KCBS Board meeting agenda Aug 14, 2023

Kansas City Barbeque Society
Board of Directors’ Meeting Agenda
Monday August 14, 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, 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 previous BOD meeting
  • Contest Report
  • Financial Report
  • Sanctioning Committee
  • Judging Committee
  • Contest Representative Committee
  • Rules Committee
  • Foundation Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Nominating Committee
  • Workgroups:
    • Organizers Work Group
    • Backyard Work Group
 
Discussion of any items removed from Consent Agenda:
 
 
Chief Executive Officer’s Report:
 
  • CEO Report attached
 
Old Business:
 
  • None.
 
New Business: 
 
  •  No voting matters presenting in advance.
 
Closed Session Agenda: 
Discussion of Legal, Financial, Personnel and Real Estate
  • Marketing discussion (Gray)
  • Marketing opportunity (Brinza)
 
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    
Grills Gone Wild 2/9-10/2024 Davenport, FL
Clayton BBQ Challenge 9/15-16-2023 Clayton, NC
BLACK BOX BBQ @ Wadsworth Municipal Airport 10/13-14/2023 Wadsworth, OH
Boats Beats & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) 9/1-2/2023 Grove, OK
Kickin' It Route 66 BBQ (Day 1) 3/22-23/2024 St. Robert, MO
Kickin' It Route 66 BBQ (Day 2) 3/23-24/2024 St. Robert, MO
Kickin' It Route 66 BBQ (ONE MEAT RIBS) 3/23/2023 St. Robert, MO
Jack Daniel's World Championship Indiviational Barbecue (Competitor's Series) 10/13-14/2023 Lynchburg, TN
Downtown Jonesboro BBQ Contest 9/29-30/2023 Jonesboro, AR
Smokin' BBQ Masters in the Valley 8/5-6/2023 Herne Hill, Australia
Battle for the Bones (ONE MEAT RIBS) 10/21/2023 Birmingham, AL
Happy Basset 4th Annual BBQ Competition 6/28-29/2023 Topeka, KS
Roast N Boast 10/20-21/2023 Columbus, MS
Best in the Southwest 2/23-24/2024 Yuma, AZ
Marietta River City BBQ 4/26-27/2024 Marietta, OH
Marietta River City BBQ (ONE MEAT CHICKEN) 4/26-27/2024 Marietta, OH
Budweiser Smoke on the Water 2/2-3/2024 Winter Haven, FL
The Downtown BBQ Showdown 11/8-9/2024 Lake City, FL
K.S. Que (BACKYARD ONLY) 7/6/2024 Kennett Square, PA
Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 3/15-16/2024 Lebanon, TN
Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship (ONE MEAT RIBS) 3/15/2024 Lebanon, TN
All American BBQ Throwdown 8/2-3/2024 Westland, MI
All American BBQ Throwdown (ONE MEAT RIBS) 8/2/2024 Westland, MI
Bloomin' BBQ Music & Food Festival 5/17-18/2024 Sevierville, TN
Chillin & Grillin in the Glades 7/19-20/2024 Wise, VA
Art of the Que 6/28-29/2024 Spencer, IA
 
Financial Report
 
No report filed.
 
Sanctioning Committee
 
Aug 1, 2023
 
  • Decision by board to allow email approval of sanctioning applications
 
  • Louisville, KY contest (attached application)
 
Reps have been assigned and has spoken with the organizer, who has also pulled
in help from other experienced people.
 
Request for BOD votes emailed in advance of meeting.
 
  • Discussion of proposed changes to backyard eligibility, from BY workgroup as well as Rules
committee – Charlie
 
Judging Committee
July 26, 2023

Cliff Davis, CBJ Committee Chair  
Present in addition to the chair were committee members 
Myron Berry, Florence, AL 
Randy Todd, Cookeville, TN
Jeanne Titus, St. Louis, MO 
Ron Keefover, Topeka, KS 
Rod Gray, CEO of KCBS, ex-officio
Kelly Wilde, Louisburg, KS, was traveling and unavailable to attend.
 
CBJ of the Year Award- Discussion of the selection process, review of timeline, and assignment of subcommittee members who will select the recipient. 
JCUP - Committee discussion of the possibility of various scenarios requiring JCUP to establish or maintain CBJ status. Further discussion is needed.    
 
Contest Representative Committee
 
Tuesday July 25, 2023
 
In attendance: Bob McKee, Ralph Williams, Rod Gray, David McAllister, John Scharffbillig, Debby Gage, Jonathan Williams, Mike Winter, Dave Druetzler and Stan Dobosenski
 
Discussion of Table Population changes. Judges and teams feel that judging 7 entries is too many to judge all entries fairly.  The Reps in attendance were assigned a task to gather information to bring to the August 29th committee meeting.  This information will be brought to the Board of Directors in September.
 
Rules Committee
 July 25, 2023
Chairperson Charlie Brinza started the meeting by stating there was a new directive for the committee’s efforts this month.  The Backyard workgroup requested the Rules committee look at a proposed change to the distinction between Master and Backyard teams and write potential rule changes that would accompany these changes.
Conversation started regarding the proposed changes and after a bit of time, it was determined that the process to write rules to fully support the proposed changes could not be completed in time for the 2024 contest year.  It was decided that an interim change would make more sense, while the full vision of the wholesale change could be clarified by the Backyard workgroup and the resulting rules changes.  The issues and questions the Rules committee have regarding the full proposal are documented and will be picked up once the interim solution is formalized.
Three changes to the current Backyard Rules were documented and sent to the Backyard workgroup for their review.  Once the Rules committee and this group agree, these changes will be presented to the full Board of Directors for inclusion in the 2024 Backyard Rules.  In addition to the three rules changes, two other recommendations were passed to the Backyard workgroup for their consideration.  The Rules committee plans to present the interim changes to the full BOD for the September meeting to allow time for edits and approval for final vote in the Board’s October meeting.
 
Finance Committee
 
August 2023 KCBS Finance Committee meeting.
The KCBS Finance Committee met August 7th, 2023. Present were Stan Dobosenski, President, Joel Fleetwood, Vice President, Rod Gray, Chief Executive Officer, Randy Todd, Finance Chair.
No report.

The next KCBS Finance committee will be 6pm CDT Wednesday, September 6th due to the Monday, September 4th Labor Day holiday. I will send you our committee meeting report as soon as the meeting adjourns. 
 
Foundation Committee
 
The committee met on 7/24/23
1. World Invitational
  • Pop-Up shop will be open Fri – Sun starting at 8am. Shop will accept credit cards formerchandise and raffle tickets but cash is preferred to minimize charges.
  • The 50/50 raffle tickets will be cash only.
2. Smoker Sweepstakes
  • Sweepstakes site goes live on August 1 st !!
  • Watch website, Bullsheet, and social media for details.
 
Nominating Committee
 
July 17, 2023
The Nominating Committee met at 6:00 pm. Members present were Cliff David, Jeff Kreske and
Ralph Williams. Absent, Candy Weaver.
 
We reviewed the process as to how an individual could be nominated. Once the nomination is
received, each nominee will be contacted to verify their acceptance of the nomination. At the
close of the nominating time period, all nominees will be sent the questions for them to respond
with their respective answers. The committee will review the responses and make their
recommendations for those candidates who will be placed on the ballot for possible election to
the KCBS Board of Directors.
 
There being no further business, we adjourned at 6:45 pm.
 
Organizer Work Group
No notes submitted.
 
Backyard Work Group
7/20/2023
Continue discussion of definition of a Backyard team, with end goal of sending something to Rules committee to be written up and sent back to this committee to potentially send to board
  • Do we make changes?
    • Option to move back down after 1 GC/RGC
    • No restrictions in moving between series
    • Tracking GC/RGC points
    • Sent to rules committee to bring up a proposal
  • Discussion of possible survey discussed last month
  • Chiles reviewed previous survey and results
  • Discussion of possible questions for new survey
    • Deciding factors to cook
    • Sub-committee of BY cooks going to form questions for a survey
CEO Report
August 2023
Key Highlights:    The 5th Annual World Invitational is this week. KCBS continues to make strides in social media outreach, Bullsheet improvement, and partnership activity. The bulk of our efforts have been concentrated on the event this weekend. We’re also working on planning  the Annual Awards Banquet to be held on January 13th, 2024 at Harrah’s Casino in Kansas City, Missouri, and preparing for the American Royal World Series of Barbecue.
Membership:
The August 8, 2023, membership snapshot reflects 16,111, up 31 members from 16,080 reported on July 3, 2023..
Contests:
212 Contests Completed in 2023 (calendar year)
221 Contests Completed in 2023 Season (November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023)
 
379 Contests Scheduled for 2023 (calendar year)
388 Contests Scheduled for 2023 Season (November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023)
 
29 Contests Canceled for 2023
9 Contest Postponed in 2023
 CBJ & Table Captain Classes:    
33 CBJ Classes Scheduled for 2023
17 TC Classes Scheduled for 2023
 
2023 KCBS World Invitational:
  • 110 teams competing
  • The judge selection and confirmation process has been more difficult than anticipated. The staff feels good about what has been accomplished.
  • Trophy Sponsors: BBQers Delight, US Soy, BBQ Spot
  • Awards: Holladay, National Turkey Federation, US Soy
  • Event: Holladay, Omaha Steaks, Westlake Ace Hardware
 
KCBS Hall Of Fame:
As I understand it, the Board will discuss this topic during this month’s meeting. For that reason, there is no update.
 
Marketing & Communications:
  • Banquet: Save-the Date announcement went live on social media in July; August Bullsheet covered 2024 Annual Awards; customized packages to incentivize early registration and table sponsorships; event registration live on ______.
  • Bullsheet:  The email open rate for the August Bullsheet 55.14% (July Bullsheet was 48%).
  • CBJ Class: 34 registrants/10 Q39 hosting a Certified Barbeque Judge Class at the American Royal in September, featuring Q39 as the cook and Westlake Hardware as the event sponsor.
  • (September 12th 6-8 PM) Incentivizing Membership Board Retreat:  strategy session to incentivize membership, business affiliates, and to develop a robust membership perks program. Please send ideas, questions, data requests, etc. to Rhiannon in advance of the meeting.
  • Website: Marketing is prioritizing an auto-renewal membership option for dropped members. Long-term projects include overhaul of landing page, membership page, Foundation, recipes, mobile app development.
  • Food Export United States (FEUS): webinar scheduled for September to support sauce, rubs, and fuel business owners who seek to become export-read
  • Board Content:
    • Nomination Committee: article and promotional material published in the Bullsheet and on website; scheduling social media promotions; Voting Booth will be set up for BoD Nomination and Election by Rhiannon.
    • Foundation: article and promotional materials for Scholarship and Raffle on social media, Bullsheet, and website; announcement of Anne Laurer Scholarship fund forthcoming. Rhiannon designing new Donor Recognition and Scholarship pages.
    • Hall of Fame: initial design of banner approved.
Social Media
We continue to leverage social media to drive member conversion, promote the KCBS brand, showcase our sponsors and events, and provide value to our members through fun and educational content.
 
Social Media Growth:
  • All platforms saw continued growth and increased engagement
  • Total Audience, as of 8/7/2023: 122,612 total followers
  • KCBS gained 421 new followers across social media platforms within the month, with the biggest increase coming from Instagram and Facebook. That is 66 more followers than the previous month.
Facebook 77,980 followers  [Up from the 77,803 followers on 7.3.2023] 177 new followers 46 posts, reaching 257.9k accounts
Instagram 23,914  [Up from the 23,782 Followers on 7.3.2023] 132 new followers 32 posts, 41.5k accounts reached
Twitter 20,718 [Up from the 20,606 Followers on 7.3.2023] 112 new followers 12 tweets
 
 
  • Our most reached post of the month: KCBS July Contest Facebook post.
    • 19.1k accounts reached, and 231 reactions (likes, comments and  shares).