Kingpins post reminded me of something I have been thinking about for a while and alredy discused in the past with some of you.
Where are we..... From the Backyard to the American Royal. Some History.
Thats a brief description of a piece of our current charter I envisioned years ago when our group started getting involved in competition BBQ. We were a happy bunch of backyarders at the time, with little or no experience in competition BBQ.
As we grew, seasoned competitors began to join us and enlightened us to the world of Competitive BBQ. Some of us stayed in our original paths improving our backyard fares and others decided to venture off and try their hands at competition. So we(our members) were ranging From the Backyard to the American Royal.
Somewhere along the lines, that tag line took on a double meaning.. the second being the journey of our rookie teams From the Backyard TO the American Royal.
<jump ahead....>
I remember when arriving at one of my earlier competitions, 3rd, maybe forth time out, when I pulled into the venue, I saw names like DrBBQ, Dirty Dick, Philly Pigs and Daisy Mays. My first thought was "Aww chit..look who's here. There goes any of my chances" for a walk.
I took 3rd overall in that contest behind Drbbq and Dirty Dick. ... Which led to the line of 'Any given day'...any one of us can walk.
Sometime later, as I was working on our artwork I envisioned someone pulling into a contest and seeing our banner flying on someones tent and them having the same feeling i did when I saw some of the big names. "Aw chit, its A Brethren"... thats where the tag line came from.. "Fear the Pig".
Now, I feel our emblem is not a symbol of Competition BBQ, but a symbol of the BBQ Ambassadors. Yes, one day in someones mind, it may symbolize one of the elite as they arrive at a contest as say 'aw chit".., but it will always be a group of friends, family, enthusiasts and those people willing to share, help in the overall promotion of the art of BBQ, whether it be in the Backyard or the American Royal.
so heres is something I propose(taking a page from NEBS and other organizations). The BBQ Brethren Mentoring Program.
We have plenty of teams here, many flying our colors. Lets drive to help the new guys out.. ....those that are considering taking the plunge but are unsure. All they may need is to try one contest to make that decisions.
I will set up a catagory in the Competition Forum for teams to sign up as mentors, and members to look for places to start out. It will be seperated form the other competition stuff.
This can come under a few guises.
1 - Teams can actually sign up to mentor by just starting a thread with your team bio and location and maybe the contests you plan to cook if u know them.
or
they can just be looking for someone to help. If that someone has little or no experience, guess what? Its mentoring. :wink::mrgreen:
I would think that once a team starts a thread, they can just add to it for there own Mentoring history.
2 - Members can post looking to join, or tag along with a team or post their experiences to help others trying to decide.
3 - Teams can merge, cook together to offset costs, or relieve stress, free up time, etc..
We can make it what we want. I am not expecting a huge amount of activity, but it will help centralize and organize the concept and make it easier for it to take off.
This is an idea in its infancy that i have discussed with a few members in the past and have not had a chance to implement.. KINGPIN lit the fire.. good job!!
Now.. lets discuss. .we're open for suggestions, or just a dumb idea?
Where are we..... From the Backyard to the American Royal. Some History.
Thats a brief description of a piece of our current charter I envisioned years ago when our group started getting involved in competition BBQ. We were a happy bunch of backyarders at the time, with little or no experience in competition BBQ.
As we grew, seasoned competitors began to join us and enlightened us to the world of Competitive BBQ. Some of us stayed in our original paths improving our backyard fares and others decided to venture off and try their hands at competition. So we(our members) were ranging From the Backyard to the American Royal.
Somewhere along the lines, that tag line took on a double meaning.. the second being the journey of our rookie teams From the Backyard TO the American Royal.
<jump ahead....>
I remember when arriving at one of my earlier competitions, 3rd, maybe forth time out, when I pulled into the venue, I saw names like DrBBQ, Dirty Dick, Philly Pigs and Daisy Mays. My first thought was "Aww chit..look who's here. There goes any of my chances" for a walk.
I took 3rd overall in that contest behind Drbbq and Dirty Dick. ... Which led to the line of 'Any given day'...any one of us can walk.
Sometime later, as I was working on our artwork I envisioned someone pulling into a contest and seeing our banner flying on someones tent and them having the same feeling i did when I saw some of the big names. "Aw chit, its A Brethren"... thats where the tag line came from.. "Fear the Pig".
Now, I feel our emblem is not a symbol of Competition BBQ, but a symbol of the BBQ Ambassadors. Yes, one day in someones mind, it may symbolize one of the elite as they arrive at a contest as say 'aw chit".., but it will always be a group of friends, family, enthusiasts and those people willing to share, help in the overall promotion of the art of BBQ, whether it be in the Backyard or the American Royal.
so heres is something I propose(taking a page from NEBS and other organizations). The BBQ Brethren Mentoring Program.
We have plenty of teams here, many flying our colors. Lets drive to help the new guys out.. ....those that are considering taking the plunge but are unsure. All they may need is to try one contest to make that decisions.
I will set up a catagory in the Competition Forum for teams to sign up as mentors, and members to look for places to start out. It will be seperated form the other competition stuff.
This can come under a few guises.
1 - Teams can actually sign up to mentor by just starting a thread with your team bio and location and maybe the contests you plan to cook if u know them.
or
they can just be looking for someone to help. If that someone has little or no experience, guess what? Its mentoring. :wink::mrgreen:
I would think that once a team starts a thread, they can just add to it for there own Mentoring history.
2 - Members can post looking to join, or tag along with a team or post their experiences to help others trying to decide.
3 - Teams can merge, cook together to offset costs, or relieve stress, free up time, etc..
We can make it what we want. I am not expecting a huge amount of activity, but it will help centralize and organize the concept and make it easier for it to take off.
This is an idea in its infancy that i have discussed with a few members in the past and have not had a chance to implement.. KINGPIN lit the fire.. good job!!
Now.. lets discuss. .we're open for suggestions, or just a dumb idea?