KCBS Membership Decline

[djqualls]

I always read the Board Agenda and notes and I always note the membership levels. It really caught my attention that KCBS has dropped below 20,000 members for the first time since 2015 using only February reports as the gauge.

This is net total of 1,292 decline in membership in the twelve month period.

If you factor in the reported increase of 235 International members from 2017, the total loss of U.S. Membership is 1,527 or a 7% decrease in membership in one year. That represents over $60,000 in dues revenue alone much less the value represented to present or future sponsors and their R.O.I.

This is the published Membership numbers per the Minutes posted on the website.


Feb 2018 19,753 -

Feb 2017 21,045

Feb 2016 20,216

Feb 2015 19,582

Feb 2014 18,100

For a group of 20,000 that is not a healthy indicator of both economics or membership confidence.

In my opinion this is a clear indicator that not just "A few Cooks" are disgruntled with the organization.

A decline of this magnitude in a year period can be seen as a referendum that the members have had enough.

I have listed a few issues that have negatively affected membership confidence in my opinion

Member Services/Benefits
Contest Cancellations
Economics of Competing
Judging Irregularities
TOY Prize Debacle
Lack of Communication

I'm sure that there are "Great Things" in the works for the New Year.

I seem to hear that every year...........

On the bright side, There are 1547 lifetime members. I am one of them. So even if I die, I can still count!

I was offered my Lifetime Membership refunded recently. It was a weak attempt to silence me.........

But then again, there could be an error in the reports.........

 

[Pappy Q]

Excellent observations and yes it is true that they do not like criticism or to be challenged.

 

[ynotfehc]

Not having Sam's Club will hurt membership, since the only way to compete was to be a member. Anyone can compete in the rest of the competitions, member or not. Access to Restaurant Depot will still keep some paying their dues.

 

[Porcine Perfection]

They lost me when the move was made from an hold house (I actually live nearby) to a fancy new building. I get that they needed a larger place; but to spend the $$ they did for that place tells me that their focus is on themselves and not Que. They could of gotten someplace for half the price that would have been just as usable.

 

[cpw]

I really think losing Sam's caused a lot of teams not to renew. I know that was the only reason my team mate became a member. Couple that with all the other issues, and I can see why people wouldn't want to renew.

 

[smoke ninja]

I see this as coming back to level after a bump in popularity. Those comp bbq tv were like free advertising. We may have to face that the bbq bubble has burst

 

[ckelly]

Sams Club ... they required you to be a current KCBS member to compete.

 

[djqualls]

Another point I missed was the over saturation of judges from too many classes. No ability to judge so they dropped membership.

The Sam's point is not valid because it only required less than half of the teams that dropped for a full tournament to begin with and never had 750 individual teams in the first round for the past few years.

If judges dropped solely because of Sam's then they were no benefit as a judge to begin with.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

The KCBS model has not aged well.
They were not set up to deal with the increase in popularity in competition bbq and the fixes they put in place were mere bandaids that weren’t thought through (I.e Too many judges, not enough controls around the judging, no contingency plan to deal with increasing costs to compete and the big one..lack of crowd participation)

I hope they can find their way though this, but I expect it will take some time, new faces and a contingency plan to avoid bankruptcy in the meantime.

I’ve not competed in KCBS contests since 2012 (for some of the reasons outlined above), but I still enjoy the local backyard comps.

 

[Slamdunkpro]

In my opinion this is a clear indicator that not just "A few Cooks" are disgruntled with the organization.

A decline of this magnitude in a year period can be seen as a referendum that the members have had enough.

I have listed a few issues that have negatively affected membership confidence in my opinion

Member Services/Benefits
Contest Cancellations
Economics of Competing
Judging Irregularities
TOY Prize Debacle
Lack of Communication

I'm sure that there are "Great Things" in the works for the New Year.

I seem to hear that every year...........

On the bright side, There are 1547 lifetime members. I am one of them. So even if I die, I can still count!

I was offered my Lifetime Membership refunded recently. It was a weak attempt to silence me.........

But then again, there could be an error in the reports.........

Another point I missed was the over saturation of judges from too many classes. No ability to judge so they dropped membership.

The KCBS model has not aged well.

While the drop in membership is an item of concern it's not time to push the panic button yet.

I think the last two quotes are the most telling. Seems for the last several years that KCBS's marketing/promotions strategy has been "sign up new judges". The point, as mentioned above is we have new judges who have no place to judge. I would be very curious to know what the membership retention rate of judges is.

Last year, there were fewer judging classes taught thus, less new members in the pool. Seems that now the attrition rate has passed the new recruit rate.

Now that MMA is out of the picture KCBS is at a crossroads. For all of the problems there were with MMA at least they had a strategy. Now the KCBS strategic planning is being handled by the "executive committee" (whoever they are). Call me a cynic, but the promise of great new things coming from the same people in the same positions as last year doesn't fill me with confidence.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Well lets put it this way. I let my membership expire. Sams club was the main reason for signing up last year. Sams Club went away. Restaurant Depot is really the only plus. The Bull Sheet is a big advertisement. Only thing its good for is lighting my charcoal chimney with.
No major discounts. No requirement to be a member to compete.
Why spend the extra money if I don't have to?

Competing is expensive and unless there is really good reason to be a member then forget it.

Maybe I sound like a jerk but my main question is whats in it for me? We arent going to do enough contests to be in the running for TOY. The answer is not a whole lot.

 

[Slamdunkpro]

More...........

On the bright side, There are 1547 lifetime members. I am one of them. So even if I die, I can still count!

Life memberships are a cash grab. KCBS is getting 12.5 years of dues upfront while sacrificing long term cash flow and an unknown long term liability. Plus, from the cynical side Life members are second class members since the organization has gotten all the membership revenue they are ever going to get out of them

 

[masque13]

KCBS certainly has a number of flaws and I agree with alot of what has been said above. But I also give them more of a pass than you guys because a lot of what they do doesn’t seem all that easy to manage or figure out. All of us are essentially participating in a sport that the results of contests are more subjective than objective in most cases. That alone pisses off most KCBS members because there is no clear model to ensure judging fairness or consistency. Plus let’s face it.....in an overly simplified way of looking at it, KCBS is “the man”. We’re all working for “the man” and nobody likes the boss. It’s just classic ‘Murican way of life.

As for the decline to me the answer is not complicated. All the TV shows caused an explosion of interest in the sport for cooks and judges. That has now run its course so to speak and popularity will settle back down. Because I can only speak for myself here, but the tv shows were a huge reason I got involved. I started off loving it. Then I hated it. Then I couldn’t believe how much money I had spent and was still spending. Thought about getting out. But stayed. I’m cooking three sanctioned contests this year and wish I could about seven.

But my point is that I think for everybody that got into because of tv like I did, I would be surprised if 50% of them are still doing it. Of course that is pure speculation on my part.

 

[Scottie]

Geez Dave, I guess I have to up my game from just being semi-retired... They have never offered me a refund of my lifetime membership.....

 

[ModelMaker]

Ok so who exactly offered you a refund for your lifetime membership?
The only person I can think of would be the owner of KCBS and even then I don't believe she could legally do so. Or just someone digging into their own pocket?
Ed

 

[Qbert60]

Its a value thing for me. I don't need the membership. I would rather pay my $35 to our local BBQ association. With Sam's being gone, I have a RD membership already, and no requirement to be a member, there is no value.

 

[rorkin]

More...........


Life memberships are a cash grab. KCBS is getting 12.5 years of dues upfront while sacrificing long term cash flow and an unknown long term liability. Plus, from the cynical side Life members are second class members since the organization has gotten all the membership revenue they are ever going to get out of them

It would be interesting to know how many lifetime members actively participate in judging or cooking for longer than 12.5years.

 

[Bob in Corona]

Heck, there are some of us that purchased our lifetime memberships while in our 60's. Just making it to those 12 1/2 years will be a milestone...

 

[Slamdunkpro]

It would be interesting to know how many lifetime members actively participate in judging or cooking for longer than 12.5years.

We'll have to wait a few years to find our. Life memberships have only be offered for what? 4 years?

 

[djqualls]

Ok so who exactly offered you a refund for your lifetime membership?
The only person I can think of would be the owner of KCBS and even then I don't believe she could legally do so. Or just someone digging into their own pocket?
Ed

It was a Board Member. No single person "Owns" KCBS.

And "Legally" any Board by Majority vote can refund a membership.

And if your reference to "She" is the Executive Director, I'm quite sure "She" has the authority to issue refunds and pay miscellaneous expenses.