A Question before my post...

[BBQ Grail]

Yesterday I had an opportunity to judge my first contest. I have question that I'd like to pose before I post my impressions of judging.

Simple question, please just give me a simple answer. Save your competitor "critiques" for when I post and have my flame retardant suit on.

Question:

At an "average" contest you compete in, what percentage of judges are CBJ?

[The Pickled Pig]

I don't think there is a simple answer. We've competed in contests this year that have 100% CBJs and others that have almost no CBJs. So it really depends on the organizer and how they want to emphasize the use of CBJs. I do think the use of 100% CBJs is becoming more and more prevalent in this area.

[Bbq Bubba]

Well, Mt. Morris BBQ & Blues was a first year KCBS comp, drew 29 teams and probably didn't have but 5 CBJ's this weekend.
Correct me if someone knows otherwise.

[Dale P]

The few we have done are usually 100% or real close to it when KCBS. But I really just hear that from chit chat and do not keep records of it.

[CivilWarBBQ]

Here in Georgia every KCBS contest is at 100% CBJs.

[CajunSmoker]

I've cooked 2 contests this year and judged at 2 others. All have listed themselves as 100% CBJ. A friend that judged at one of the contests that I cooked at said that he saw 2 young ladies from off the street being brought in to judge when a couple didn't show up. The contest still listed itself as 100% CBJ.

[zabor16]

I have only judged 2 comps at this point but here is my .02. The first was a small comp, 15 teams, and 100% CBJ. The second was larger, 38 teams I think, and they had to get 3 fill in judges that were not CBJ.

[CivilWarBBQ]

If a contest has plenty of CBJs in the area and the judge coordinator knows their stuff, there should only be need for fill-in judges very rarely. Even if you don't have a few CBJs come to be on standby (there's always a place to put them to work at the turn-in table or whatnot) the best procedure is to fill all the judge seats AND table captain positions with CBJs. That way even if you are short a judge or two you simply have a couple table captains do double duty, or put your people off the street in as table captains. It's a lot easier to train someone to do the TC job in 15 minutes than it is the CBJ job, and the reps can usually keep an eye on the newly-minted TCs to help them along.

[Neal]

I think the percentages announced or list as 100% CBJ's can sometimes be misleading. Many contests do a certification class the night before, so judges might be a CBJ, but they still could be judging for the first time.

It's still better than pulling some one off the street as they have had training and it will be fresh in their mind, but it's not like they are experienced CBJ's.

All in all, I think the reps do a great job of preparing judges (experienced CBJ's, new CBJ's and non-CBJ's alike) for the task at hand.

[butts]

Everyone I've done this year has had 100% CBJ's. That doesn't mean they have experience.

[BBQ Grail]

Based on the feedback above and after writing what I had to say, I believe there is just to much chance for misunderstanding and contention.

All I'm going to say is that I had a great time judging, believe the scores I gave were fair. I never judged before and have had no official training but believe because of what I've learned here I was able to do a good equitable job.

But since I don't want to start what would be a huge firestorm I will keep my thoughts internal. I hope you will understand.

[yelonutz]

Larry, I think I know what you are trying to say. I was very surprised at some of the Judges in Modesto. Rawhide wasn't much better. The fellow next to me at Rawhide got so excited about free BBQ he would eat 6-8 samples then remember he hadn't scored any of them yet! He would go back and then try to remember or looks at other judges score sheets. Modesto was much better but still some judges more interested in how much food they could bring home than anything else. This is why I wanted to judge for a year before competing. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is going to compete.

NUTZ

[BBQ Grail]

Originally Posted by yelonutz

Larry, I think I know what you are trying to say. I was very surprised at some of the Judges in Modesto. Rawhide wasn't much better. The fellow next to me at Rawhide got so excited about free BBQ he would eat 6-8 samples then remember he hadn't scored any of them yet! He would go back and then try to remember or looks at other judges score sheets. Modesto was much better but still some judges more interested in how much food they could bring home than anything else. This is why I wanted to judge for a year before competing. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is going to compete.

NUTZ

Not the case here, at all. No food was allowed to be taken home.

Just so there isn't any confusion. The event was well run, the judging experience was great. There were just a few minor things that I don't think are worth bringing up. Mostly because I can't express myself in a way that can't be confusing. I just don't want to take the chance of causing contention.

No matter what I said, someone would take offense. And I especially don't want to give the impression that Ben ran a shoddy event. That isn't the case. I've been involved in putting on events and festivals and I don't think I've ever seen an event more organized and well run.

I should have kept my mouth shut...

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by trp1fox

But since I don't want to start what would be a huge firestorm I will keep my thoughts internal. I hope you will understand.

Considering the chit storm that erupted from the last time someone told us about their first time judging, this sounds like a wise decision

Just one question... Were you given any judging instruction at all? At the competitions that I have judged, when there was inexperienced judges they asked them to get together 30 minutes early and gave them a very short version of the judging class. It's not the same as being certified, but at least it gave them something to go by.

[BBQ Grail]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

Considering the chit storm that erupted from the last time someone told us about their first time judging, this sounds like a wise decision

Just one question... Were you given any judging instruction at all? At the competitions that I have judged, when there was inexperienced judges they asked them to get together 30 minutes early and gave them a very short version of the judging class. It's not the same as being certified, but at least it gave them something to go by.

Yes, we had sufficient instructions.