KCBS June Board Agenda

Kansas City Barbeque Society
Board of Directors’ Meeting Agenda
June 12, 2019 

Roll Call: 
Dennis Polson,  Alan Sellers, 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:   None

Minutes of Last Meeting
David Qualls: I move to accept minutes of the May 8, 2019 Regular Meeting and Special Meeting of May 29, 2019.

Financial Statements
Myron Berry:   Attached is the last month’s financial report.  Please accept this report.

President’s Report
Candy Weaver:   National Barbeque Month for 2019 has passed.  Even though it was wet weather wise (but that helps barbeque cook faster!), the smoke kept on rising.  The Mississippi River didn't get crazy high until after Memphis in May and who can forget that Tuffy Stone, Cool Smoke, won it this year!  Tuffy is a past KCBS Team of the Year, two time winner of The Jack, and just all around nice guy!  
Your Board of Directors has called a special election to fill the seats back up to nine members as directed by the Bylaws.  There are a number of really great candidates running to fill this seat.  PLEASE VOTE!!!  Remember, if you don't vote you really can't complain.
Que On!  Hope to see you out on the BBQ Trail!

Contest Report
Event_Name  Begin_Date  End_Date  City  State/Country
Austrian BBQ Festival- Indian Summer Challenge 2019 10/5/2019 10/6/2019 Graz, Messegelande AUSTRIA
Bikes Boats & Bones BBQ & Steak Showdown 9/21/2019 9/22/2019 Kimberling City MO
Boo-B-Que 10/18/2019 10/19/2019 Rehoboth Beach DE
Cambridge Rib Fest(GRILLING SERIES) 8/4/2019   Cambridge WI
Caput Mundi BBQ Competition 10/12/2019 10/13/2019 Rome ITALY
Cedar Fest BBQ Cook-off 4/3/2020 4/4/2020 Cedar Park TX
COTR BBQ 12/6/2019 12/7/2019 Demopolis AL
Crimson & Blue BBQ 8/31/2019 6/1/2019 Lawrence KS
Downtown BBQ Showdown 7/19/2019 7/20/2019 Hattiesburg MS
Guts Glory Ram BBQ Showdown 10/4/2019 10/5/2019 Lebanon MO
Heatbeads BBQ Turf Wars 11/4/2019 11/5/2019 Cranbourne Melbourne AUSTRALIA
Hometown BBQ Bash 8/2/2019 8/3/2019 Hoover AL
Hops and Hogs Festival 10/4/2019 10/5/2019 Huntersville NC
Jack Daniel's presents Burgerfest 9/7/2019 9/8/2019 Prague CZECH REPUBLIC
KC Realty Royal (Competitor's Series) 10/3/2019 10/4/2019 Overland Park KS
Kentucky's Fort Harrod Beef Festival Grill-Off
 (COMPETITORS SERIES)
10/4/2019 10/5/2019 Harrodsburg KY
Mazatzal Grill Masters-BBQ Competition & Testicle Festival  9/27/2019 9/28/2019 Payson AZ
Midian Shrine Cowskin Cookoff 9/6/2019 9/7/2019 Wichita KS
Ohio Smoked Meat & BBQ Festival 10/18/2019 10/19/2019 Nelsonville OH
Open Polish BBQ Championship 9/13/2019 9/14/2019 Poland POLAND
Pork-A-Palooza 4/17/2020 4/18/2020 Weatherford OK
Red White Blue & Que BBQ Challenge 8/3/2019 8/4/2019 Wheatland MO
Saluting With Smoke (COMPETITORS SERIES) 11/9/2019   Yorkville IL
Smokin on the Dock of the Bay 8/9/2019 8/10/2019 Chrisfield MD
Smokin' on the Square 10/25/2019 10/26/2019 El Dorado AR
The Chidlow BBQ Festival 2019 9/14/2019 9/15/2019 Chidlow AUSTRALIA
The High on the Hog Festival  5/22/2020 5/23/2020 Winchester TN
Vienna BBQ Days 6/6/2020 6/7/2020 Vienna AUSTRIA
Viva La BBQ Fest 6/21/2019 6/22/2019 San Juan PUERTO RICO
         
Need Board Approval –NONE
 
Sanctioning Report:
Myron Berry:       Meeting began at 12:05pm
 
In attendance:
 
Myron Berry
Haymo Gutweniger
Robert Stouffer
Kim Collier
 
Discussion about an email from Phillip Brazier to BOD regarding the BOD October 2018 minutes. The minutes read that in backyard contests the organizer can determine which categories will count toward their Grand and Reserve Champions. While this comes under the Rules Committee, sanctioning also addresses contests. Kim informed the committee that under current KCBS rules, a backyard contest that has three meats sanctioned for their contest, the organizer can determine which categories will count toward their Grand and Reserve Champions.
 
The committee approved a request from a pro cook, (who has not cooked in the last two years and has moved from the east coast to the Midwest), to cook in a June 7 backyard contest.
 
Kim told the committee that any new contest that applied for approval between May 1 and the end of June will not have the judge’s platform available until July 1 due to work being done on the platform.
 
Committee adjourned at 12:29pm

Marketing Company Report- First Club Marketing:  Marketing/Social Media KCBS April 2019
The following report is for the majority of the month of May’s KCBS, Social Media outlets performance. This report reflects the dates as requested by the KCBS Board of Director
The GAC tour for 2019 is already well underway, we are in reporting mode for the Brand Partners as each and every Brand Partner agreement with KCBS requires monthly impact reports be generated and sent as well as making sure deliverables are completed on behalf of KCBS for each partner.
The GAC tour has completed the first 4 stops.
Ace Hardware awarded KCBS 454 possible locations to field demonstration programs at on 5-4-19, that list changed as some stores withdrew from the program. KCBS was able to fill 173 of the 407 open and available for KCBS.
The National Turkey Federation is locked in to hold 5 ancillary turkey categories at KCBS events as well in 2019 in addition to their GAC tour commitment. We just completed the first round of this in Lodi, CA and it went off extremely well.
Randall Bowman for FCM on behalf of KCBS was onsite to assist on this first round as where representatives from The National Turkey Federation.
This report is a brief summarization of the full report submitted to Heath Hall the KCBS CEO, Carolyn Wells the KCBS Executive Director and the SM-MS Committee as directed by the KCBS BOD. Much more detailed information is contained in that full report.
(Stats for 4/28/19 – 5/27/19)
• Total page views for Dates:                 137,299 (April)       148,522 (May) 8.2%+
• Total Unique Users for Dates:                 34,062 (April)         36,739 (May) 7.8%+
• Time per Visit: 4 minutes and 18 seconds (May)
 
Great American Cookout Tour
2019 Schedule is much larger reach than in any previous years. In 2018 the event reach was roughly 1.7m event attendees, 2019 is a projected 2.9m. The first 4 stops (HPBA in Dallas, TX, Rockin RIbs in Springfield, MO,
Memphis in May and The Mohegan Sun BBQ Fest in Uncasville, CT are completed with a fabulous response from crowds and brands alike.
 
The National Turkey Federation's Turkey Smoke
The first of the five events was held in Lodi, CA and received a great reception by the BBQ teams. They have the second event coming up in Arkansas in Early June
 
Cabo Wabo Tequila, CABORITA
We have completed 4 of the 26 rounds and all have gone very smoothly with fabulous response and support
 
 
                                                                                                As of 4-28-18                       As of 5-27-19       Difference
 
  • Twitter Followers:
16,912  
17,070
 
158
 
.9%+
  • Twitter Impressions:
50,274 48,775 -1,499 2.9%-
  • Twitter Potential Reach
500,470 501,241 771 1.6%+
  • Instagram Followers:
8,699 9,871 1,172 13.5%+
  • Instagram Impressions
57,956 66,930 8,974 15.5%+
  • Facebook total Likes:
84,522 84,924 402 .4%+
  • Total Audience:
110,133 111,865 1,732 1.6%+
  • Facebook Impressions:
502,213 345,943 -195,358 31%-
  • Facebook Post Clicks:
2,652 1,786 -866 30%-
  • Facebook Reactions:
3,508 3,102 -406 11.6%-
  • Facebook Engagements
4,817 4,017 -700 16.6-
             
 
Print Media Potential Reach for KCBS                        19,123,102              21,372,134        2,249,037           11.8%+
Social Media numbers reflect a slight downturn from prior month in one or more areas without the big push (as well as piggybacking
on FCM pages) to fill Ace hardware and Bass Pro Shop locations in prior reporting period
 
Social Media / Member Liaison Committee: *Note- This Committee is charged with communication, education, marketing and membership issues. 
Report to the board from the committees meeting June 3, 2019  conference call:  SM-MScommittee@kcbs.us June 3, 2019 2019  chat, Monday, at 4:00 pm Kansas City time Richard Fergola, Heath Hall, Jennifer Eggleton, Randall Bowman,  Candy Weaver, Alan Sellers,
(Marketing), (Social Media), (Member Services).
Notes for our committee discussion: Old business
  1. Heath, Randall and Richard all felt that we needed much more content for our web site and other social media post.
  2. Heath has 125 people he is going to reach to and request some pictures and other media post showing different activity in the bbq world.
  3. Randall mentioned that we have 600 brand partner post that we are obligated to on the CAC tour and other brand partners.  Randall is going to reach out and see if we can get more post that can be shared on our KCBS web site.
  4. Heath Has requested ALL board members to give him a list of people that he could request Pictures, blogs, interesting notes about BBQ so he can work on building the KCBS library.  These people could be just an email and name up to a formal introduction to the national President of the Beef industry support group.
We discuss “after” we build a much larger library of pictures, stories, which wood to use, how to build a good chicken box, how to select a good piece of meat, and the list goes on to have a stock pile of available presentations that can be called up and used.
Currently, the KCBS library is very limited on content. We would also want to collect many recipes for all kinds of BBQ products.
Then when we have a robust file we will be able to build a calendar of items that are going to be presented on a certain date and time.Hoping that people will be looking forward to the KCBS presentations.
Our target markets are the want to be cooks, shade tree chefs, and the general public with a culinary interest.Randall, Heath and Richard are going to work together to bring substance to our media presence.
  1. We have shelved the idea of having additional staff hired to help with the marketing.  Randall has three on his staff that can be used.
  2. KCBS YouTube channel is still in the building mode.
  1. Live Q&A Sessions via Website or Social Media platforms is still an open idea.
 
Heath will be putting together a scope plan for the marketing presentations               
The 180 and 700 stickers have been received at KCBS.
 
Membership Report: These are our April numbers.
Total Current Members 19,519, (Net loss of 338)
New members: 470
Renewed: 1,208
Non-renewals: 727
Lifetime: 1,825
International: 2,189
Total countries: 39 (added member in Argentina)
 
International Committee:
Wayne Lohman: No Report for June.

CBJ Committee Report:
Dennis Polson:     KCBS CBJ Committee Meeting Minutes
Present: Dennis Polson, Chair; Linda Polson, Recording Secretary; Jon Amedei, Marge Plummer, Frank Gonzales, Ralph Williams, Alan Rothrock, Maxine Kilgore, Brian DeCoud, Candy Weaver, KCBS President, and Carolyn Wells, KCBS Executive Director.
Frank provided an update regarding cooks volunteering to have MCBJ candidates cook with them; three more cook teams signed up during the past month, with a current total of 86 cooks in 31 states.
Dennis reviewed the change in the fork use rule which was rescinded at the May BOD meeting.
The committee discussed whether a MCBJ who is also a Head Cook should receive a (V) Volunteer signature every time they cook.  Following discussion, the consensus of the committee is that the Head Cook definitely should NOT receive a signature every time they cook but the incidence of the situation occurring is minimal & not worth pursuing.
The committee discussed rules for participation of non-CBJ Judges during a contest.  Several different sides of this question were discussed, keeping in mind that 1) most contests are charity fund raising events & event sponsors are an important part of that 2) having sponsor/celebrity judges participate in Kid's Q, ancillary categories, etc. is a good option but not always feasible 3) the low score is thrown out if the concern is non -CBJs scoring lower than remainder of the table 4) it historically has been, is, and will likely continue to be necessary to utilize non-CBJs at some contests. Dennis will forward input from the CBJ committee to the rules committee for consideration.
Per BOD request, the committee discussed whether Contest Reps should be allowed to consult with judges concerning their scoring during the judging process, as was the policy until 2 or 3 years ago. Some observations were: 1) as useful as it may be to the Judge to talk with them during the contest, between categories, the Cooks were polled 2 -3 years ago & we are now doing what they asked 2) at most contests, the Contest Reps are too busy to talk with judges about scoring either during or immediately following the contest 3) the CBJ Chair receives copies of score cards and/or comment cards from Contest Reps and the KCBS office staff of judges whose scoring is out of line and comment cards that are inappropriate or indicate a lack of understanding of KCBS rules. He is then able to follow up with that CBJ privately & without time constraints. Dennis will provide the Rules Committee with insights given by the CBJ Committee.
Marge & Maxine reviewed the rough draft of a list of ideas for Organizers to encourage cooks to register earlier for contests, which will facilitate Organizers/Judge Coordinators in having the correct number of qualified Judges for a contest. Following discussion, Dennis asked committee members to give this topic more thought and be prepared to discuss further at the June meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm; next meeting will be June 24th at 7:30 CDT.

Rep Committee
Randy Bigler: No Report.

Technology Committee
David Qualls: Park Road has been diligently working throughout the month. The following is a list of their projects underway & milestones:
  • Kicked off development of the 2.0 release of the Judge Portal & Judge Management System. Worked with numerous outside advisors to develop requirements for the next release. Anticipate having a fully functional BETA version for testing by 6/15
  • Released online CBJ continuing education test
  • Released online MCBJ test
  • Published 2019 Platform release schedule to KCBS.us
  • Completed final testing on KCBScore with assistance from dozens of Rep BETA testers
  • Rolled out current version of KCBScore to the field on a weekly controlled release
  • Launched Rep training strategy including training videos, and documentation that will be added to the Rep Portal
  • Completed Quickbooks upgrade and backup systems
  • Completed onsite system maintenance and repair to two users workstations
  • Identified tie breaker mismatch, started development on solution
  • Reviewed historical data of CBJ averages. Worked with Mark Kenny on modeling data set
 
Open items / Issues:
 
  • Office staff training for administration of online MCBJ test still not completed. 
  • Event set up and administration errors still continue
  • Phone system still requires script and system patching and updating
 
June Deliverables:
 
  • BETA test of Judge Portal 2.0
  • Annual Cyber Security training 
  • Office infrastructure (workstations) updates and upgrades to Operating Systems
  • Complete open tickets with Development 
I ask that you accept this report.

Event Committee:  *Note: Event Committee is charged with Banquet, Invitational, Team of Year, and Great American Cookout  
Randy Bigler: No Report for this Month

Rules Committee
Candy Weaver:  Rules Committee Report for June
From CBJ Committee:
1. A,        The committee discussed whether a MCBJ who is also a Head Cook should receive a (V) Volunteer signature every time they cook.  Following discussion, the consensus of the committee is that the Head Cook definitely should NOT receive a signature every time they cook but the incidence of the situation occurring is minimal & not worth pursuing.
Rules Committee agrees, cooking a contest does not count as a judging event.
1. B.   The committee discussed rules for participation of non-CBJ Judges during a contest.  Several different sides of this question were discussed, keeping in mind that 1) most contests are charity fund raising events & event sponsors are an important part of that 2) having sponsor/celebrity judges participate in Kid's Q, ancillary categories, etc. is a good option but not always feasible 3) the low score is thrown out if the concern is non -CBJs scoring lower than remainder of the table 4) it historically has been, is, and will likely continue to be necessary to utilize non-CBJs at some contests. Dennis will forward input from the CBJ committee to the rules committee for consideration.
Rules Committee feels that effort should be made to sit non-CBJ and celebrities at different tables.  Conversation arose that organizers should utilize the entire pool of available CBJs and choose participating CBJs fairly.  Organizers Manual suggests 10% new CBJs at every contest.
2.             Per BOD request, the committee discussed whether Contest Reps should be allowed to consult with judges concerning their scoring during the judging process, as was the policy until 2 or 3 years ago. Some observations were: 1) as useful as it may be to the Judge to talk with them during the contest, between categories, the Cooks were polled 2 -3 years ago & we are now doing what they asked 2) at most contests, the Contest Reps are too busy to talk with judges about scoring either during or immediately following the contest 3) the CBJ Chair receives copies of score cards and/or comment cards from Contest Reps and the KCBS office staff of judges whose scoring is out of line and comment cards that are inappropriate or indicate a lack of understanding of KCBS rules. He is then able to follow up with that CBJ privately & without time constraints. Dennis will provide the Rules Committee with insights given by the CBJ Committee.
Rules Committee consensus is not to change current “hands off” procedure. Analysis of a judge’s scoring after is appropriate for continuing education.
3.    Foreign object in box rule.  This past weekend, 2 different events, 2 different DQs, one was a sliver of foil, the other a piece of glove.  In both cases, object was discovered after appearance judging.
General opinion of the Rules Committee is that if a foreign object is discovered during appearance judging, a 1 is given by all judges for appearance, taste and tenderness.  If foreign object is discovered by one judge during eating, the rep will instruct that judge to score the entry 1 for appearance, taste and tenderness.  Other CBJs score as usual.
Motion:  I move that for the KCBS Rules in 2020, the following change be made for foreign object found in an entry box.  If a foreign object is discovered during appearance judging, a 1 is given by all judges for appearance, taste and tenderness.  If foreign object is discovered by one judge during eating, the rep will instruct that judge to score the entry 1 for appearance, taste and tenderness.  Other CBJs score as usual.
 
Nominating Committee
Dennis Polson:  Final report of all candidates for the Special Election will be presented at the meeting and a posting on the website as the Nomination Period ends midnight June 11, 2019.  As of this notice there are 18 Candidates. All Candidates who turn in their question will be posted on the website as well as notice of elections.  

Philanthropy Committee Report
Myron Berry:  Philanthropy Committee Report June 5, 2019
The committee has received the KCBS Scholarship applications and are in the process of reviewing the applications. Each applicant has submitted an application along with two letters of recommendations and their high school or college transcripts.

Audit Committee Report
Myron Berry:       No report as Audit is in Progress

Bylaws Committee Report
David Qualls: No Report this month.                               

Building Committee
David Qualls: No Report for this month from the realtor.

Old Business   None

New Business
Discussion and Possible Motion To-, change be made to the Rules effective in 2020 for a foreign object found in an entry box.  If a foreign object is discovered during appearance judging, a 1 is given by all judges for appearance, taste and tenderness.  If foreign object is discovered by one judge during eating, the rep will instruct that judge to score the entry 1 for appearance, taste and tenderness.  Other CBJs score as usual. Per Recommendation of the Rules Committee

Report of Nominating Committee of the official candidates for the Special Election to be held beginning at 7:00am Central Time on June 24th, 2019 through 7:00pm Central Time on June 30th, 2019

Discussion of Special Meeting to be held on July 1, 2019 to declare winner of Special Election and other business as may be necessary.

Discussion Of Judge Seating Procedures and timeline for implementation survey based on results of Survey.

Closed Session Agenda:
Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director Reports
Discussion of Financial Reports
Discussion of Real Estate Sale Strategy
Evaluations of all KCBS Employees and Independent Contractors performance and staffing needs.

After Closed Session:
The Board may take any necessary actions including Motions on any or all matters discussed in closed session

Adjourn or Suspend