Harbormaster said:
North American Barbeque Society (NABS)
And for the LOVE OF GOD LOSE THE LOGO!
I know Canada has a few teams and nothing against them but I think the "North American" would be bad. There is a Canadian Baseball team that competes in an American league. There are Canadian hockey teams competing in a league based in the U.S. so no big deal for Dizzy Pig North to compete in an American BBQ "league".
Here are my thoughts (for what they're worth) coming from my marketing background. I think it would be a huge mistake to abandon a name you've used for 20 years. The competitions have grown tremendously under this name. Like has been mentioned above a few times, I believe keeping the name the same and adopting an aggressive marketing campaign with a "meaty" logo (no pun intended) and attractive Web site is the answer. If ANY change is necessary, get rid of "Society" and call it an "association", "alliance", "federation" or something of the sort. Society sounds like we're sitting around reading poetry or something. The NFL has an "official beer". Why not have an official SOMETHING in BBQ? Beer would work for me! :wink:
Although I'm not sure BBQ contests are an ideal thing to try to develop into a spectator competition, I think to attract good sponsorship, you need to have the public attend. I would support a fund being set up (or take it out of a sanctioning fee the organizers pay) and give back a pre-designed advertisement that is "personalized" for each particular contest so they can run this ad in the local newspapers. There could also be credits to organizers for advertising their contests on radio and TV. How about creating some media packets to distribute to organizers and reps?
What happens when the public gets there? My opinion is there needs to be a way for the public to be able to sample more of our cooking, whether we like it or not. The public attracts sponsors and more sponsors means better payouts. We all have a responsibility to help promote the competitions at our camps. I think this means making ourselves more accessible to the public to visit and answer questions as they come by. I know I am guilty of "looking busy" at times so people might just move on and not stop if I'm wanting to party or whatever. In my limited experience, the best I've seen at doing things the right way is Spicewine's team. You guys are always visiting with people who are walking by and make an effort to go to every cook camp and introduce yourself as a team. I think that's fantastic. We need more people who do it like you guys do. And I'm one of the worst when it comes to doing the opposite. I plan to do better at that in 2007. (Call it a BBQ Resolution!:lol: )
I think there should also be some sort of "presentation" at contests (obviously not all of them) where the public can sit down and have someone explain to them as a group what the process is at contests. And to explain the judging rules and talk about the standards by which we're judged (as taught by the CBJ program). I'd also like to see the Web site for KCBS expanded and promoted to the public with more educational stuff the public can use.
So how does this get funded? I would be willing to pay twice or more what I pay now to be a member of KCBS. More money in the coffers means more services and promotions, more publicity and as a result more sponsors and higher payouts.
Oh and I think we need team trading cards... :twisted:
