Change to cook up challenge Thursday at client’s craft hotdoggery

Looking for lunch plans on Thursday? Join the Change team at 2 p.m. for some hotdogs, hijinx and heated competition at Hotshots Craft Hotdoggery, one of Des Moines’ newest culinary additions. The Change Challenge…

Change Challenge contenders will race to see who can gobble down three Hotshots dogs the fastest.

Looking for lunch plans Thursday? Join the Change team at 2 p.m. for some hotdogs, hijinx and heated competition at Hotshots Craft Hotdoggery, one of Des Moines’ newest culinary additions.  

The Change Challenge: Hotshots Edition is a celebration of sorts for the company after recently introducing email receipts, more printing options for businesses and the ability to export records from the app. BitMethod‘s app also has continued to expand its market with users locally, across the country and even a few in the United Kingdom.

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“After Hotshots signed on, we’ve received a lot of interest from other local restaurant owners, so we’re excited to get more people on board this summer,” CEO Dan Shipton (right) told Silicon Prairie News. 

Contestants will compete to see who can eat three “Change Dogs” the fastest to acheive ultimate bragging rights. What’s in the Change Dog, you may ask? What’s really in any hotdog? But in all seriousness, the ingredients will be unveiled at the contest.

“We don’t even know what’s going to be on it, but we’re excited to see what the culinary geniuses at Hotshots come up with,” Shipton said. 

The Change Dog will be featured on the Hotshots menu through the month of June. For every Change Dog sold, both groups will donate a dollar to the Central Iowa Shelter and Services. In addition, each of the competitors will have a jar and accept incentives (or donations) to win.

Shipton says the Change team hopes to organize similar challenges with new or existing customers in the coming months. “It’s a fun way to showcase what they are all about and get the community involved as well,” he said. 

Meet the contenders

Taking the place of Mike Draper from RAYGUN, Change says that Van Holmgren “is on the hunt for revenge after his company’s previous loss to BitMethod in the Mario Kart Smackdown. An artist and music enthusiast, Holmgren was once proclaimed as the Barry Manilow of hot dog eating. ‘He’s smooth, has a soft touch, and really knows how to take over the stage.’ He also once ate an entire stray dog in one sitting. So yeah.”
Lead singer of local band Christopher the Conquered and vegetarian by nature, the Change team is certain that Chris Ford is “not scared to attempt to out-eat those with a carnivorous background. As the six time reigning Veggie Dog Pounder champion, Ford is looking to better his mark of 1.5 dogs per second.” 
Clint Harvey is the lead developer at Catchfire Media and is a self-proclaimed frequenter of Hotshots. “In fact, owner Tony Lemmo has been wondering who spends more time there. With such an established core of hot dog consumption, Harvey is primed for competition,” Change proclaimed on its Facebook page.

Sam Auen is the chef behind Des Moines’ taco obsession, Tacopocalypse. According to Change, “he is a man looking to diversify his pallet, as many have claimed him as a “one hit wonder” in competitive eating. His grizzly scruff has caused a few setbacks in the past, but this time Auen will be out for blood. And more hot dogs.”

 

 

Credits: Shipton photo from LinkedIn. Contender photos & blurbs from Change on Facebook.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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