KCBS Board meeting Quick Notes Sept 11, 2023
Kansas City Barbeque SocietyBoard of Directors’ Meeting QUICK NOTES
Monday September 11, 2023. 6:00pm CT
Membership Requests to Address the Board:
- None
Call to Order at 6:01
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:
- Motion to remove Contest Rep Committee report by Goldsmith, second by Cridlin - passed
- Motion to remove Finance Committee report and be discussed in Closed Session by Todd, second by Goldsmith - passed
- Rules Committee – 2024 proposed BY changes (Brinza)
Chief Executive Officer’s Report:
- CEO Report attached
Old Business:
- None.
New Business:
- Team Of Year rules clarification (Brinza)
- Going forward, changes to TOY rules will be formally proposed by the Rules committee to be approved by the BOD. Any change in TOY prize money will be proposed by the Finance committee to be approved by the BOD.
- New Contest Representative (Titus)
- See Contest Representative Committee notes.
Closed Session Agenda:
Discussion of Legal, Financial, Personnel and Real Estate
- Personnel discussion (Dobosenski)
- Marketing discussion (Gray)
After Closed Session:
The Board may take any necessary actions including Motions on any or all matters discussed in closed session
Open session resumed at 7:45 with no items carried over for discussion or vote.
Adjourn or Suspend
Motion to adjourn by Goldsmith, second by Cridlin – passed at 7:46
Attachments and Reports
Contest Report
| In-house Approval | |||
| The Derby City Que-Off | 9/29-30/2023 | Louisville, KY | |
| Country Road & BBQ Contest | 10/7-8/2023 | Cartigliano, Italy | |
| Country Road & BBQ Contest (ONE MEAT) | 10/7-8/2023 | Cartigliano, Italy | |
| Sip & Swine BBQ Festival | 3/1-2/2024 | Lawrenceville, GA | |
| South Carolina Festival of Discovery | 7/11-13/2024 | Greenwood, SC | |
| Cedar Fest BBQ Cookoff | 4/5-6/2024 | Cedar Park, TX | |
| O'So Good BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) #2 | 9/22-23/2024 | Oneonta, AL | |
| The Ironman | 4/5-6/2024 | Seven Vallys, PA | |
| Lake Views & BBQ | 4/5-6/2024 | Wagoner, OK | |
| Lake Views & BBQ (ONE MEAT RIBS) | 4/5/2024 | Wagoner, OK | |
| The Golden State Battle VI | 3/1-2/2024 | Hollister, CA | |
| Golden State Battle of Indio | 11/17-18/2023 | Indio, CA | |
| Smoke in the Spring | 4/5-6/2024 | Osage City, KS | |
| Smoke-N-Wings | 6/28-29/2024 | Blackfoot, ID | |
| Fire at the Foothills (BACKYARD ONLY) | 4/5-6/2024 | Chelsea, AL | |
| Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews | 8/9-10/2024 | Alamosa, CO | |
| 6th Annual Qlathe BBQ Championship | 3/15-16/2024 | Olathe, KS | |
Financial Report
No report filed.
Sanctioning Committee
No Meeting - No Report
Judging Committee
No Meeting - No Report
Contest Representative Committee
We met on Tuesday August 29, 2023 with a follow-up meeting on Wednesday September 6, 2023.
Discussion of Table Population with updates to the current Table Population Chart. The new chart was approved by the Board of Directors with motion by Davis that was seconded by Cridlin. Implementation to begin on November 1, 2023. There is no change for contests with 1-28 teams.
Use of X Boxes, as first brought to the BOD’s attention by Darren Warth, was used this past weekend in Montello, WI with glowing recommendations. The Board approved its use. Detailed procedures will be written for inclusion in the Rep Manual by Nov. 1. An article in the Bullsheet and an email blast will accompany its implementation with explanation and reasoning.
Several Reps in Training were discussed and how to best prepare them for becoming a Contest Representative.
Bryan Stewart’s Rep in Training has completed with a recommendation by Titus for approval. He received Board approval with motion by Cridlin and second by Goldsmith.
Rules Committee
Meeting date: Aug. 28, 2023
Eight committee members and CEO Rod Gray attended the meeting. There were 4 topics on the agenda were:
- How to handle Team of Year (TOY) points when there is a tie for first when each team received all 9’s from all 6 judges – Perfect 180?
- The committee agreed all teams tied with this score should receive first place toy points for that competition
- It was also agreed that all other tied situations will award points only to the tie winner. Others will receive points by the place determined after the computer breaks the tie.
- Need to document TOY point eligibility for teams that cook more than one contest on a day.
- If a team:
- Has the same head cook,
- At the same location,
- On the same date
- If a team:
- If all three aforementioned qualifications are not met, only the first contest of that day will receive points for that team.
- It was also noted that a team can compete at one location on one day and travel to another location the next day and receive TOY points for both as is currently done.
- Request to clarify the proper procedure for clearing boxes from the judging table.
- Judges and Table Captains may visually examine the entry box without touching the contents in the Appearance portion of the judging process to determine if the garnish is legal and if there are not matters that would result in a disqualification (DQ).
- As judges place samples on their plates, the examination may continue with only the judge touching his or her sample.
- Once the sixth judge has taken his or her samples and the box is closed and sent to the leftover table. At this point, no DQ can be assessed regardless of what is in the box.
- To clarify, the Table Captain, the Reps nor the volunteers may examine boxes for DQ matters at this point. If no judge or the TC has a question by the time the sixth judge relinquishes the box, the box is clear.
- There has apparently been further examination taking place that should cease immediately.
- Judges may continue to evaluate only their samples through the taste and tenderness scoring until they submit their score card to the TC.
- Request to clarify the Sausage ancillary guideline written in 2016.
- The current guideline of “Sausage must be at least 5 pounds, bulk, or links.” Be removed.
- To the guideline of “The sausage sample can be a stew, gumbo, fried, barbecued, smoked, etc. provided it can serve 6 Judges.” this be added: “Sausage must be the main ingredient of the entry.”
The committee received verbal approval from the Backyard Workgroup to go forward and recommend the interim changes to the BY team definition with one exception and changes to two Backyard rules that this committee sent to the BY Workgroup for review. The following was approved by the BOD with motion by Brinza and second by Fleetwood:
- Backyard team definition changed to now allow for one Grand Championship or Reserve Grand Championship to be won at the Mater Series level and remain a Backyard competitor. Also, the restriction of a team not allowed to be a Pro BBQ Restaurant or Caterer owner has been removed.
- Backyard rule number 10 will have an addition that states “An Overall competition Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion shall be acknowledged at each Backyard competition.”
- Backyard rule number 11 will be modified to read:
Finance Committee
September 2023 KCBS Finance Committee meeting.
The KCBS Finance Committee met September 6th, 2023. Present were Stan Dobosenski, President, Joel Fleetwood, Vice President, Rod Gray, Chief Executive Officer, Randy Todd, Finance Chair.
No report.
Foundation Committee
The Committee met on 8/28/23. Present were: Nancy Goldsmith, Beth Salzl, Matt Greer, and Chiles Cridlin
- Smoker Sweepstakes
- Online raffle of smoker
- Went live 8/1/23 and will last until 10/31/23
- PR schedule has been developed in conjunction with office staff; will include Bullsheet, email blast and social media postings
- As of Sat. 8/26/23:
- $1,975 net raised
- Total Donors 40
- Total Views 544
- Total entries sold 900
- World Invitational August 12-13, 2024, Mayetta, KS
- Pop-Up Shop = $2,623
- 50/50 Raffle = 907
Total Raised $3,530
- Total Funds Raised since 2020
| 50/50 | Pop-Up Shop | Combined | ||||
| Year | Annual | Cumulative | Annual | Cumulative | Annual | Cumulative |
| 2020 | $1,080.00 | $1,080.00 | $1,080.00 | $1,080.00 | ||
| 2021 | $1,250.00 | $2,330.00 | $5,387.00 | $5,387.00 | $6,637.00 | $7,717.00 |
| 2022 | $1,100.00 | $3,430.00 | $3,254.00 | $8,641.00 | $4,354.00 | $12,071.00 |
| 2023 | $907.00 | $4,337.00 | $2,623.00 | $11,264.00 | $3,530.00 | $15,601.00 |
- New Named Scholarship
- Will be announced in October Bullsheet and the family has been notified of same
- Will be announced in October Bullsheet and the family has been notified of same
- Scholarship Application Process
- Behind the scenes changes to the scholarship process were discussed. These are procedural, not substantive, but will hopefully result in a smoother experience for applicants. C. Cridlin will handle the actual “programming” work involved.
Nominating Committee
August 21, 2023
The Nominating Committee met at 6:00 P.M. via Zoom technology.
Members present were Ralph Williams-Chair, Cliff Davis, Jeff Kruske, and Candy Weaver.
Items discussed:
• Final review of the nomination and candidate selection processes.
• Review of the timeline of the processes.
• Discussion of word limits per question to potential candidates
• Ralph will submit the process to the BOD for approval at next BOD meeting.
Organizer Work Group
August 22, 2023
Invitees: Chiles Cridlin, Nancy Goldsmith, Randy Todd, Brandon Bressner, Noel Kay, Myron Berry, Cindy Wells, Jim Palmer, Nick Nicholas, Rod Gray, Stan Dobosenski
Not in attendance: Brandon Bressner, Myron Berry, Jim Palmer, Nick Nicholas
Purpose: The Organizer work group is established to research then recommend assistance for KCBS contest organizers to the KCBS Board of Directors for their consideration.
2023 Tasks:
Group will approve then prioritize tasks to be done this year.
- Develop a mentoring program for organizers.
- Identify and create a list of key concepts referencing the KCBS Organizers Workbook.
- Compile a list of reasons that contests do not return, identify reasons contests are successful.
- Identify and create a best practice approach for People’s Choice for organizers use.
- Compile a list of contests that are successful with People’s Choice (80% complete).
- Assist with Health department best practices. (10% complete).
- Encourage a discount for teams that participate (increases participation).
- KCBS Hall of Fame Organizer (HOF) criteria development.
- Criteria should yield the top 1% of KCBS organizers.
- Quantifiable data preferred, to be discussed.
No more interviews have been received (we still need to get one from Nick Nicholas). Work now is proceeding with combining the interviews to put together the recommended recipe for success.
Resulting discussion from the Organizer’s QuickStart Guide
The QuickStart Guide was growing too large to fit the bill for what we wanted, so it was decided we would request to update the existing KCBS Organizers Guide to include an interactive quick start section. Other updates discussed will also be included. A formal request has been made to the Sanctioning committee to get the master Word version of the current guide.
Resulting discussion from HOF criteria development:
Research and interviews have yielded a starting list of candidates. Work is continuing to review those that are recommended and use their qualifications as a baseline for future inductee’s. Randy Todd to start the next round of qualification consolidation.
Backyard Work Group
8/15/23
- KCBSWI debrief
- What went well
- Overall, well run event, enjoyed by all
- What can be improved in the BY experience
- Call top 10 Overall
- What went well
- Review Rules committee proposal
- Any changes recommended?
- Do we make small changes now, and more later, or wait until all of the changes are ready
- 12 contest qualification rule to wait until full eligibility rules come out in future years
- Does the World Invitational qualifications need to change to GC/RGC?
- Will build into survey of BY teams
- Do we make small changes now, and more later, or wait until all of the changes are ready
- Any changes recommended?
September 2023
Key Highlights: With the KCBS World Invitational clearing in the rearview mirror, the staff is setting their sights on the American Royal World Series of Barbecue, the Team of the Year points chase, and the Annual Awards Banquet. Additionally, planning for 2024 has begun as well. We’re celebrating another successful Bullsheet for September and making strides to improve and expand our social media presence.
Membership:
The September 5th, 2023, membership snapshot reflects 16,104, down 7 members from 16,111 reported on August 8, 2023.
In the past, membership renewal postcards were sent to members as a reminder of their pending renewal. This was last done in September of 2022. The office was unaware of this until a renewing member mentioned it during a phone call to renew. Print Time facilitated this service, and we will again send reminder postcards going forward. Lapsed memberships since last September who respond to postcards will be retro renewed.
Contests:
263 Contests Completed in 2023 (calendar year)
221 Contests Completed in 2023 Season (November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023)
381 Contests Scheduled for 2023 (calendar year)
380 Contests Scheduled for 2023 Season (November 1, 2022 – October 31, 2023)
32 Contests Canceled for 2023
8 Contest Postponed in 2023
CBJ & Table Captain Classes:
34 CBJ Classes Scheduled for 2023
18 TC Classes Scheduled for 2023
Partnerships Discussions:
We’re turning our attention to identifying potential banquet, ToY, and HoF sponsors.
Sponsor Updates:
- National Turkey Federation–planning underway for 2024. Expanding from 19 to 20 + the American Royal contests in 2024. Contract will be sent out soon.
- Jack Daniel’s Grilling Giveaway–coordinating with winner and pitmasters.
- Westlake Ace Hardware–Thanksgrilling event planned Nov. 18th; pitmasters identified.
- CBJ class: sold out. Demand for class far exceeded capacity.
- Q39, American Royal, and Westlake Hardware sponsoring the 2nd CBJ class in Sept.
- United Soybean–contests proceeding as planned.
2023 KCBS World Invitational:
- World Invitational Recaps sent to Sponsors including picture highlights.
- Trophy Sponsors: BBQers Delight, US Soy, BBQ Spot
- Awards: Holladay, National Turkey Federation, US Soy
- Event: Holladay, Omaha Steaks, Westlake Ace Hardware
- Rep, organizer, sponsor and volunteer recognition in the September World Invitational Issue of The Bullsheet.
- 2024 planning underway.
KCBS Hall Of Fame:
The reigns for the KCBS Hall of Fame have been turned over to the office. We’re working on a HOF page for KCBS.us website and finalizing awards for the event, which will be part of the Annual Awards Banquet. Planning had begun to market the event.
Marketing & Communications:
- Banquet: webpage and event are live. Multiple packages created; incentivizing Foundation donations and advance registration.
- Bullsheet: The email open rate for the September Bullsheet 54.75% .
- CBJ Class: sold out; demand was higher than capacity. Rhiannon is working with Q39 to determine if an additional CBJ class can be added to this year after the Royal in September.
- Food Export United States (FEUS): webinar scheduled for September 12th at 1 PM CST to support sauce, rubs, and fuel business owners who seek to become export-read:
- Register here: https://www.foodexport.org/our-programs/exporter-education/webinars/
- Over 70 members have registered for this informative session
- Board Content:
- Incentivizing Membership Board Retreat: strategy session postponed. Select the times that best work for rescheduling, which group you’d like to work with in the retreat, and any suggestions you have for topics on the agenda, data to collect in advance, or other ideas.
- PLEASE COMPLETE THIS QUICK FORM:
- 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 forthcoming.
- New KCBS intern, Ella, will be assigned Wall of Flame Donor page and column in The Bullsheet.
- Hall of Fame: working on the webpage and promotional materials.
- Outstanding CBJ: Rhiannon and Taylor working with this committee to roll out promotional materials.
- Incentivizing Membership Board Retreat: strategy session postponed. Select the times that best work for rescheduling, which group you’d like to work with in the retreat, and any suggestions you have for topics on the agenda, data to collect in advance, or other ideas.
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 9/5/2023: 122,978 total followers
- KCBS gained 478 new followers across social media platforms within the month, with the biggest increase coming from Instagram and Facebook.
| 78,118 followers [Up from the 77,937 followers from the beginning of August.] | 181 new followers | 53 posts, reaching 323.7k accounts | |
| 24,040 followers [Up from the 23,869 followers from the previous report.] | 171 new followers | 26 posts, 38.5k accounts reached | |
| 20,820 followers [Up from the 20,694 Followers from the previous report.] | 126 new followers | 11 tweets, 9 retweets |
- This month we hit two milestones in social media: Facebook hitting 78k and Instagram hitting 24k.
- We are also seeing continuous growth in Twitter, as it nears its own milestone of 21k, which is expected to occur before the end of the year.
- Our most reached post of the month: 2023 World Invitational Site Panoramic/360 View on FB
- 29.7k accounts reached, and 340 reactions
2023 World Invitational:
- Facebook - 12 posts, 112.2k accounts reached
- Instagram - 6 posts, 9.5k accounts reached