Time to stir the kcbs bod pot again!!

[Smoke'n Ice]

An interesting point was made above that some may not understand. We, KCBS, have entered into a contract with a company, individual or group, to develope a new program to do something. We are finally getting around to telling another company that they should stop as a new one has been engaged to do the same or similar development. The question is as follows:

Did they post a comprensive outline of the "NEW" software requirement???
Did they seek input from the membership for the "NEW" software???
Did they seek quotes from the membership to develop the "NEW" software???
Did they even think about the membership in the design of the "NEW" software???
Does anyone here know what they are doing for the "NEW" software design???

I know that quite a few of the member earn their living in software development, business development, critical thinking development, etc. Quite a few of them own their own business, manage large amounts of people and ideas and are downright qualified to make a living.

I know that several years ago, the membership, gave ALL rights and responsibilities to the BOD with the new bylaws. There was an attempt by some to give some of the oversight back to the membership but, this has not happened. I would venture to say that most members play ostrich and act like being a mushroom is good for the soul. off soapbox!!!

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by Smoke'n Ice

An interesting point was made above that some may not understand. We, KCBS, have entered into a contract with a company, individual or group, to develope a new program to do something. We are finally getting around to telling another company that they should stop as a new one has been engaged to do the same or similar development. The question is as follows:

Did they post a comprensive outline of the "NEW" software requirement???
Did they seek input from the membership for the "NEW" software???
Did they seek quotes from the membership to develop the "NEW" software???
Did they even think about the membership in the design of the "NEW" software???
Does anyone here know what they are doing for the "NEW" software design???

I know that quite a few of the member earn their living in software development, business development, critical thinking development, etc. Quite a few of them own their own business, manage large amounts of people and ideas and are downright qualified to make a living.

I know that several years ago, the membership, gave ALL rights and responsibilities to the BOD with the new bylaws. There was an attempt by some to give some of the oversight back to the membership but, this has not happened. I would venture to say that most members play ostrich and act like being a mushroom is good for the soul. off soapbox!!!

I was asked some questions, and answered the same. As a member, that is involved in the cooking side of competition BBQ that's where I was comfortable leaving it.

As someone that does that for a living, and your friend, I think we should have looked beyond KCBS membership as well as within. If the RFP was published elsewhere I'm not aware of it but that certainly doesn't mean that it didn't happen.

The code required is basic, and the time from initial award to delivery of final product should be short in a perfect world. Your other questions, are something I deal with daily. Initial concept is great, but everyone wants to have a finger in the finished product. I spent several hours of my day listening to people voice new ideas, or ask to have something changed back to the way it was four months ago. Too much input is frequently counterproductive and I can demonstrate that individuals often don't have a clue what they want on any given day...with multiple emails.

As a member, I wouldn't touch the job with a 10 foot insulated pole or a fleet of attorneys to cover my butt. No matter what product I delivered there would be a laptop it wouldn't run on, or other issues beyond my control that would land at my feet. We as a society are better off outsourcing to someone that is covered.

That's a change in tune from the last time I commented on this topic, when I was just thinking about the coding required. Looking at what's involved in terms of use and potential fallout....money well spent for everyone.

My .02

[Smoke'n Ice]

George,
I agree with your post 100% The point I was trying to make is, the BOD has entered into a contract on our behalf. Now would be a good time to inform the membership what we are attempting develope and set some form of expectation for delivery. an example of this would be is "we have entered into a contract with joe blow to develope the next genration of software for KCBS to carry us into the future. The main componts will X, Y, Z and the expected delivery is 2019 or some date prior. I don't believe that is too much to ask of the board.

soap box overturned and I'm strung out. Gotta go take a toke! (for you oldies),

[Tarheel]

Good morning bbq people, it is time for the morning stir. I have been reading each of the replies here and one common thread keeps coming up. It all has to do with not liking something the board has done. Everyone has something that they don't like about what they have done including me. I have tried to acknowledge some of there accomplishments. I know it may be hard sometimes to see it but there has been some good things that have come from the board. Those positives need to be built on.

Of those of you running what are the positive things that you want to continue to expand on?

[Scottie]

Giving back is a major and important one for me.. From philanthropy (501c3, scholarships, emergency relief). Podcasts of the BOD meetings. Marketing with MMA. More contests..... Those are some that pop up immediately for me...

[Leatherheadiowa]

Originally Posted by Tarheel

Good morning bbq people, it is time for the morning stir. I have been reading each of the replies here and one common thread keeps coming up. It all has to do with not liking something the board has done. Everyone has something that they don't like about what they have done including me. I have tried to acknowledge some of there accomplishments. I know it may be hard sometimes to see it but there has been some good things that have come from the board. Those positives need to be built on.

Of those of you running what are the positive things that you want to continue to expand on?

I think that the BOD has done many great things. I think some of the corporate partnerships has been a good thing for the membership. I also believe that implementing the meeting technology has been good in opening up dialogue among the membership.
As a member of the Iowa Barbeque Society I appreciate the grants that the KCBS and the BOD has provided to assist us in our community service projects. Our society feeds over 1000 people at the Walk a Mile in Our Shoes walk for the homeless, we take inner city kids to Cookies BBQ in Northern Iowa for a plant tour and a bbq school for the day, we feed the residents and their families at a local nursing home called Senior Q', we feed donors that donate to fill a Mayflower moving trailer with household items for battered women, and a couple other events. Without the BOD and the KCBS these events wouldn't be as successful as they are in my opinion.
For all the people that have a beef or concern with the BOD, there many people that don't realize what the KCBS or BOD is or does and they appreciate the indirect help they receieve through the generous grants.
For me the help we can give to society is such a bold statement that KCBS cares. That's cool!

[Candy Sue]

Originally Posted by Ford

There is no new system. Just a computer program to enter scores and to hopefully upload to the database for TOY scores.

This is inaccurate. Early in the year, the board voted to change weighting of scores so that appearance is not exactly half of tenderness. This will, hopefully, eliminate many numerical ties. As the frequent loser in a tie-breaker, I really like this change!

[Candy Sue]

On the 4-block running for the board, please answer the questions individually! It'd be unproductive if you all turn in the same answers and only the photographs change. I wish you all good luck and I look forward to seeing new faces and new voices on the board.

Roy, I appreciate all your concerns and your passion for this thing we do! You'll never be a trouble-maker in my opinion. It's good to have folks that stir up the bottom of the pot!

[FatBoyz]

Wow... some things will never change... I see a change in the kc's tally snuff of one I am getting reassuring join again... I know people get pissed at thing because that are not done the way you would do them. But the wag your would do tv
hem might seem wrong to me... people mad and wanting to change things is good... it will make them want to get involved and make changes. All in all things seem to be heading in a good direction. I like the prez and yes some of the old Gary need to go. But snotty is wright there are more new heart imps poping up all the time.well there's my 2opinion cents...

[Diva]

What???

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by Tarheel

Good morning bbq people, it is time for the morning stir. I have been reading each of the replies here and one common thread keeps coming up. It all has to do with not liking something the board has done. Everyone has something that they don't like about what they have done including me. I have tried to acknowledge some of there accomplishments. I know it may be hard sometimes to see it but there has been some good things that have come from the board. Those positives need to be built on.

Of those of you running what are the positive things that you want to continue to expand on?

I'm happy with the recent tone of meetings to start. Listening to adults disagree without becoming disagreeable is a great step in the right direction. Working with MMA I believe the current board has made some great strides in making KCBS more visible to the general public. The Sam's Club series, continued success of the BBQ Tour, and what should be a great Home Makeover show airing soon.

I'd like to see a continued and expanded emphasis on education. It speaks directly to the mission statement of KCBS and fulfills the requirement to maintain the 501C status that KCBS currently enjoys. To begin, I'd like to see KCBS partner with various culinary schools to introduce students to what BBQ truly is. In exchange for covering expenses and a small honorarium I'm sure we'd have no problem having qualified members apply for a position to spend a day talking to students at the CIA, Johnson and Wales etc... To continue the program for students interested I'd propose pairing them with teams nearby so that they could spend some time at contests and participate to the extent that each party was comfortable with. Not only would we be reaching future Chefs and influencing their thinking about what BBQ is and should be, we would be building relationships to continue that process in the future. I know what some people are thinking right now. Who gets to go to these schools to represent KCBS, or more directly..."Who gets paid?!". Simple answer, clear and objective qualifications are developed and printed in the BullSheet and online requesting qualified members to apply. The applications are reviewed by a committee and submitted to the BoD for approval.

[Tarheel]

Originally Posted by Diva

What???

Exactly, I am so confussed.

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by Candy Sue

On the 4-block running for the board, please answer the questions individually! It'd be unproductive if you all turn in the same answers and only the photographs change. I wish you all good luck and I look forward to seeing new faces and new voices on the board.

Roy, I appreciate all your concerns and your passion for this thing we do! You'll never be a trouble-maker in my opinion. It's good to have folks that stir up the bottom of the pot!

I think most people would be surprised at how little we have conferred, since we decided to run. Early on we discussed the major issues and found a lot of common ideas and goals. Since then there has been disagreement, and that was reassuring to me personally. I presented an idea I'm developing and had several potential issues brought to my attention. As a result I'll continue to develop the idea.

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by Diva

What???

Originally Posted by Tarheel

Exactly, I am so confussed.

Send it to Divemaster. He's the designated Billy Translator.

[Jeff_in_KC]

My view as a candidate as far as what's positive that should be built upon starts with the willingness of the Board to discuss issues like adults and leave out the yelling, threats, etc. It was not productive for the organization and much of that has quieted down now and I think we're seeing some positive results. Although I believe it should have been done differently as far as the bid process and possibly opening the job up to membership (there's a lot of people struggling financially out there and maybe helping even one member with a project would have been nice), it's good to see we're finally getting into the current century with the scoring software. This is something that's WAY past due. As the software is developed, I hope the board can take a look at how we can better utilize technology to improve all of our systems. That might be Webcasts of board meetings and forums for not just reps but also one for organizers, judges, etc. There are definitely changes that can be added to the KCBS Web site that would make it more user friendly. Maybe we get an app for smartphones? How about better database systems so that anyone can log on any week throughout the year and see where they rank in KCBS standings?

Another area that needs improvement but has not yet been addressed much is training of organizers. Many are great at what they do but there are just as many that put on a contest because they think it sounds like a fun idea but they don't understand the culture. What does it REALLY take to put on a successful contest? I know. I put one on and I'm not too shy to say it's one of the best (mostly because of the volunteers Stan and I have). We cook so we do understand the culture and what cooks want. I also know what judges want to see and we try to make it just as much fun for them as we do for the cooks. We include them in everything we do as a contest. The incident in St. Louis a few weeks ago never should have happened and probably wouldn't if there had been a more thorough training process in place for organizers and a mentoring program. Hanging out at a competition to see what's done before you can put one on by yourself is nowhere good enough! Sure, St Louis is an extreme example. But how many times do you sign up for a contest with 30 or 40 teams, pay $250 to enter and find out the prize pool is only $4 or $5 thousand? How many do you go to where you don't get many of the services you sometimes take for granted because you are cooking some other really good ones? We have to make it a priority to educate organizers, especially with all of the new contests coming on the schedule these days.

I also like what's been done with the Sam's Club series but there need to be some big tweeks to the system before it launches next year. I would like to see the organization of each contest being opened up to an application process so that some of our great KCBS organizers have a shot at the job, not just board members. I know there were a couple involved but as an example, around KC, we have LOTS of really good organizers and I know two who were interested. Neither were given the opportunity and instead, Mike Lake, a board member, was brought in to do the job. I think board members should be excluded from the ability to apply for or be considered for those kind of roles, be it Sam's Club series or anything similar. Addidtionally, let's try to make the scheduling a little more weather-friendly! Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in July were bad ideas! I was one of the teams that suffered through that ordeal!

While all of this is going on, let's never forget what makes up the roots AND the backbone of KCBS - the smaller contests. We need to take a look at ways we can help promote and support these contests so that the norm is NOT Sam's Club, Smoke on the Water, the Royal, etc. Too many teams get their start at small events and to let them go without better support is a disservice to the entire organization.