loss of $34. My girlfriend really wanted to go because she had never been to a dessert show, so we waited for over an hour to get in. Cue up the sensei putting his hand on my shoulder, shaking his head slowly, and telling me in a portentous tone, "Son, you have chosen poorly." The only thing worse than waiting in that line was getting in to the show. Epic fail! The show was super crowded and you couldn't walk around comfortably. Anyone who has ever been to the Castro in San Francisco on Halloween will understand how crowded the room was. The first table I bellied up to had a vendor that was selling chocolates. No samples, just selling. I thought, "I spent $17 a ticket, waited in a monster line for over an hour, and am being pushed around by other angry show attendees only to find out that I have to pay for the food in here??? I did a 180 and walked to another table and saw some small pieces of ratty-looking cookies on a tray with a stern sign warning "one piece per person". Are you clowning me? I was expecting to see the fine desserts, pastries and chocolates touted on the website. All I saw were angry vendors, empty tables, and unwashed masses. The food that was there was NOT impressive: some pedestrian looking cookies, pieces of croissants that looked like they had been run over by a weed-wacker, some frozen yogurt, some pudding. One table was trying to be impressive with chocolate enrobed goodies, but pouring "Bosco" over a rice krispee treat the size of a grape does NOT qualify as upscale. I've seen better dessert options at the Old Country Buffet. Seriously. There was a table that had some attractive looking chocolates, but they tasted as stimulating as a mouthful of scrapple. And the woman working the table looked like she was trying to catch a 3:00 plane out of Logan. Result: another empty, abandoned table. The offerings reminded me of that classic joke of the disenfranchised patrons complaining in the restaurant: patron #1: "Wow, the food is awful." patron #2: "Yes, and such small portions." The unsatisfied crowd was bullying their way through the room looking for any remnants of their dignity. At one point I was waiting in a non-moving line (again) to get to a table where I assumed something good would be served. After about 15 minutes of not moving, I wondered, "What are we all waiting for?" I think it was for a molten chocolate cake, but I'm not sure because I gave up and left the show. Doesn't it take like 30 minutes to make those? That makes a lot of sense. TOTAL waste of the day. I'm upset by the opportunity cost too. There were so many things that I didn't do because of the time put aside for this debacle. A shopping trip to Whole Foods would have been a better choice. I wouldn't have had to wait in that huge line, I could have bought $34 of groceries, and I could have eaten more samples in the store than I did at the showcase. At least I got my VIP gift bag . . . a free slice of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory if I go there and spend $30 or more. I guess their definition of free is to pay for stuff. Not only will the negative experience of this event ensure that nobody attends the thing next year, but I think it probably did a lot of damage to Living Social / Groupon / Buy with Me, and all the other clones. I'm discovering that when these deals come out and everyone buys them, there is often a problem with the merchants delivering. I know this is an aside, but I bought a massage offer on one of those sites and a month later called to schedule. The massage therapist told me her first opening was 4 months later because she was so swamped with those coupons. Given that the coupon was only good for 6 months, I'm guessing there will be problems there too. For now on, I will only buy offers for restaurants. No more services or one-day-wonders (one day blunders) like the NE Dessert Blowcase. read more

Just read the reviews above and below mine... a completely over-sold cluster-f*ck that reminded me of the last few years of Spinazzola. Too many tickets sold, and not enough food. Disappointed!! read more

Don't go. Save your time and money! This COULD have been a great event but it was so awful I wouldn't even go for free this year. 2010 was cramped, oversold, over hyped and the lines were horrifyingly long - not just long. Other businesses called security to complain. There were not enough desserts for the crowds or for the price. The gift bags were filled worthless coupons- for instance $200 off liposuction - was it supposed to be a joke? I sent emails to Anthem, Groupon etc. - no one replied. I bought a ticket for a friend thinking it would be a fun event. Advise: Go to a nice cafe instead and have yourself a dessert sampler with some good coffee. There was no coffee. Some of the desserts had to be purchased, and the tiny scarce water urns were emptied in a flash. read more

Had a great time at the event! So many unique vendors that had dessert ranging from maple bacon cupcakes to ice cream made from liquid nitrogen!! Will continue to go unless they get rid of the s'mores bar, ha! read more

This showcase was very bad. They had about 15 vendors. A couple of the vendors were well-known; most others were unknown. None of them prepared any showcase size dessert display. The samples were small pieces; think a whoppie pie cut into 16 pieces or more. No mini fruit tarts, mini cupcakes, etc. All cut up samples from larger, normal size dessert. Then, they had some generic tables of pumpkin rolls and velvet cake pieces that appeared to have been made by the hotel (no official identification of the vendor anywhere). They setup a large room for DYI smores. All in all, you can tell they didn't have enough vendors signed up and just came up with some stuff to make the event looks less empty. They also offered a couple of chef demos at the event. The demo was not professionally run. The camera and the sound level were not checked prior to the demo. The audience had to tell the host to turn up the sound and adjust the camera. At the end, the camera is too far away to show any details of the food preparation. The host was inexperience handling the mic and didn't know how to ask interesting questions. One of the demo was cake decorating. But the host did not even ask obvious questions like what size tip are you using, why are we using hot water for the knife, what's the difference between butter cream and whipped cream, etc. It's clear he wasn't interested in the subject. This event absolutely is not worth the $40 full retail event price. Even at the discounted price, I won't recommend this event for anyone. My advice is that coupon sites should not sell tickets for this event next year. It's almost a scam. I won't be surprised if some people demand a refund. read more

If I could give this zero stars, I would, because OH WAIT, I NEVER GOT IN. My friends and I purchased the livingsocial package ages ago and arrived a little past 1 pm only to be greeted by a line that spanned through two buildings and had us waiting outside. We waited for almost an hour until we were told it was overbooked. When we returned later, we took the option of getting a refund instead of going inside and not getting any samples. Extraordinarily poor planning from the Anthem Group, livingsocial, and groupon. (At least the Westin folks were very courteous and apologetic. I guess I'll give that one star to them.) read more

My friend and I were more of the MANY people who were turned away due to the event being massively oversold. I can't even imagine how much more annoyed I would have been if I had traveled from farther away. We were told by the Westin hotel staff working the event that there would be a link on the NE Dessert Showcase's website with instructions on how to get a refund - not true. I contacted Anthem Group through the website and received no response. Groupon, however, offered me a refund since I bought the tickets through them. Oh how I love Groupon. read more

I wish i had read the reviews from previous years BEFORE i bought the tickets to this event. It was HORRIBLE. The smores table was a joke, most of the tables had platters with just crumbs on them and only offered cider donuts and brownies. You were only allowed "just one please" minuscule sample of barely edible I don't even know what. The highlight was the Melting Pot table of which there was a line 40 long to get one chocolate dipped strawberry. This was a joke and I can't believe they are allowed to charge money for this. I wish I could get a refund..... read more

I can't believe they are making money off of this!!!!! Huuuuuge rip off!!! Paid valet $20 to park and was there for 15 minutes after tasting crumbled Cinnamon Rolls, crumbled, dry brownies and crumbled stale croissants. Mind you, this platter of the same 3 things were about 3 different places in the room. The ONE small chocolate covered strawberry was good (something I could have made from home). There was nothing to purchase except for wine that we couldn't sample because we were supposed to buy a small cup of wine for $12 as the cash bar. I couldn't believe the prices they were asking for a small cup of alcohol. After 15 minutes, we ended up walking downtown which was a half hour away and grabbing food there. I wish more people would read these reviews before going and shut this showcase down. I feel robbed. read more

Here's our story. We got there at 11:55ish. By then they had shut down the escalator because they place was ALREADY over-packed. But we waited patiently. Well, my wife was patient, I was angry that fat people were probably eat all the cannolli. But they let a group of us up shortyly. There were so many fatties on the escalator at once, THE ESCALATOR SHUT DOWN! It lurched to a stop and we almost fell. Anyways, we get our "swag" bags. It sucked. The website said that it would be a $200 value. Not really at all. The place was overfull. I remember saying to my wife last week, how could they be selling 3000 groupons to something at the Westin, they don't have a room that big. AND I was right. I should work for Anthem or something. There was a lot of pushing inside. Not really an environment that I wanted my sisters or wife in. People were already angry to have been waiting so they were really grabby. And there was no order at all. OH! And no cannollis! They had pics on the website too! To all of you people who didn't get in. You didn't miss anything. At all. The desserts were really kinda average with a few exceptions. Japonaise Bakery (I really went to support them) had really great desserts. Top of the Hub had this moussey, creamy, ginger mango thing. It wasn't awesome or anything but it was one of the few things that I hadn't had before. The "event" was mostly for no name new places and caterers to "showcase" their stuff. But about 15-20% of the tables had nothing to do with dessert. You really didn't miss anything. Long story short. Anthem Events is the worst company in the world, the desserts were blah, and if you went out with your friends to get a bunch of different desserts ANYWHERE you would have had a better time. read more

This event was lame. Having done Chocolate Madness w/ NARAL for like 8 years, I had high expectations. There were barely any vendors there, I mean why is a florist & photographer at this thing anyway? Made no sense to me at all. Some of the vendors were really nice & trying hard to promote themselves but this was like so small I was in & out in less than an hour. read more

Unlike many reviewers this year, I did get in. I really, really wanted to like this event. I spent much of the hour we waited in line convincing the people behind me that the wait would be compensated by awesomness once we were in. "Naturally, the event organizers would want to keep the attendees inside at comfortable levels", I said. "They probably just didn't anticipate so many people arriving at opening", I said. "It will totally be worth it", I said. I was sorely disappointed, though, once inside and we left after 20 minutes and should have left after 10. There were way too many people for the space, and they were behaving incredibly badly. I frankly don't want a dry mini-cupcake badly enough to get elbowed in the throat more than once for it. Plus, about half of the exhibitors were out of samples altogether when we got in. I did manage to get a couple of samples in the time we were there, but the only one with any real interest was the Harvard Sweet Boutique's sea-salt caramel brownie. I could have given the poor sample-to-customer ratio a pass if there'd been a lot worth seeing, or if I could see much of it. There were only a few exhibitors whose display work was worth a second look. Kondietermeister (of course), someone whose business name I was unable to make out but who did something interesting with a quilted-look fondant cake, and an exhibitor with a gum-paste Marie Antoinette. Other than these mentioned, I was seriously underimpressed and there were a few things there that I was amazed to see displayed, presumably as advertisement. If it looks like you made it with your feet, that isn't a selling point. So: 20 minutes to pack up the toddler (into the carrier, as a space-saving courtesy to my fellow attendees. I was not the crazy person with the double stroller.) + 45 minute train ride + 1 hour wait in line = 20 minutes of being shoved by strangers, seeing the backs of other people's heads, and 3 snack-sized bites shared with the husband and child who couldn't make it through the press. Followed by 45 minute ride back. I definitely appreciate that Groupon gave a refund. I'm not surprised though, and it was definitely warranted, Too bad no one can refund the perfectly good Saturday afternoon I wasted when I could have been doing something actually fun. I hope the event planners learn from this year's fiasco. read more

I do not agree with reviews of the 2014 New England Dessert Showcase being so negative. Yes, there were some issues with the number of vendors, but after speaking with an employee at the event they kindly explained the scheduling issues. They were more than apologetic and explained this was not a normal showcase. I can attest to that, and the 2013 had many unique vendors. Despite the small number of vendors the ones who did attend this year were great. The desserts from Finale were for sure a favorite. The Charles River Bistro was also a great addition to the show and featured great cider to finish off. I was told the 2015 Showcase would be back to the five-star standards. I am already looking forward to next year! read more

Like most of the others posters here, my husband and I showed up a little before 1pm to find a GIANT line (spanning two buildings) awaiting us. After a few minutes we were told by a Westin employee that our side of the line would not be let in for at least 2 hours. When asked if in 2 hours we came back and there was still a line would we be able to get in, the answer was ...we're not sure. So, we left and walked to the North End (ensuring we would be gone for 2 hours) and got lunch. Walked back to the Westin, and low and behold there was no line! We walked towards the ballroom area only to be stopped and told that we had two choices: 1) Go into the event where the dessert options were extremely limited, and you would not be given a refund, or 2) you could not go in and go to the New England Dessert Showcase website to get your money back. We decided that it would be better to take the refund rather than go in and not get our money's worth (and I was really excited for that damn VIP giftbag too!) I'd like them to refund my parking and the planned apple picking we were going to do afterward too. What a waste of our time and day. I guess it just goes to show that some of the offers on websites like www.livingsocial.com are too good to be true. Hopefully I'll be hearing about my refund tomorrow along with the other dissatisfied people here. read more

This was awful and not even worth 5 dollars. The whole thing was poorly organized, hardly had any real vendors and does not come close to the showcase the name boasts. We went today and had "VIP passes", we were in and out in less than 10 minutes. It is such a shame because it is a great concept which has so much potential but after this experience, we will never go again. read more

Save your money. Worst event ever! The samples are minuscule, and some vendors actually charge for a tasting after you've already paid for a ticket. I will not be returning to this event in the future. read more

I have to agree with Jessica O. It's pretty childish to basically try to ruin and bash a companies good reputation based on the incompetency of a particular venue's staff. It's unimaginable to me that people are surprised that there were so many walk-ups thus causing chaos. Perhaps if the people trying to get in didn't act like such disrespectful animals it would have been a more peaceful scene, whether you were let in, or not. A riot over a dessert event is shameful people. From what I saw and heard hotel's security team (not Anthem security) were telling people to leave and come back to merely relieve some of the uncontrollable congestion. Take it from someone who was able to fully enjoy this event - there was no lack of sweet things to nosh on, from vendor to vendor the it kept getting better and better. Who ever said that this event ran out of food was misinformed. I left with a blissful stomach ache and would love to do it all over again... minus the disrespectful animals trying to trample me like they were trying to reach their last meal. Cheers Anthem! read more