KCBS to Hide Team Bios Soon

[thenewguy]

I would agree with that as well Eric.
KCBS gets their money. By making everyone be members it seems almost dictatorship-like.
I am a member, but I don't think that it should be shoved down my throat.

 

[Plowboy]

I disagree strenuously with the idea that you should have to be a member of the KCBS to compete in a KCBS event.

We should be LOWERING the barriers to compete, not raising them.

The KCBS is being compensated for their rules, regulations, reps and listing. That expense is borne by the organizer and is often passed along to the competitors in reduced payouts.

As an organizer if I was told that I had to turn away a team who was not a member of the KCBS, I would seriously reconsider having the event sanctioned in the first place.

Eric

I would agree with that as well Eric.
KCBS gets their money. By making everyone be members it seems almost dictatorship-like.
I am a member, but I don't think that it should be shoved down my throat.

Maybe it should be shifted from a membership based organization then.

 

[Nitrofly]

I disagree strenuously with the idea that you should have to be a member of the KCBS to compete in a KCBS event.

We should be LOWERING the barriers to compete, not raising them.

The KCBS is being compensated for their rules, regulations, reps and listing. That expense is borne by the organizer and is often passed along to the competitors in reduced payouts.

As an organizer if I was told that I had to turn away a team who was not a member of the KCBS, I would seriously reconsider having the event sanctioned in the first place.

Eric

Yes Yes Yes.... KCBS charter is to promote BBQ..
If they were to limit KCBS contest's to KCBS that
would not be promoting BAAAHHHBEQUE..
KCBS contests should not be a closed club.
If we want BBQ, BAAAHHHBEQUE to grow
we need to keep it open to everyone.

Sorry :icon_blush:

 

[Plowboy]

KCBS does not run the contest does it? No, the promoter runs the contest. Does KCBS put up any money for the contest? No they take money from the promoter of the contest to have their services used.

I know the contest will be run fair because it is KCBS scantioned? Why do I know this?

KCBS runs the contest. The Promotor runs the event. KCBS provides reps who oversee and RUN the actual contest: entries, judging, scoring, providing results. These KCBS Reps use a common system across sanctioned contests and are trained in how to execute the process. Because of the process, rules, and reps, I feel more comfortable about the fairness of the contest than a non-sanctioned contest.

 

[Bentley]

KCBS runs the contest. The Promotor runs the event. KCBS provides reps who oversee and RUN the actual contest: entries, judging, scoring, providing results. These KCBS Reps use a common system across sanctioned contests and are trained in who to execute the process. Because of the process, rules, and reps, I feel more comfortable about the fairness of the contest than a non-sanctioned contest.

I had a bad experience at a KCBS contest where the reps judged the contest. It was not fair, the contest was manipulated by the reps and it has left a bad tasted in my mouth since. I dont buy into the fact that just because it is run by KCBS it will be legitimized.

I pulled my original post because I have tried not to stir the pot, but you had already got to it. But I had to speak up on this.

 

[Alexa RnQ]

The KCBS is being compensated for their rules, regulations, reps and listing. That expense is borne by the organizer and is often passed along to the competitors in reduced payouts.

This is a tired old non-argument. From http://www.kcbs.us/about_sanctioning.php : The base sanctioning fee -- let's say for a smallish contest, which presumably would be most affected -- is: 1-49 teams = $300 plus $12 per team. For a modest field of 35 teams, that's $720, or $20.57 per team. If it's costing me $1000 to pull out of the driveway, do we really think the prospect of $21 less in prize money is a serious deterrent?

We should be LOWERING the barriers to compete, not raising them.

The bar's not set terribly high.
$35 (which is an ANNUAL fee) = two contests' worth of lettuce and parsley.
A well-elucidated set of rules and scoring, fairly and consistently administered by unbiased reps = priceless.

 

[Plowboy]

I had a bad experience at a KCBS contest where the reps judged the contest. It was not fair, the contest was manipulated by the reps and it has left a bad tasted in my mouth since. I dont buy into the fact that just because it is run by KCBS it will be legitimized.

I pulled my original post because I have tried not to stir the pot, but you had already got to it. But I had to speak up on this.

First, I think this is a fine and healthy discussion. No one is getting out of line and everyone is just voicing their opinion. One thing about a nationwide organization (I just wrote organization, but some aren't members.)... er... passion like KCBS Competition BBQ is that there are going to be differing opinions. Healthy dialog is a good thing. Eric's post definitely made me think about my position.

If there's been any pot stirring... I'm just too naive to see it.

With thousands and maybe tens of thousands of BBQ contests overseen by KCBS in close to three decades, I really think that what you experienced was at least isolated and maybe just perceived. (I'm not judging your or them, but I believe it has to be one of the two.)

I know too many reps to know how seriously they take their responsiblities. I've seen mistakes made at two contests out of the almost 100 contests I've competed at over the years. Not saying that there weren't more mistakes, but only two that I was aware of and the reps felt horrible.

EDIT: I'll also add that non-sanctioned contests are like a box of chocolates. I've seen rules created or changed once you arrive or even during the contest. I've seen organizers so focused on their public guests, because the contest was a big promotion for a business, that the actual entry times were shifted as we were turning in. I've seen awards given to the top 3 in each category and no additional results given because it was "too much of a burden".

 

[Diva Q]

The bios should remain open to the general public. It is my understanding that the KCBS is required to remain not-for profit. Not sure why this exemption would be extended to the members. That would be an individual teams decision based on their business practices.

The bar's not set terribly high.
$35 (which is an ANNUAL fee) = two contests' worth of lettuce and parsley.
A well-elucidated set of rules and scoring, fairly and consistently administered by unbiased reps = priceless.

Absolutely. 100% agree with this.

 

[YankeeBBQ]

All I know is there's too many damn Diva's in this thread. And no Bentley I'm not talking about you :twisted:

 

[Jeff_in_KC]

I disagree strenuously with the idea that you should have to be a member of the KCBS to compete in a KCBS event.

We should be LOWERING the barriers to compete, not raising them.

The KCBS is being compensated for their rules, regulations, reps and listing. That expense is borne by the organizer and is often passed along to the competitors in reduced payouts.

As an organizer if I was told that I had to turn away a team who was not a member of the KCBS, I would seriously reconsider having the event sanctioned in the first place.

Eric

The KCBS is being compensated by paying members. Why the hell should non-paying members get the benefit of cooking with the same rules and systems I've paid for? Now you got me off-topic in my own thread.

 

[Jeff_in_KC]

All I know is there's too many damn Diva's in this thread. And no Bentley I'm not talking about you :twisted:

Yeah but they all agree with me so I'm good with that! :wink:

 

[YankeeBBQ]

The KCBS is being compensated by paying members. Why the hell should non-paying members get the benefit of cooking with the same rules and systems I've paid for? Now you got me off-topic in my own thread.

The organizer pays KCBS. The cooks pay the organizer. Now if KCBS offered the organizer a reduction in price for KCBS members on the $12 per team thing then the organizer could offer the KCBS teams a little discount instead of asking organizer's to artificially raise prices on non member teams like they tried last year.

 

[DawgPhan]

Or link from rankings to the team bio. There's a lot of cool interactive stuff that would be easy to do with a good base of data and architecture.

You can currently create a profile @ nationalbbqrankings.com and link it to a team in the rankings. Then you can change the team name and edit the profile of that team.

We also have a lot of other features coming up that are only available to teams with an account. The account is free and we dont have any plans to hide them from anyone.

 

[ique]

I disagree strenuously with the idea that you should have to be a member of the KCBS to compete in a KCBS event.

We should be LOWERING the barriers to compete, not raising them.

Eric

I can't believe a $35 membership fee is going to keep anyone from competing

 

[Jeff_in_KC]

I can't believe a $35 membership fee is going to keep anyone from competing

No kidding! I would think people would WANT to help support the organization that promotes our opportunities to do what we enjoy. I might not like everything the KCBS does but I'm still proud to be involved and have a voice. If I ever quit being a member, I'd quit competing as well.

 

[Jacked UP BBQ]

I just received the email and I am a paying member. I called and they told me that they sen the email to everyone.

 

[BigBarry]

I have not read the article and the BOD did discuss removing non members. An e-mail is being sent to all who are not members advising them in advance. I do not think the BOD considered where the Bios would be posted.

I have sent your comments to the BOD. I think they are valid and should be considered at the next BOD meeting. I will keep you advised.
Thank you for the thoughts.
Merl

I just got the email and I am a paying member. MMA at it again. Quality marketing and promotion - you gotta love it.

I called the office and Ms. Hawkins is going to forward my email to the board and to MMA.

I am a paid member - why did I receive this? Duh.

 

[Jeff_in_KC]

Read the email a little more closely. It does not say you received it because you are not a member! It says if you ARE a member, nothing will change and if you're NOT a member, your team bio will be removed within 45 days. They're just using that to announce their plans.

 

[Bentley]

All I know is there's too many damn Diva's in this thread. And no Bentley I'm not talking about you :twisted:

I dont care who you are, thats funny!

 

[Vince RnQ]

If you read the e-mail, you'll see that it says that the bios of teams that are not members will be taken down. It says nothing about whether or not you need to be a member to view the bios. The OP in this thread said that he read in the Bullsheet that you have to be a member to view them but I can't confirm this as we typically recieve our copies of the Bullsheet 10-14 days after most people. (Damn Pony Express)


Here are a few of my opinions on what is being discussed in this thread so far:

• I am just fine with the concept of needing to be a KCBS member in good standing in order to post a team bio on the KCBS web site.
• I think those bios should be visible to all who visit the KCBS web site regardless of membership status.
• I would have no problem if KCBS, IBCA, MMA or any other sanctioning body required the head cook of a team to be a member of the organization in order to compete in a contest sanctioned by that body.
• Organizers often raise the evil spector of "the cost of sanctioning" but rarely address the potential downside of not paying for sanctioning, an example of which might be not having teams enter the event because they can't be certain that any particular set of rules will be established and distributed to the teams, let alone enforced.
• I know for a fact that DivaHerself, DivaQ and Diva are not the same person.
• The jury is still out regarding Bentley's "diva" status.