KCBS Banquet Location

KC HAS HALLS FOR RECEPTIONS WITH POWER agreed,kc central location,attendance would be greater,althouygh i liked raffle out on coast:wink:

Guys going on the road every other year isn't too much to ask
KC next year Then the South is due then KC then the East then KC then VEGAS ;0)
I know SD was difficult for many to do
But they did organize a fine event
Deals can be made with hotel chains not just one location

I don't mind the rotational idea, but I think the actual dinner that is served can certainly be improved. Be nice to not have to eat before the banquet.
I also really liked the trade show idea that was rolled out at the last KC banquet. That was cool.

They need to come North.

Questions for those of you who regularily attend.

Are the attendees normally the same crew?
Or, are there a lot of new members there every year?

At San Diego, any idea how many total attendees and how many of those were there only because it was on the West Coast?
Any idea how many members from the Central US did not attend only because of the distance?

Just Curious

TIM

Rich Parker said:

They need to come North.

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Read my mind Rich :clap2: :thumb:

There are many who will travel to this. Then there are members like myself who will be able to go when it is in the area

I would like to see some of the state or regional bbq associations bid for it or have some type of rotation and let the locals, with local knowledge assist MMA & KCBS with organizing an event that is educational, entertaining, and economical event. Just my 2 cents worth.

This was the first banquet I've missed since 1999. Granted, they had been held exclusively in KC until recently. In 2008 there were over 400 people in attendance, in KC. If my memory serves me, I believe there were almost 200 attendees in San Diego. The numbers seem to go down when its out of KC. Think of the expense for KCBS when its out of town: airfare, meals, car rental, accommodations for the office staff.....that's a lot of cash. There may be a scouting trip involved as well, I don't know. When the banquet was held in Nashville, there were a lot of first time attendees, I may have seen a few of them the next year when it was back in KC and Nashville's only 8 hours away.

KCBS has 15000 members and growing. I think we need to first figure out how to bring a bigger fraction of members to the yearly annual meeting and dinner. A dinner for a few hundred people can be done anywhere. Unless you are in the TOY hunt, a contest rep, or board member, why would the average member want to come? The whole concept of an awards dinner was designed when KCBS was relatively small and centered in the middle of the country. Now with good cookers and lots of judges spread out everywhere, the whole idea of an awards dinner being the centerpiece for an annual meeting needs some re-working. The KCBS board should have one 2-5 hour long open public meeting every year at the location of its annual meeting. At this meeting, anyone who is a member can talk. You want open meetings? Fine, then have one! Let the members present vote on things like real organizations do at their annual meetings. Decide the future of your group right there at the meeting. Board members are more accountable this way! Make the dinner awards one of the big components of the weekend. However, don't make it the only thing. I'd consider going to a KCBS weekend like this is the awards dinner was NOT the only activity open to members. Make this weekend more like a convention rather than the TOY awards dinner. I would also try real hard and NOT have it in KC for awhile. There are lots of members outside the KC area that would attend a KCBS convention and not just a KCBS awards dinner. You want to find ways of being more inclusive and bring in judges. This is 2/3 or your money base who rarely attend because there is nothing for them at your yearly awards program. KCBS needs to learn how to get hotels and other travel needs that cost less too. SD was just too expensive for a road trip. A total of 200-400 persons attending out of 15000 members is not good. We need to find away to have the KCBS convention as I am going to call it in a vacation hotspot, where it is warm and sunny and costs are low. I know the FL/AL gulf coast in Jan is a good spot for a meeting. This is just one example of a place that would work. I have attended one KCBS dinner in KC a few years ago. My wife and I will not go back until there are more things on the schedule that relate to us. I like going to conventions. However, with money tight everywhere, KCBS needs to re-think its mission and try to bring more people to an annual meeting, rather than an awards dinner.

I say Gaylord palms convention ctr in Orlando fl

Keep it in KC every year. No region deserves it more than anyone. Everyone e feels slighted if they don't get it. But to pay $55 for a dinner, served on paper plates, no beverages, no bathrooms, banquet not in the hotel and have to walk to get to the tent, I think might be pushing it. That is no slam on the folks at KCBS or the folks that catered. That was not a $55 meal though. San Diego was nice. The whole trip was overpriced though. I've been going since 2006 and have gone to all the new cities. I have fun and enjoy seeing all my peeps..... But... Not seeing a TON of regulars not in San Diego is telling.

Keep it in KC. It is the KANSAS CITY Barbeque Society.

How many of those 15,000 members are active other than taking a judging class and judging one or two comps? You have to have a destination that offers more than a crappy dinner and a meeting (I suspect some of the drop off in attendance this year is due to the sub-par banquets of the last two years). January is tough because all the Christmas bills are coming due and most businesses are ramping up for the new year. In addition most cooks don't want to waste 3 days of vacation to attend the meeting when they're going to need them for competitions later in the year.

Diva said:

Think of the expense for KCBS when its out of town: airfare, meals, car rental, accommodations for the office staff.....that's a lot of cash. There may be a scouting trip involved as well, I don't know.

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If KCBS is going to travel it why is MMA always the point? KCBS pays $5,000 to each Sam's event director. If you're going to host the meeting in the South East, hire a member or a travel planner that actually lives in the area. KCBS has cash reserves, use a little for the members.

Matt_A said:

Hold a convention with exhibitors, lectures, discussion panels and classes. Somewhere in the middle have an open annual meeting. A lot more interesting tan an awards dinner.

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MABA ran a trade show / exhibit / classes / meeting / awards event for a couple of years. The logistics are daunting. One of the big problems is that you need an outdoor exhibit area where cooked food can be served. Most hotel / meeting facilities have a requirement that any and all F&B be purchased through them. Then you need to get people that are willing to teach classes that would appeal to a large cross section of members. What you really need is a destination city where people have access to some kind of entertainment. KCBS did contact MABA (the regional organization) prior to the Philly meeting but they pretty much ignored our advice. We suggested Atlantic City (something else to do, shows, restaurants, casinos, BARS, shopping, public transportation, cheap rooms, parking) or Washington suburbs (something else to do, airport hub, restaurants, BARS, shopping, public transportation, semi cheap rooms, parking) and they selected a somewhat out of the way hotel in Philly where they had trouble parking pick-ups and vans with limited facilities and little access to other areas of the city.

Scottie said:

But to pay $55 for a dinner, served on paper plates, no beverages, no bathrooms, banquet not in the hotel and have to walk to get to the tent, I think might be pushing it. That is no slam on the folks at KCBS or the folks that catered. That was not a $55 meal though.

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It should be a knock at KCBS, they set it up, they're responsible. I'd really like to know what the actual banquet budget vs what they charged members was for the last three meetings. The Philly banquet was terrible in addition to running out of food. It's telling when the big after dinner activity is finding which sub shops are still open.
They ran out of food again the next year and then this year was, well, see above. Where is the money going? Once again, KCBS isn't short of cash.

I have absolutely no interest in attending the KCBS annual meeting, so, I think there is the main issue, not where they hold it.

I guess I should have said not a knock on the office staff at KCBS. The girls caught some flak for other things. But when your hands are tied and forced to a plan that might not have been the best laid out from the beginning.....

Keep it in KC.

This has not been discussed yet in all of my ONE board meeting so I'm speaking strictly for myself and no one else but I'm in favor of holding it at least in the Midwest area every year. There were 187 people who signed up for the San Diego event. Not many more than that in Philly two years before. Last year in KC, it was over 400. I understand Nashville was also a big draw. I would like every other year in KC with alternate years in areas from Denver to maybe Indianapolis and most points north and south between there. Not a knock on anywhere else but it just doesn't make sense to go to areas where attendance is below 200 for an organization of close to 15,000 people. Then I think the whole idea of what the annual meeting entails should be overhauled. Why not have a trade show every year? I'm looking at the NBBQA convention and trade show I'll be attending this coming week and thinking "Wow!" They have a LOT to do, including some great classes, the trade show, a people's choice BBQ event and many other activities. I would really love to see the KCBS event stack up similarly! And the idea of a member meeting for everyone to be able to speak is something I think needs a good look. Again, all my own opinion!

Doesn't the NBBQA charge a fee to attend each specific class, activity and trade show? The peoples choice bbq event...how many people that live outside of San Diego will be able to do that without their gear?