Kansas City Barbeque Society
Board of Directors’ Meeting Agenda
March 13, 2019
Roll Call:
Dennis Polson, Mike Richter, Jason Cole, Alan Sellers, Jay Amsbaugh, Candy Weaver, Randy Bigler, David Qualls, Richard Fergola, Haymo Gutweniger, Myron Berry
KCBS Office: Carolyn Wells, Heath Hall, Kim Collier
Board pledge:
Recognizing barbeque as America’s cuisine, the mission of the Kansas City Barbeque Society is to celebrate, teach, preserve and promote barbeque as a culinary technique, sport and art form.
I accept my duties as a KCBS director to further the KCBS mission so that truth, justice, excellence in barbeque and the American way of life may be strengthened and preserved forever.
Membership Requests to Address the Board:
Minutes of Last Meeting
David Qualls I move to accept minutes of the February 15-16, 2019 meeting.
Financial Statements
Jason Cole: Attached is the last month’s financial report. Please accept this report.
President’s Report
Candy Weaver On February 16th, I was charged to secure independent nonprofit attorney work to examine contracts put in place by the 2018 board at the end of the board year. I ask the board to approve the scope of work detailed below. Next step will be interviewing Missouri attorneys to accomplish this task and request estimates of work cost.
Scope of work: Examine conflict of interest statements from prior board members who have been issued contacts for work done on behalf of KCBS. Was the contract negotiations ethical and within proper activities of board directors for a Missouri nonprofit corporation.
Sanctioning Report
Kim Collier: Automatic Approval
REC’D DATES NAME CITY, STATE
New Contests – In House Approval
Existing Contests – In House Approval
Need Board Approval
1 -- Council Bluff IA, Currently 05/10 & 11/2019, would like to move their date to 09/06&07/2019 coincide with 712 new River City BBQ and Music Festival
3 teams cook both events last year 2 from SD and 1 NE,
SD-Prize money is 9k they average 30 teams
IA-Prize money is 8k they average 37 teams
Shawnee Mission KS VS Gardner KS 09/27&28/2019
This is Shawnee 25th year anniversary, 2 Year Gardner.
Shawnee is always the 4th weekend in September. The past two years Gardner has been the 5th weekend in September.
This year there is only 4 weeks in September.
3 Teams cooked both contests
Shawnee –Prize money is 4,800 averages 110 teams-Shawnee Max is 112
Gardner-Prize money is 10k average 66 teams
Both Shawnee and Gardner understand why they are falling on the same week. Neither is able to move their events up one week or back a week. Due the other city ran events. Both are willing to have their events the same weekend this year. And will work with each other next year. Since 2020 is also a 4 week month.
Shawnee understand she may lose 913 and Fat & Dumb to Gardner due to higher Prize money; however, 913 did win GC at Shawnee in 2017 & 2018.
70+ teams for Shawnee are local teams, they only cook Shawnee
20+ Teams for Garner are local teams, Gardner draws more of the top competition cooks due to their higher Prize money
After discussion, the committee recommended approval of both contests as the organizers are willing to have both on the same date.
2 – A contest in Long Beach, California applied for sanctioning and the date requested is under the 90 day requirement of application. There are no conflicting dates.
After discussion the committee recommended approval of contest.
A letter from a cook team asking about whether a contest should be a Master series or an invitational was discussed, the committee saw no issue with the contest being a Master series and a reply was sent to the cook team .
Discussed organizer training and support. Randy and Sandy will review an organizer project from 2017. Randal Bowman was working on this last year and we have asked Randall to forward his work to Randy and Sandy. Discussed benefits of an organizer to be a member of KCBS.
Motion to Approve Sanctioning Committee recommendations on Contests
Sanctioning Report:
Myron Berry: SANCTIONING COMMITTEE MEETING 3/6/2019
Meeting called to order at 12:05 pm
Present: Myron Berry, Randy Bigler, Charlie Brinza, Kim Collier, Sandy Fulton, Haymo Gutweniger, Candy Weaver and Carolyn Wells
Marketing Company Report
Social Media / Member Liaison Committee: *Note- This Committee is charged with communication, education, marketing and membership issues.
Alan Sellers, Jay Amsbaugh, Richard Fergola: Marketing, Social Media, Member Services.
Notes from our committee discussion for board review for our next committee meeting:
A. Create a YouTube channel for producing content videos by some of the world’s best Pit-masters.
B. Produce more of a following on our social media platforms by producing more organic content.
C. Engage more of a social media following by creating give-away items via social media. Interviews through live streaming, and producing different, out of the box content that intrigues our followers.
D. Live Q&A sessions via website or social media.
E. For the above: We need to generate a position “Publicist for KCBS” to produce and manage these very things above. This position will report directly the Heath Hall and Carolyn Wells.
F. At this point we would like to present a motion to acquire a “publicist”
G. Recognize every cook team with an award for 180 or 700 at every comp. A pennant or a banner, Large enough to be mounted on a trailer or a pop up to show that team success. There will be a KCBS flag with 180 or 700 on it showing that award for all to see. From the 180/700 activities each month collect the names of all the winners and put their names into a bucket, pull the winners and give them a sponsor’s donated additional award. This can be done every 3 months or once a year and post in the bull-sheet, or even saved to be presented at the banquet.
At this point we would like to make a motion to start the 180/700 recognition program and it to be handled by the KCBS Office Staff.
H. We would like to see a marketing report from our Marketing company copying Heath Hall and Carolyn Wells each month showing:
a. The number of social media hits both positive and negative on all social platforms. Also trending directions.
b. We need to be able to block social media that gets negative on all KCBS enabled sites.
c. A list of sponsors contacted, sponsor prospects, sponsors contacts offered and accepted, or rejected an explanation given. Monthly.
d. Marketing activity on all platforms. Actions and results.
e. Money spent on different cost platforms as they affect total Marketing cost.
I. Membership Report:
Total Current Members 19,423, Net Gain from last month of 798
New members: 269
Renewed: 997
Non-renewals: 1,236
Lifetime: 1,820
International: 1,941
Total countries: 38
J. Goals for this year:
1. Increase cook teams by 5%= 225 new teams
2. Increase Judges by 2%= 260 net gain
3. Increase Comp by 5%= 25 new ones.
International
Wayne Lohman: 2019 March International Board of Managers Report (IBOM)
Managers:
Bill & Debby Gage – CBJ Instructors and Reps
Jim & Becky Johnson – Cooking Instructors
Wayne & Maria Lohman - CBJ Instructors, Reps and Board Liaison
Carolyn Wells – Board Liaison
KCBS International Mission Statement
· Increase the knowledge and skills for Out of United States (O.U.S.) competition cook teams to successfully compete in KCBS Competitions
· Instructing, training and certifying judges according to KCBS parameters so they can judge KCBS sanctioned contests anywhere in the world
· Mentoring, encouraging, and supporting, O.U.S. competition organizers
· Increasing KCBS membership worldwide
IBOM History:
· Jack Daniel Teams 2010
· Tony Stone Low & Slow BBQ Contest in 2011
· 2014 establish IBOM as an LLC
1. Liability
2. Liaison till December 31, 2021
2018 Results:
· 61 Sanctioned Contests
· 124 BBQ Events (Contests, Classes, Culinary Events, Demo’s)
· 1729 International Members in 36 Countries
· 18 International Reps and 10 in Training
· 8 Countries with CBJ Manuals Translated
· 3 Regions with Team of the Year Cups
· Established a 11 Member Board of Advisors
· Financial P&L Statement
2019 Scheduled Events (To Date)
Costa Rica – Week of March 19-25
· Working with US Ambassador Sandra Day
· Private Class & Meals with Cargill and US Pork Federation as Sponsors
· CBJ Class with 15-20 Students
· Sanctioned Contests with 20-25 Teams
Memphis In May – Week of May 22-25
· Meeting with JBBQA from Tokyo and IOBSF from South Korea who represents Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan
· Schedule Classes and Contests in late Fall
Hermosillo, Mexico – Week of May 22-26
· Cooking and Judging Classes
· Schedule Contest in late fall
Tampere, Finland – Week of June 12-16
· CBJ Class Only
· First Sanctioned Contest
Belfast, Northern Ireland – Week of July 9-15
· Working with US Embassy Staff
· Glenarm Castle is Venue Location
· Largest Food Festival in Ireland with attendance of 80,000
· NI Foods is the Contest Organizer
· Teaching both Cooking and CBJ Classes
· First Sanctioned Contest in Ireland
· Cooking Demo’s for 3 days
· Sao Paulo, Brazil – Week of November 26-December 2
· Cooking and Judging Classes
· First Sanctioned Contest in Brazil
· Cooking Dinner for Major Sponsor Jack Daniel
IBOM Needs
· Add Heath Hall to the IBOM Board as a Liaison Person
· A Dedicated Full Time Staff Person
· Liability Insurance
· Availability of Public Funding
Profit and Loss Statement
INCOME:
Membership Dues ………………$61,440
Contest Fees………………………12,014
CBJ Income………………………….6962
Total Income………………. …$80,416
EXPENSES:
Travel Offset…………………… …. $3200
Shipping………………………………..550
LLC Fees…… ………………………..339
Total Expenses ………………..$4,089
NET INCOME……………………$76,326
CBJ Committee Report:
Dennis Polson: KCBS CBJ Committee Meeting Minutes
February 25, 2019 7:30 pm (CT)
Present: Dennis Polson, Chair; David Qualls, Co-Chair; Linda Polson, Recording Secretary; Ralph Williams, Becky Johnson, Jon Amedei, Carl Parrish, Allen Rothrock, Brian DeCoud, Marge Plummer, Frank Gonzales, Maxine Kilgore, Randy Bigler, KCBS BOD, and Carolyn Wells, KCBS Executive Director.
Dennis opened the meeting with a reminder that some information discussed in Committee meetings is confidential.
The committee discussed goals for 2019:
1) Improved relationships between judges and cooks.
2) Find ways to put fun back in judging.
3) Find ways to make BBQ competitions more family friendly and promote a family atmosphere.
4) Encourage CBJs to attend the KCBS annual banquet.
5) Develop online refresher classes and CBJ retraining.
6) Develop video of judging procedures for cooks to see what happens in the judging area.
Dennis discussed the E-blast about Master CBJ Candidates cooking with teams that he had sent to the committee for review and feedback. Following discussion, decision was made to forward the E-blast to BOD for approval.
The committee discussed current requirement prohibiting fraternization of CBJs with cooks on day of contest. Several suggestions were made to improve relationships between judges & cooks without giving the perception that judging may be compromised. Dennis asked that committee members give the topic more thought & share ideas with CBJ committee for discussion at the next meeting.
Dennis reported on BOD ideas/suggestions regarding MCTC certification proposal. Committee members will study further and discuss again at a later meeting.
Dennis read a proposal of a statement for Reps to read at the cooks meeting about MCBJs/MCBJ candidates cooking with a team. Following discussion, Dennis asked committee members to share ideas about statement wording with committee for discussion at the next meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm. Next meeting is scheduled for March 25th at 7:30 pm CT.
Rep Committee
Randy Bigler: The 2019 KCBS Rep Committee held its first meeting of the year on Tuesday March 5th 2019 at 1:00pm CST. Rep Committee members in attendance were Mike Winter, Nancy Muller, Lynda Voth, Bill and Debbie Gage and Co-Chair Haymo Gutweniger. Our plan is to meet the first Tuesday of the month at 1:00pm CST. But there will be months we will change the date to accommodate our committee members.
We discussed the incidental fee of $50 and it was decided that this was still enough to cover the reps incidental fees.
The Rep Corp will begin holding quarterly rep conference calls or webinars. The Rep meeting at the yearly banquet just isn't enough for the reps to pass on their ideas or issues. The rules for the current year are already in writing by the banquet and it is very difficult to have any changes made to the rules. We are working on a schedule to have the first one by the end of March. I will host these calls and will only have 25-30 reps per call so that all reps will have a chance to call in and share their ideas and issues.
The Contest Rep Manual is currently be reviewed for any changes or updates. Hope to have this done by next meeting.
Technology Committee
David Qualls: I am in daily communications with Park Road Technologies. There is still much work to do and at this point I can’t give a true estimation of full functionality. We are close to finalizing the TOY updates as well as data transfer protocol to allow third-party (BBQ DATA) to receive the team data for their work.
Event Committee: *Note: Event Committee is charged with Banquet, Invitational, Team of Year, and Great American Cookout
Jason Cole: Members: Jason Cole, Chairman, Randy Bigler-Richard Fergola Co-Chairs, Randy Bigler, David Stidham, Heather Sinyard, Heath Hall, and Jeff Hite
We had our first meeting on the 27th. We discussed the goals and objectives of the committee. We discussed the Banquet and ideas on how to improve it. We also discussed potential locations and dates for the World Invitational
Rules Committee
Richard Fergola: RULES COMMITTEE MEETING 3/8/2019 Present: Richard Fergola, Theresa Bell, Nathan Dexter, Ed Hartman, Mike Wozniak, Mike Richter and Barry Johnson.
Items brought forth during meeting
1. Garnish rule clarification in the 2019 rules book.
“Garnish is optional, if used, once determined to be legal will play no further role in the appearance score.” Followed by the legal description of greens.
One of our members said that all reference to the bolded type is gone.
Can’t say I read a recommendation in the Rules Committee to ban this information for the 2019 rules pamphlet.
Just need clarification as to why the bold type is gone and how that came about.
2. TOY Overall Tie-Breaker system.
Revisit the TOY O/A tie breaker. KCBS has had two ties in this category over the years and very close races recently, with 2018 being a 1 point race.
Our current points system of counting a team’s top 10 finishes, while adding excitement, can lead to the possibility of ties.
The current tie breaker looks to the tied teams 11th, 12th etc. O/A contest finish to break the tie. This can overly emphasize the need to cook as many contests as possible. In theory, an exceptional team could achieve a season point total to put them on pace for TOY by only cooking 10 contests. If that team tied with another for TOY, they would have no 11th or 12th contests to factor in for our current tie breaker system.
Making a motion that we scrap the current tie breaker in favor of a tie breaker that relies only upon a team’s top 10 finishes.
If a tie exists for 1st place in KCBS TOY O/A, we propose adding the team’s year end point totals in chicken, ribs, pork and brisket, with the highest point total breaking the tie in favor of the winner.
EXAMPLE:
Team A and Team B finish the season with 2850 points for TOY O/A.
Team A
Chicken 2800
Ribs. 2790
Pork. 2750
Brisket. 2810
Total. 11,150
Team B
Chicken 2710
Ribs. 2820
Pork. 2740
Brisket. 2820
Total. 11,090
We have run the year end ties and a few of the close finishes, under this tie breaker system one team would break the tie by an average of over 100 points.
The advantage is all the info for the tie breaker is listed in the final points total for a season, a couple minutes of adding numbers gives the tie breaker.
No need to go research an 11th or 12th etc. contest. The main advantage it is easy to understand. The last TOY tie we had a few years ago there was some misunderstanding and hurt feelings surrounding the outcome.
Nominating Committee
Dennis Polson: Working on the nomination information for the BullSheet and letters for nominees.
Philanthropy Committee Report
Mike Richter: The scholarship applications will be posted on the website in the near future. The committee for 2019 consists of: Mike Richter, Chair, Members-Dave Edyburn, Nancy Goldsmith, Dave Compton, Karrin Murphy, and Carolyn Wells
Audit Committee Report
Myron Berry: The audit committee is working on obtaining names of firms to conduct an audit as authorized in the February 2019 Board Meeting
Bylaws Committee Report
David Qualls: Sheri Gray has committed to serve on the Committee and other members are being solicited to conduct a review and revise the KCBS Bylaws to bring to the General Membership for a vote and ratification. We plan to utilize surveys of planned revisions to the members via the new membership platform to better involve all the membership on the decision process prior to submission for ratification.
Building Committee
David Qualls: The Building Committee Members are David Qualls, Chairman, Phil Hon, and Heath Hall. We are currently working with an additional prospective Lessee for the remaining vacant space on the second floor. The lease will enhance the value of the property to a potential buyer which has contacted KCBS. The Committee will work with Counsel in order to effect the sale of the property as per guidelines of the Society and Missouri statutes governing Non-Profits in the State.
Old Business
New Business
Motion to Ratify Board President's Committee Assignments made in the February Meeting as required per the KCBS Bylaws.
Discussion and possible motion to award a Lifetime KCBS Membership to Mark Gibbs in recognition for his work on Judge Averaging and seating system trials. Per recommendation of Alan Sellers.
Discussion and possible motion to establish a "Young KCBS" program to guide young people into KCBS that establishes a 3-year plan to bring young people (20-25 years – and second category 25-40 years) into our organization. Per recommendation of Haymo Gutweniger.
Discussion and possible motion to retain a Publicist for KCBS to enhance the Mission of the Society and Membership Accomplishments per recommendation of the Social Media / Member Liaison Committee.
Discussion and possible motion to create an enhanced 180/700 recognition program and it to be handled by the KCBS Office Staff. Per recommendation of the Social Media / Member Liaison Committee.
Discussion and possible motion to direct Marketing Company to give report of performance addressed under Item H of the Social Media / Member Liaison Committee report to the board. Per recommendation of the Social Media / Member Liaison Committee.
Discussion and possible motion to create a curriculum and class to become a KCBS Contest Rep. It is felt that if a person is interested in becoming a rep they would not mind spending their own money to attend the class. The cost to them would be travel, hotel, food and the cost of the class. A budget is being worked on to cover the cost of the class. Current Reps could also attend this class if they felt they needed a refresher. Per recommendation of the Rep. Committee.
Discussion and possible motion on steak contest's as standalone steak contest or offer these as ancillary contest at KCBS Sanctioned contests or both. Distribution of information to our organizer's, Reps and judges. Rules and any particular and procedures for the conducting of a steak contest to be distributed to the Reps. Clarifications of the charges. Per recommendation of the Rep. Committee.
Discussion and possible motion of a policy for New Board Members who are not contest Reps to shadow a Rep covering the complete contest procedure from start to finish. The Purpose is for Board Members to better understand the contest Process. Per recommendation of the Rep. Committee and submission for consideration by Ralph Williams
Discussion and possible motion on whether the Judge Verification form still needed with the after action paperwork sent to the office now that it is a new feature of the website. Per recommendation of the Rep. Committee.
Discussion and possible motion that monetary awards for the Team of the Year for the 2019 season be eliminated unless and until a name-sponsor is located to fund said awards. Purpose: There were no financial awards for Team of the Year until Sam's Club sponsored in 2010/2011. This simply rolls Team of the Year back to the way it used to be prior to Sam's Club. Per recommendation of Candy Weaver.
Closed Session Agenda:
Discussion of Real Estate Concerning Pending Lease and Sale Contracts
Discuss and approve 2 new CBJ/TC Instructors.
Discussion of Contest Representative actions who is an Independent Contractor to KCBS
Discussion of a currently Sanctioned Contest in regards to non-compliance with Master Series designation and Jack Daniels Qualifications
Discussion of Banquet Contract
Discussion of International Operations
Discussion of Pending Sponsorship Agreements
Discussion of Contract Parameters and Performance between First Club Marketing LLC. and KCBS
Discussion of Financial Reports
Discussion of Pending Legal Matters and Counsel Representation
After Closed Session:
The Board may take any necessary actions including Motions on any or all matters discussed in closed session
Adjourn or Suspend