KCBS Board Meeting Agenda for May 12, 2026

KANSAS CITY BARBEQUE SOCIETY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday, May 12, 2026, 6:00 PM CST

 

Membership Requests to Address the Board:   

  • None

Call to Order – Paul Buob

Roll Call: 

Carol Bigler, David Qualls, Donna Fong, Jeanne Titus, Luke Darnell, Blake Moore, Paul Buob, Randy Todd, Thomas Gearhart; KCBS Office: Rod Gray 

Absent: NA

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.

Declaration of Quorum 

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

  • Sanctioning Committee

  • Judging Committee

  • Contest Representative Committee

  • Rules Committee

  • Technology Committee

  • Foundation Committee

  • Nominating Committee

  • Hall of Fame Committee

  • Working Groups:

    • Organizers Working Group

      • Membership Subcommittee

    • Backyard Working Group

    • Sponsorship Working Group

    • World Invitational Working Group

Discussion of any items removed from Consent Agenda:

Chief Executive Officer’s Report:

  • CEO Report attached.

  • The Board may take actions based on Topics and Discussions from this report as New Business.

Old Business:

  • None

New Business:  

  • Park Road Technologies agreement (may transition to Closed Session)

  • South America 2027 Team of the Year 

 

Closed Session Agenda:  

Discussion of legal, financial, personnel, and real estate.

  • Cancelled Contest Discussion - Closed Session

  • KCBS Data Request - SmokeScores.com

 

After Closed Session:

The Board may take any necessary actions, including motions on any or all matters discussed in closed session 

Board Comments

Adjourn or Suspend


Attachments and Reports

Contest Report

Contest

Date

  

City

ST/Country

Octoberfest (BACKYARD ONLY)

10/2/2026

10/3/2026

Argos

IN

Big Smoke Bonnyville

8/14/2026

8/15/2026

Bonnyville

AB

12th Annual Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge

1/15/2027

1/16/2027

Bullhead City

AZ

Mike Gannon BBQ Cookoff

9/18/2026

9/19/2026

Columbiana

AL

Luna County Heritage Days Festival

5/15/2026

5/16/2026

Deming

NM

Vuur en Vlees

8/29/2026

8/30/2026

NETHERLANDS

  

Knox County Ring of Smoke

6/25/2027

6/26/2027

Edina

MO

University of Arkansas Animal Science Boots, Brews, and BBQ Contest (Day 1)

3/12/2027

3/13/2027

Fayetteville

AR

University of Arkansas Animal Science Boots, Brews, and BBQ Contest (Day 2)

3/13/2027

3/14/2027

Fayetteville

AR

BBQ Fest Parque Tempisque

5/1/2026

5/2/2026

COSTA RICA

  

Smokin in the Valley

4/25/2026

4/26/2026

AUSTRALIA

  

Permian Basin Barbeque Cook-off by Daniel Energy Partners (COMPETITOR SERIES)

11/10/2026

11/11/2026

Houston

TX

Mee(a)t and Fire BBQ Festival Innsbruck

6/13/2026

6/14/2026

AUSTRIA

  

Mee(a)t and Fire BBQ Festival Innsbruck (ONE MEAT RIBS)

6/13/2026

6/13/2026

AUSTRIA

  

West Bottoms Backyard Barbeque (ONE MEAT RIBS Contest #2)

5/15/2026

5/15/2026

Kansas City

MO

The Big Blue BBQ at the Station

10/9/2026

10/10/2026

Kansas City

MO

KCBS Annual Awards Banquet

2/19/2027

2/20/2027

Kansas City

MO

8th Annual KCBS World Invitational - Youth Que Registration

5/23/2026

5/23/2026

Lebanon

TN

12 Bridges Rib Cook-Off (ONE MEAT RIBS)

9/18/2026

9/19/2026

Lincoln

CA

Lodi BeerFest & State BBQ Championship

4/24/2026

4/25/2026

Lodi

CA

Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue (Competitor's Series)

10/9/2026

10/10/2026

Lynchburg

TN

First State BBQ Bash

9/25/2026

9/26/2026

Milford

DE

Frosty Butts BBQ Throwdown

11/6/2026

11/7/2026

Mt. Jackson

VA

Grand American Barbecue World Championship (ONE MEAT CHICKEN)

5/1/2026

5/1/2026

New Paltz

NY

Grand American Barbecue World Championship (ONE MEAT RIBS)

5/1/2026

5/1/2026

New Paltz

NY

Flavor & BBQ Festival

10/9/2026

10/10/2026

Park City

KS

Paxton Swine n Dine (BACKYARD ONLY)

9/19/2026

9/19/2026

Paxton

IL

Pz al Carbon, Festival BBQ 2026

6/26/2026

6/27/2026

COSTA RICA

  

Plant City Pig Jam

11/20/2026

11/21/2026

Plant City

FL

Grill Contest Rivergaro (ONE MEAT CHICKEN)

5/3/2026

5/3/2026

ITALY

  

Grill Contest Rivergaro (ONE MEAT RIBS)

5/3/2026

5/3/2026

ITALY

  

Waiting for W.E.S.T. (ONE MEAT CHICKEN)

7/25/2026

7/25/2026

ITALY

  

Waiting for W.E.S.T. (ONE MEAT RIBS)

7/25/2026

7/25/2026

ITALY

  

IBEW So Cal BBQ & Chili Cook-Off (COMPETITOR SERIES)

7/17/2026

7/18/2026

Santa Ana

CA

The MoCo Smoke Show

10/2/2026

10/3/2026

Silver Spring

MD

KCBS Brasil Barbecue Contest 2026

7/17/2026

7/18/2026

BRAZIL

  

Smoke on the Water

10/9/2026

10/10/2026

Topeka

KS

Uniquely Union

9/11/2026

9/12/2026

Union

SC

Danny Dietz Memorial World Championship Cookoff

9/11/2026

9/12/2026

Waller

TX

Made for KC BBQ Championship 2026 (COMPETITORS SERIES)

8/21/2026

8/22/2026

Weston

MO
 

Sanctioning Committee

Committee Members: Jeanne Titus

No report for this period.

CBJ Committee

Committee Chair: Blake Moore 

Members: 

 

Members Attending: Blake Moore, Loudon, TN, Committee Chair; Bill Jones, Richmond,

Va; Kent Harriss, Lake City, FL; Joe DeBella, Henrico, VA; Kim Waddell, Clinton, MS;

Andrew Peercy, Franklin, TN; Tony Ucciferri, Concord, CA; Debra Gage, Germantown,

TN; Ron Keefover, Secretary

Also in attending were ex officio members Rod Gray, KCBS CEO; Paul Buob, President,

KCBS Board of Directors; and Donna Fong, BOD member, Alameda, CA.

Chair Blake Moore convened the meeting at 7 p.m. by giving an overview of our prior

meeting with topics including:

1. judge participation and staying engaged in contests;

2. the complaints of judge registration and communication; and

3. judges’ belief that KCBS systems and logistics are outdated.

4. Youth participation

Blake stated that Andrew Peercy and Kim Waddell had agreed to begin development of

an outreach plan for youth, including culinary schools, 4H clubs, FFA clubs, etc. This

subcommittee gave a brief intro and will keep the committee informed on their actions.

Debby Gage brought up the idea of promoting a “kid’s club” within KCBS. More to come

later.

Paul Buob discussed the potential to enhance CBJ judging criteria for different meats.

For example, we could possibly do short videos on topics such as Burnt Ends…what

they are, how to judge, etc. Bill Jones commented that using “words vs. numbers” for

judging and training would be helpful. This was left as a discussion item for next

meeting after Tony Ucciferri, Andrew Peercy, and Joe DeBella agreed to lead a

subcommittee to develop this concept further.

Donna Fong led a discussion regarding judge feedback on Member Surveys. No

additional action taken as this is already an action item for the Membership and

Marketing committee.

Andrew Peercy led a discussion regarding the judge selection process. The

conversation was well-rounded, ultimately focusing on how to reduce the amount of

time required to seat judges. Randy Todd’s comments during the last BoD meeting

 

regarding preassigned seating was discussed. More to come after Randy Todd

develops further.

Blake concluded the meeting after no additional comments from committee.

Blake adjourned the meeting and thanked members for their participation. The next

meeting is schedule for 6 p.m. (CT) May 27, 2026 via Google Meet.

The 2026 CBJ meeting schedule, unless changed by the Chair is:

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Wednesday, November 25, 2026

 


Contest Representative Committee

Committee Chair:  Carol Bigler

Committee Members: 

 

The Rep committee held their first official meeting on April 20,2026. Committee

members include; Debbie Gage, Maxine Kilgore, Abigail Nichols, Rhonda Santiago and

Lynda Voth. Also in attendance were board members; Donna Fong and Randy Todd

along with KCBS CEO, Rod Gray. After a brief introduction of the committee members,

discussions on this years goals were set and committee members were assigned to

subcommittees.

The committee’s goals for this year are as follows:

1. Rep Advisories-Perform a detailed review of existing Rep advisories to

determine which advisories should be formalized into official rules and which

advisories are no longer necessary and should be removed. The committee will

set a procedure to be followed for future advisories.

2. Rep Training Program-Assess the existing training program to determine if it is

adequate or is a revamp of the program needed to ensure Reps receive effective

training. This will also include more transparency of Rep requirements.

3. Emergency Rep Program-The committee will assess the ongoing need for the

Emergency Rep Program and, if applicable, define requirements and

expectations; implementation guidelines; access to the Rep portal is needed and

if a formal agreement is required by KCBS.

4. Contest Judge Coordinators-Determine whether written rules or formal

guidelines exist and if not to set up guidelines and /or procedures to be followed.


Rules Committee

Committee Chair: Randy Todd

Committee Members: 

No report for this period.

 

Finance Committee

Committee Members: Thomas Gearhart, Paul Buob, Luke Darnell, Jeanne Titus, Rod Gray.

The committee did not meet in March. The committee and the Treasurer are focused on preparing for the upcoming annual meeting where we will present the approved budget and discuss overall financial results and trends for the last 3 years. Results for Q1 2026 are attached for discussion during closed session. Note on YTD results, the comparison versus expectations assumes an even distribution of income and expenses across all periods. However, both our revenues and expenses are seasonal, which is not reflected in this comparison.

 

Foundation Committee 

Committee Chair: Paul Buob

Committee Members: 

Foundation Meeting March 24 th 2026

Present: Paul Buob, Nancy Goldsmith, Bill Salz, Beth, Matt Greer, Chiles Cridlin, Blake Moore

Agenda

Nancy announced the foundation received a check for $103,272 from the Carl Drake Trust!

1. Scholarships – Nancy to send out template

22 submitted, 2 not meeting gpa requirements, 15 saved not submitted

Awaiting supporting references eod 3/29/26

Paul to schedule review mtg April 28 th 7 to 8pm

2. World Inv Pop-up Shop – Paul discussed replacing pop up shop with

Raffle/sweepstakes, group was supportive.

Paul spoke to Jay Craig at Outlaw Smokers. Jay was positive and will confirm with paul.

Blake mentioned coming up with a shirt for the foundation, leveraging 40yr anniv and

usa 250. Blake will take the lead and would have onsite printing if successful.

We will still need volunteers to run the 50/50 raffle at the World Invitational

3. Old Hickory Raffle is back again. We should update graphics again, and establish start /

end dates assume July 1 start and assume 10/31 end (align with royal ??)

We need to improve the flyers at each event – rep communication.

Action items : Carl Drake article – Nacny to work on with help from paul buob

Action item: Paul to get with Rod to get signatures for our vanguard account to move $$

Action item: communicate to Board in May closed session the scholar recipients

 

Nominating Committee

Committee Chair: Randy Todd

Committee Member: 

No report for this period.

 

Technology Working Group

Committee Chair: Luke Darnell

Committee Members: David McAllister.

No report for this period.

 

Hall of Fame Workgroup 

Committee Chair: Thomas Gearhart

Committee Members: Carolyn Wells.

No report for this period. 

 

Organizer Working Group

Committee Chair: Donna Fong

Committee Members: 

The Organizer Workgroup meets every other month and is scheduled for 6/2/26 as the next meeting. In the interim, the chair, Donna Fong, continues to work individually with organizers responding to her initial email to all 2026 organizers offering support. This includes supporting organizers from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri. We will continue our efforts to reach out to organizers who are in need of assistance. Anyone needing Organizer support can email dfong@kcbs.us. Members of the workgroup are Rep Julie Poe, Rep Bill Jones, and organizers Kathy Trainor, Christie Vanover, Jim Palmer. President Paul Buob and CEO Rod Gray are also invited to participate.

 

Marketing and Membership Workgroup

Committee Chairs: Donna Fong and Blake Moore

The Marketing & Membership workgroup has finalized its members.  Members include cook and MCBJ Kent Hayes (KS), MCBJ Mark Tuttle (ID), MCBJ and Rep Debbie Spray (TX), CBJ John Serpico (MA), and MCBJ Royce Johnson (CA). Co-chairs are Blake Moore for Marketing and Donna Fong for Membership. Also invited in ex officio (by virtue of their position on the board) are board members Carol Bigler, President Paul Buob, CEO Rod Gray and founder Carolyn Wells. The group meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 4pm Central. As reported during the annual membership meeting, the workgroup will continue its focus on contest growth (Mark Tuttle/Kent Hayes), member perks program (Kent Hayes/Royce Johnson), member engagement (Debbie Spray) and membership analysis (John Serpico). The workgroup would also like to welcome its newest member, Gemi Carter from Kansas City, who will join our next meeting on 05/19/26 at 4pm.

  • Kent is working with a local Kansas City professional videographer to produce a high impact video to market to new organizers. 

  • Royce & Kent are seeking new sponsors for member discounts and merchandise for international members.

  • Rod has made a proposal for a KCBS member discount pilot program which will be discussed at our May meeting.

  • Donna and Blake continue to engage members at KCBS contests locally.

  • John continues to work on a multi-year analysis of contest trends.

  • Donna continues to monitor MES survey results, contact members who self-identify on the anonymous survey and write a monthly article in the Bullsheet.

Anyone with questions to the M&M survey can contact the group on the KCBS website by pressing the about button and then board/staff button or directly to the chairs at bmoore@kcbs.us and dfong@kcbs.us.


World Invitational (Public Facing) Working Group 

Committee Chair: Blake Moore

Committee Members: Paul Buob, Jason Cole, Eric Cantrell, Cliff Brockman, Rod Gray.

No report for this period. 

KCBS Competition Enhancement Working Group

Committee Members: Thomas Gearhart, Blake Moore, David Puckett, Josh Yagel, Pat Larisey, Garry Edwards.

No report for this period.

 

Monthly Experience Survey (MES) Results – April 2026

 

No report for this period.

 

CEO Report

Key Highlights -

With less than two weeks before the KCBS staff travels to Lebanon, Tennessee, for the 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational, final arrangements are being made, details are being refined, and we’re putting the finishing touches on what we believe will make this year the best yet for our event. As of this writing, we’re sitting at 145 teams, including 9 international teams. So far, 32 states and 7 countries will be represented in 2026.

Compart Family Farms is again partnering with KCBS as the sponsor of the World Rib Finals. Images of last year’s championship ring earned by Scuffletown Smokers was shared with Jim Compart, and his family is excited to return as the presenting sponsor of this year’s event. Additionally, Candy Weaver is once again sponsoring the Wells Cup awards, and we hope to welcome her back to the event on Saturday, May 23.

The first U.S. Soybean Combine Awards event of the season is now in the books. The ND BBQ Championship in Fargo drew 71 teams on May 1–2. Blane Hunter of Porky Butts BBQ from Omaha, Nebraska, the event’s Grand Champion, reached out personally to thank KCBS for helping bring the United Soybean Board program back after the organization’s initial decision to step away from KCBS. Joe Murphy, USB representative, and Charles Atkinson, USB Board member from Great Bend, Kansas, attended the event and reported a strong weekend overall. They felt Ashley Waite and the Scheels team hosted an outstanding contest and that USB was very well represented throughout the event.

The American Royal World Series of Barbecue decision to lower second-year Invitational qualifying requirements from 25 teams to 20 teams, retroactive to July 1, 2025, was well received by KCBS membership. The very first weekend after the announcement, two contests achieved qualifying status that otherwise would not have. This move reflects the American Royal’s desire to help nurture competition barbeque as the industry continues rebuilding following the pandemic. Their willingness to recognize the challenges organizers face and support the broader barbeque community is appreciated by KCBS and beyond.

The International Operations group continues to make strides beyond U.S. borders.  South America is an emerging market with strong interest in working with KCBS.  Japan has scheduled their first ever KCBS sanctioned event, happening in November of 2026.  The current breakdown of international events is:

Master Series - 56

Backyard Series - 5

One Meat - 23

Competitor - 1

CBJ Class - 4

Advancing technology has also renewed interest in evaluating emerging tools and modern scoring solutions as we continue looking for ways to improve the competition experience for teams, judges, organizers, and Contest Representatives alike. David McAllister is finalizing a proof of concept that is both promising and exciting.

Vieth Consulting has been acquired by Lighthouse Software Group, according to an email announcement addressed to KCBS this week.  At this time, no other information is available.  

At the end of the day, these efforts point to the same priority: delivering better events and stronger value for our members.

 

Membership 

As of May 7th, 2026, KCBS membership stands at 15,030 down from 15,072 reported on April 8th. 

March’s expired-member postcard campaign resulted in 76 renewals. Postcards for April expirations will be mailed in the coming week.

Contests

94  events completed in 2026

            344  events scheduled for 2026

15  events canceled in 2026

 

CBJ & Table Captain Classes

               22  CBJ classes scheduled in 2026

11  Table Captain classes scheduled in 2026

 

 

Marketing & Communications 

Bullsheet
The April issue of the Bullsheet was sent to 12,675 recipients. The digital publication was opened by 5,419  members as of 5/7/26, reflecting a 42.75% open rate.  Again this month, the open rate is off.  In researching this, Microsoft is putting a quarantine on KCBS email to their email addresses, which include .msn and .hotmail. We believe this relates to mass emails sent last fall for the raffle, and we’re working to get it corrected.  The staff put a lot of effort into the National BBQ Month issue for May.

Social Media (as of 5/7/26)
Engagement and audience growth continue across all platforms.

  • Current Follower Counts

Facebook

79, 602 followers, up from 79,498

Instagram

27,561 followers, up from 27,590 

X

22,194 followers, up from 22,091

Total social media followers:

129,357, up from 129,179

  • Facebook Performance

  • Views: 302,017, down from 324,304, reported as an  8% decrease in the previous 28 days via Facebook

  • Interactions: 5,049, down from 5,515 reported as a 9% decrease in the previous 28 days via Facebook

  • New followers: 130 net new followers in the previous 28 days (uncertain of the discrepancy in reporting)

Website Performance (per Google Search Console - March 2026)

  • 10,500 clicks from Google Search
     

  • 113,000 impressions

  • Top-clicked pages:

    • Homepage: 7,551 clicks

    • Explore Events page: 1,088 clicks 

    • Judging Classes page: 272 clicks

    • Judging Requirements page: 200 clicks
       

  • Top search queries:

    • kcbs 4,730

    • kcbs bbq 1,382

    • kcbs events 524
       

  • Device usage:

    • Mobile: 7,878

    • Desktop: 2,372

    • Tablet: 229
       

  • Top countries:

    • United States: 88% 

    • Italy: 4%

    • Croatia: 3%