KCBS Intarnational Initiative will not include me
 

To all my BBQ friends in Europe. This motion was denied at the KCBS meeting the other day. Looks like there will be a group coming your way to teach some judging and cooking classes but I won't be part of it.

From KCBS.us :
Don Harwell made a motion that KCBS member Ray Lampe be added as a full member to the KCBS International Outreach Team along with the names approved last month. 2nd by Gene Goycochea, a role call vote was requested. The results were as follows:

Harwell - Y, Lohman - N, Goycochea - Y, Shupe - N, Bigler - N, Bragg - Y, Lake - Abstain, Budai - N, Simmons - Absent, Kirk - Absent, Whitebook - Absent With (4) Nays, (3) Ayes and (1) Abstain. Motion failed.

Same old same old,,just one more reason for change, speak with your vote for new voice..

What does the KCBS international outreach team do???

I dont know what the international initiative is or does but to leave out Dr.BBQ?? Sounds like you were interested in teaching others. With you being a legend and author in the Qing world seems like a poor decision.

May not be international here but Ray you would be welcome in my neck of the woods anytime.

They serve as ambassadors for KCBS to promote barbecue outside of the US. The team travels to other countries where they hold events to familiarize people there with the operation of a KCBS contest and American BBQ cooking techniques. By sharing knowledge and demonstrating the comraderie and good sportsmanship of competitive barbecue, the team hopes to increase interest in KCBS sanctioned contests outside the borders of the US.

This team has operated for the last couple years to help educate the International teams planning to compete at the Jack. Travel costs have been paid by the team members themselves. KCBS has not subsidized the team beyond supplying instructional materials like placemats and scorecards.

that's quite interesting.

I'm pretty sure Paul Kirk would have voted for you, Honey Badger.

Who are the others that have been approved to go?

This initiative is a new recognition and expansion by KCBS of an existing program that Wayne Lohman and Bill Gage created independently to help International teams be more competitive when they cook at the Jack.

You can listen to the full discussion that sparked this thread at 1:27:40 of the Oct 2011 BOD meeting recording. I'm certain Wayne would be happy to discuss it in detail with any KCBS member who would like to contact him.

....so you can cook a KCBS sanctioned event in Elbonia that has the required 25 teams and the Mullahs decree designating said event a Championship of the Realm, and you wipe the local yokels asses with the IBP Pork butts, Ranchers Reserve Select Briskets, Farmland Moist & Tender Enhanced Spares, Tyson Chicken thighs and the Organic Curly Parsley you had overnighted, celebrated your Elbonian Grand Championship win only to find out days before the Jack Daniels Invitational Draw that it doesn't mean squat!

Let's start a collection...

Well actually Wayne told me that they had been reimbursed for some lodging while there and this year they requested $10k so I think the commitment goes beyond paperwork.

But honestly if done right and transparently I don't think paying for it is out of the question. My beef is they are including two cooks to teach the cooking part that seem to have very little KCBS experience and are pretty much unknown. I'm willing to do it on whatever terms they agree upon yet they choose the unknown cooks instead.

I am really unsure why the "nayes" want to chit in the Cheerios of Dr. BBQ. When you have an ambassador to the hobby/ sport like Dr. BBQ why would you take the already established notority and branding that has been in place.
The worst part I see is the fact that there were BODs missing from the meeting and could have changed the entire scenario.
The financial issues have me wondering as well.

Screw it, I'd say you ought to just go to Europe, find the country they are doing this outreach program, and do a cooking and preparation class for a KCBS contest on the same day. Let's see who gets the most response!

Dr. BBQ is one of the main faces and voices in the U.S. for competition BBQ. KCBS ought to embrace that, and use it to their advantage.

I and lots of others would like to know what the issue really is. Is it your perception that this was a personal attack on you? Or, are you just disappointed that it didn't go your way? Sometimes it is tiring reading all the tirades about the KCBS board when nobody will tell the whole story.

I'm about as straight of a shooter as you're gonna find Hub and frankly that's part of what they don't like about me.

Here's the deal as I know it. Wayne Lohman and Bill Gage have befriended many of the International teams at the Jack as they've worked with them over the years. In Wayne's words they been invited over to help the Europeans learn the ways of KCBS.

Wayne's wife works for an airline so they get free/cheap flights and they've been going to Europe the last few years to teach the folks about KCBS judging and cooking, mostly on their own dime although it's unclear what exactly KCBS has paid for.

Last month I saw on the KCBS BOD agenda that there was a motion to allocate $10k to doing it this year and there was a third couple who I've never heard of tasked with doing the cooking classes. So I sent a letter to the board asking them to consider me for the cooking classes as I also have many contacts in Europe. The motion was passed with no serious consideration to include me.

Since then I've had a friendly conversation with Wayne and Bill and they told me what they planned to do and I offered up what I thought I could do to help. But there was no offer to work together. Just "Let's keep in touch". I'd given up on it at that point.

This month Don Harwell offered up a motion to add me to the team. I really didn't know about this until it had been done. I've been very quiet and respectful throughout the process because I would like to do this and I'm willing to work within the system.

Now as to why they voted me down, I can't answer that. My resume would certainly qualify me but that doesn't seem to be very important. I can tell you that I don't have a very friendly relationship with Tana but the others and I are on good terms as far as I know. It's also rather curious how many turned up absent or abstained but I can't speak to that either. You'll have to ask them.