Kids Q Initiative

[Plowboy]

Just read the May BOD notes and saw that Kid's Q came up in the Education Committee Report. I've got a few issues with this as a parent.

1. Calling this eduction is a stretch. Cooking classes for kids is education. This should fall under the category of competition.
2. Kid's Q seems to run pretty well. Kids get a lot of applause. They get awards. Maybe some money. They get a lot of praise no matter how they do, but it is still a competition. Kids learn that sometimes they win and sometimes they don't. Such is life. Adding more structured competition and "invitationals" is going to spin this thing into what we have in the adult world: political messes. We'll turn well meaning and often appropriately helping parents into those competitive parents we see on many soccer, Pop Warner, and little league fields all over America.
3. The only add on proposed here from what we have today is three "invitationals". For $10,000, I don't see how that's smart. Why does a 7 year old need to travel across the country to an invitational?
4. When I read "new type of sanctioning", I actually hear "new type of revenue stream for KCBS".

Keep it local, keep it simple, and leave it alone. Adding Kid TOY or other "specific awards" and more rules is going to zap a lot of the fun that kids have cooking today. I like Tana, but she doesn't have a 7 year old that I'm aware of. This proposal is out of touch with what I believe parents and kids want.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT - Tana Shupe
In keeping with our goal to determine short-term and long-term goals, the following proposal is presented to the board to consider as the following short-term goal: To establish the integrity and consistency of Kids Q's events by having rules and regulations that will meet KCBS standards and will result in specific awards for younger cooks. We do believe, however, that there must be considerable flexibility in the contests themselves to support the visions and capabilities of the individual organizers.

Kids Q/ Future Legends Proposal


Objective: To reach the future generation of barbeque enthusiasts.

Target: Children ages 7-17 who are interested in cooking on a competitive level.

Implementation Date: 2013 Contest Season

Cost: Roughly $10,000

According to the Kansas City Barbeque Society’s mission statement, our goal “…is to celebrate, teach, preserve and promote barbeque as a culinary technique, sport and art form.” With this goal in mind, I would like to propose a new type of sanctioning for organizers as well as a contest series that will not only teach, preserve and promote barbeque, but possibly make a difference in the lives of many children.

Currently KCBS offers three types of sanctioning; Competitors Series, Licensed and General Contest Sanctioning. Our Organizers can also add ancillary contests to their sanctioning, one of those being a Kid’s Que. KCBS does not promote Kid’s Ques, nor do they assist Organizer’s who take the incentive to have such events.

Research shows that children involved in extracurricular activities are healthier both physically and mentally. According to a recent press release from the United States Census “About 75 percent of 12- to- 17-year-old children who participated in an extracurricular activity are on track academically (that is, in the grade at school expected for their age), compared with 60 percent of children in this age group who did not participate in such activities." This is just one of thousands of reports done on this issue.

In addition, the future of any organization depends on the next generation. Regardless of the sport or for that matter, the product, you have to develop relationships with new clients to prosper. In 2011, MMA created a membership survey and the results from that survey show that 70% of our members are 45 years old or older. Only .04% of our members are under the age of 25. This survey also revealed that 90% of the KCBS members live in a household with 2 or more residents and 82.1% of our members are married. It stands to assume that many of these married households include children of our members.

Proposal: Create a Kids Que contest series with Regional Invitational’s for the top teams.

Implementation: To help promote the success of this program, allow sanctioned events to hold a Kids Que in connection with their sanctioned event at no additional charge. In addition, advertise for Kids Que and promote events who have Kids Ques on an additional page in the Bullsheet and Website. Finally, allocate money in the 2013 budget for prize money for the Regional Invitational’s, as well as funds for members of the education committee to attend several Kids Que events to analyze and report back to committee. The Tuxedo, NC currently has a Future Legends of BBQ event held the second weekend in October. They have invited KCBS to attend this event and have asked the Education Committee to help promote such events through KCBS.

Rules/Regulations:

a. Teams, consisting of youth 7-17 years of age.
b. A selection of 2 meat categories (chicken, pork, beef), plus optional ancillary/ies
c. Adults interaction is limited to: Starting the fire, Cutting, and Verbal Advice
d. All cookers, meats, sauces, garnish follow KCBS rules and regulations
e. Teams would provide their own meats and cookers (may be donated by a sponsor)
f. Regional Events would be held in:
Region 1~ Anaheim, CA (Disneyland)
Region 2~ Kansas City, MO (American Royal)
Region 3~ Tuxedo, NC (Future Legends Contest)

Board concensus is that Tana will continue exploring this type of proposal via a member survey, a letter to organizers of current Kid's Ques and an article in The Bullsheet.

[bover]

Thanks Todd. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought the majority of this proposal was more about money than the kids. Really hoping this one gets shot down.

[Diva]

I'm with you. Not to mention, Region 1's invitational is at Disneyland and the others are, well....

[drbbq]

We're probably going to need to pay someone to handle this. I wonder who it will be?

[drbbq]

Originally Posted by Diva

I'm with you. Not to mention, Region 1's invitational is at Disneyland and the others are, well....

Not at Disneyland?

[deguerre]

Best post I've read in the Comp forum EVER.

[Plowboy]

I sent the above to the BOD as well. Got one "Bravo" and the rest are crickets so far.

[Jorge]

Originally Posted by Plowboy

I sent the above to the BOD as well. Got one "Bravo" and the rest are crickets so far.

I'm thinking about your email, and how I currently find myself in this position.....

[Plowboy]

Originally Posted by Jorge

I'm thinking about your email, and how I currently find myself in this position.....

It is Scottie's fault.

[Leatherheadiowa]

I love the idea of more Kids Q' events, established, organized, and operated at the local level! My 9 year old son travels with our team about 30% of the time and most of those times there is a Kids Q' involved. The other weekends he is off being a kid; fishing, going to sports camp, going to grandma's & grandpa's, playing in the dirt, etc, all which are important in being a kid.
I would rather see contests and legit barbeque organizations apply for the KCBS grants in order to get funding on an as needed basis in order to promote more contests at the local events where more family activities are always needed.
I will also attempt to contact the BOD and voice my opinion. I guess if the measure passes it won't have any effect on my child rearing but letting kids be kids aside from bbq is as important of a consideration as any.

[Bunny]

I absolutely agree with you, Todd.

[Scottie]

Viva la Stephy 2013!!!!!

[Plowboy]

Originally Posted by Scottie

Viva la Stephy 2013!!!!!

Olé!

[carlyle]

Our Kids Q is an important part of our contest weekend I don't think it needs to be carried on to regional invitationals. Kids Q in my opinion, should be fun events for everyone with out the pressure to qualify for a regional competition.

And creating invitationals means another job for the organizers to keep track of and report.

Plus, we do not use trained judges for Kids Q, encourage non critical judging scores, and adapt how we tally the scores for simplicity. All that would have to change.

Don't add another task onto the organizers and reps. please.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Plowboy

Olé!

Can i get a big Woot Woot!!!!