KCBS Board meeting agenda March 13, 2023

Kansas City Barbeque Society
Board of Directors’ Meeting Agenda
Monday March 13, 2023. 6:00pm CT
 
Membership Requests to Address the Board:   None
 
Call to Order
 
Roll Call: 
Stan Dobosenski, Joel Fleetwood, Chiles Cridlin, Cliff Davis, Nancy Goldsmith, Corey Linton, Jeanne Titus, Ralph Williams, Charlie Brinza, Randy Todd
KCBS Office:  Rod Gray
 
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.
 
Consent Agenda
            Notice concerning Committee Reports. Some committees do not meet monthly, If a report is presented, it will be included as an attachment to the Agenda.
 
  • Minutes of
  • Contest Report
  • Financial Report
  • Sanctioning Committee
  • Judging Committee
  • Contest Representative Committee
  • Rules Committee
  • Foundation Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Nominating Committee
 
Discussion of any items removed from Consent Agenda
 
Chief Executive Officer’s Report
 
  • CEO Report attached
 
Old Business
 
  • Discussion and Consideration of definition of Family Membership
 
New Business
 
  • Discussion and motion regarding election guidelines.
  • Organizers Work Group lead
  • Discussion and possible motion of ending rollover of unused fees from COVID delayed contests.
Closed Session Agenda:
Discussion of Legal, Financial, and Real Estate
 
After Closed Session:
The Board may take any necessary actions including Motions on any or all matters discussed in closed session
 
Adjourn or Suspend
 
Attachments and Reports
Contest Report
 
In-house Approval                          
Best of the Midwest BBQ Contest                                             10/20-21/2023   Union Grove, MN
I Love Barbecue & Music Festival                                               9/3-4/2023          Lake Placid, NY
Chingawaasa Days BBQ Competition                                       6/3-4/2023          Marion, KS
Santa's Summer Colstice BBQ (KCBS Masters)                     6/16-17/2023     North Pole, AK
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Sides               9/27-30/2023     Kansas City, KS
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Kids Q             9/27-30/2023     Kansas City, KS
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Invitational Contest  9/27-30/2023     Kansas City, KS
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest              9/27-10/1/2023                 Kansas City, KS
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Rub Contest 5/18/2023            Kansas City, MO
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Sauce Contest             5/16/2023            Kansas City, MO
Lodi BeerFest & State BBQ Championship                             4/28-29/2023     Lodi, CA
New Jersey State BBQ Championship                                      7/14-16/2023     North Wildwood, NJ
9th Annual Slab-O-Rama BBQ Challenge                                 1/12-13/2024     Bullhead City, AZ
Hayden West's Delta Smoke BBQ Contest                             6/9-10/2023        Wynne, AR
Vine St BBQ Competition & Fest (BACKYARD ONLY)          9/16/2023            Park Ridge, IL
Anchor City Cook-Off                                                                     9/8-9/2023          Cenralia, MO
Smokin in the Electric City (Day 2)                                             7/14-15/2023     Butler, MO
Forks of the Buffalo BBQ Throwdown (Day 2)                       9/9-10/2023        Mannington, WV
Plant City Pig Jam                                                                             11/17-18/2023   Plant City, FL
Vidalia Police Department Back the Blue BBQ Competition            11/10-11/2023   Vidalia, LA
Smokin in the Electric City (ONE MEAT RIBS                          7/14/2023            Butler, MO
BBQ Festival Vanamoisa                                                                8/18-19/2023     Estonia
 
Financial Report
 
  • Not available
 
Sanctioning Committee
 
  • The committee recommends the BOD approve the sanctioning for the Big Bear Grill and Chill contest which submitted payment less than 90 days prior to contest.
  • No other committee activity at this time.
 
Judging Committee
 
  • No report. Meeting scheduled for later in March
 
Contest Representative Committee
 
  • No report. Meeting scheduled for later in March
 
Rules Committee
 
  • No report. Meeting scheduled for later in March
 
Finance Committee
 
March 06,2023 / 6:00 PM CDT
Call to Order
Roll Call, Attendees
Rod Gray, CEO, Stan Dobosenski, President, Joel Fleetwood, Vice President
Randy Todd, Treasurer
 
AGENDA
Old Business
 
1. Proposals for a project or a task which involve a sum of money should come from or
through the finance committee.
Action: Finance committee unanimously approved.
2. Contest sanctioning fees from postponed contests have been rolled over for two years
now. It’s time to stop rolling over these fees after this year.
Action: Rod has stopped rolling over any sanctioning fees. Finance committee
unanimously approved.
3. Look at the Building sale carryover.
Action: Finance committee unanimously agreed to move the Properties account to an
interest bearing account. Rod is going to look into different types of accounts and report
back to the Finance committee.
New Business
1. Create and begin budgeting for the KCBS World Invitational, August 11-
13, 2023.
 
2. Create and begin budgeting for the KCBS 2023 Team of the Year payout.
Get the TOY payouts approved by the full KCBS Board and get the payouts
posted to the members ASAP.
KCBS Finance Committee meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm, CDT
 
Foundation Committee
 
KCBS Foundation Committee
Report as of 3/7/23
 
The application period for KCBS scholarships opened as of 1/1/23 and will close at 11:59 pm
CST on 3/31/23. As of 3/7/23, there are five (5) scholarship applications for which the applicant
has completed their part and an additional five (5) applications that have been started but not
submitted. The KCBS office posted a scholarship application reminder on social media and, by
sharing that post, we hope to attract more applicants.
The Foundation Committee does not meet until the 4th Monday of March but in the interim the
chair and other members are working on some new fundraising ideas. There is a lot of
background work that needs to be completed before we can bring a proposal to the board but, if
they are implemented and work, they have the potential to generate a significant amount of
money for the Foundation and allow us to get closer to our goal of creating an endowment.
 
 
Nominating Committee
 
  • No report.
 
CEO Report
March 2023
 
Key Highlights:
The February CEO report was created only two weeks ago, and the typical data gathering occurs at the end of each month.  For that reason, much of this report will be redundant.  The staff is working on finalizing details for the World Invitational, preparing for the team draw for the Made in KC contest, discussing Bullsheet improvements, and turning out sight towards BBQ Month in May.
 
Membership:
The March 8th, 2023 membership snapshot reflects 16,424 total members, up 239 members from 16185 reported on February 23rd. There is no new data on lifetime memberships.  
 
Contests:
6 Contests Completed in 2023 (calendar year)
26 Contests Completed in 2023 Season (November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023
 
300 Contests Scheduled for 2023 (calendar year)
320 Contests Scheduled for 2023 Season (November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023
 
14 Contests Canceled for 2023
1 Contest Postponed in 2023
 
 
CBJ & Table Captain Classes:    
8 CBJ Classes Completed in 2023
3 TC Classes Completed in 2023
 
23 CBJ Classes Scheduled for 2023
9 TCT Classes Scheduled for 2023
 
Partnerships Discussions:


 
  • Holladay:  The 2023 Holladay Distillery/KCBS partnership agreement is fully executed.  Holladay has been invoiced for 50% of their sponsorship.  The Cocktail Contest is on the books for the 2023 KCBS World Invitational
  • Westlake Ace Hardware: Marketing representatives are working out details, with plans to schedule a meeting with KCBS to create a program for 2023 that is similar to 2022. 
  • National Turkey Federation: The Turkey Smoke series contests have been chosen for 2023.  There will be 19 events under the supervision of KCBS, plus the American Royal.  This year’s events will require competitors to supply their protein.  
  • Smithfield:  Smithfield will focus on digital marketing in 2023, including National BBQ Month (May), and National Grilling Month (July). The agreement is executed, and Smithfield’s sponsorship fee is paid in full for 2023.
  • Sadler’s Smokehouse - the 2023 KCBS Seal of Approval with Sadler’s Smokehouse is executed, and 50% of their fee has been invoiced. 
  • United Soybean Board - The United Soybean Board requested a private CBJ class.  Their anticipated numbers dwindled from 120 to 33.  This isn’t bad news.  They couldn’t find room in their schedule for two classes, so they requested a single class. In my opinion, training 33 new barbeque judges makes for a far better class, than a large number.  We gain 33 new KCBS members.  This has sparked inquires from various state soybean associations, and we’re currently in talks with Illinois and North Carolina for multi-contest point chase events.  USB is close to deciding on their ten (10) contest partnership.  Their agreement is fully executed and they have been invoiced for 50% of their partnership fee.
  • Bass Pro/Cabela’s - No movement on this relationship.
  • Oklahoma Joe’s:  Dennis Grover, Associate Manager over Brand Partnerships for Oklahoma Joe’s, a division of CharBroil informed KCBS via a conversation that due to budget constraints and new marketing directives, Oklahoma Joe’s would not be partnering with KCBS in 2023. 
  • Seaboard/Prairie Fresh: David Eahart informed KCBS via email that his budget has been cut for 2023, and Prairie Fresh would not be participating in any sponsorship programs with the organization in 2023.  
  • VFW - No update
 
Communications:
  • Bullsheet - January and February Bullsheets both continue to show above average open rates at 53%.  The open rate for the March Bullsheet was 57%. 
 
OTHER ITEMS: 
Scholarship:  We’re currently accepting 2023 scholarship applications with moderate activity
 
Gary & Carolyn Wells Awards : No update 
Outstanding Judge Awards:  No update.
BOD Nominations 2023:  
Office Staffing: The KCBS office is now fully staffed. Taylor Drummond joined our team on February 14. Taylor is the Manager of Digital Media, and will focus on social media content creation, our digital publication, the Bullsheet, and partnership support.  Rhiannon Dickerson joined KCBS on February 16.  Rhiannon will be the Director of Marketing and Communications.  Her role will entail all aspects of promotion and marketing of KCBS, as well as bird-dogging new sponsorship opportunities, servicing existing partners, and overseeing all communications, including social media and the Bullsheet.  Sherry Byler is our Manager of Contests and Judge Training.  Audrey Johns is our Manager of Membership and Judge Services.  Audrey is well acquainted with the KCBS website, and can quickly and easily help members and judges with issues related to such.