Contest Announcment 2013 American Royal Signup for Cooks & Judges Should Start on March 8, 2013

[Mustanger]

RE:
2013 American Royal Signup for Cooks & Judges
Should Start on March 8, 2013

Yesterday, March 4, 2013, I talked to Kim Palmer, the new BBQ Coordinator for the Royal. She told me that the enrollment information for cooks and judges will be put up by the end of this week, March 8, 2013.

Kim Palmer also told me that the sign procedures up for judges will be very similar to 2012.

It will probably be at:

http://arvolunteers.com/

or at:

http://www.americanroyal.com/events....lleryView&c=15

As of late last month, the 2012 info was still up on the Royal site.

On February 8, 2013, they told me that the 2013 Royal BBQ information would be up by mid-February.

Unfortunately, that never came to be.

Oh well, it is still early. The Royal is still 7 months away.

I checked the Royal web page today. Some of the 2013 info was now up, with 2012 pictures.

Nobody needs to worry about getting in to judge the Royal Open.

In 2012 we had 540 teams competing.

That meant a total of 630 judges and table captains.

The reps were really sweating it.

They used all of the judges that showed up. They used all of the table captains that showed up. Then they grabbed those who paid $15.00 to judge. Then they grabbed the other volunteers that showed up. Then they scoured the halls. Then they grabbed people off of the street.

The end result was that they were still way short and did not have enough judges and table captains.

So the table captains had to do double duty and serve as judge 6.

Those table captains really worked their tails off.

Since the American Royal BBQ Open is the absolute largest BBQ competition in the free world, it is no wonder that the table captains had to do double duty.

Considering the fact that we were short about 90 judges, the 2012 American Royal Open BBQ Contest went very well.

Now the Royal Invitational is a very different matter.

In 2012 we had approximately 140 teams for the Royal Invitational.

That translates into 164 total judges. Therefore, one had better sign up pretty early.

As I recall, in 2012 I signed up in early May for both the Open and the Invitational. I got accepted for both. However, I did not receive an official email until about 2 weeks before the events.

Hope this helps.

Ken
The Mustanger

KCBS CBJ; RMBBQA; MBN; NCPC

[bbq.tom]

THanks for the information! I've been watching the AR Invitational site closely as my wife and I got in to judge both Invitation and Open last year and we definitely want to do both again this year! Fun time - especially walking around and speaking with the 500+ teams!!! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!

[Mustanger]

Originally Posted by bbq.tom

THanks for the information! I've been watching the AR Invitational site closely as my wife and I got in to judge both Invitation and Open last year and we definitely want to do both again this year! Fun time - especially walking around and speaking with the 500+ teams!!! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!

Tom: Many thanks for your kind compliment.

I appreciate it very much.

Every KCBS Judge and Cooking Team should do the American Royal BBQ Contest at least once during their lifetime.

More, if possible.

The judging at the 2012 American Royal BBQ Invitational went off without a hitch. They needed about 164 Judges and Table Captains verses approximately 630 Judges and Table Captains for the American Royal BBQ Open.

The Reps were justifiably congratulating each other for how well and smooth the Invitational went.

Can you imagine how much pressure the Reps were under coordinating approximately 800 judges and approximately 680 cooking teams, with 4+ turn-ins for each team, over a two-day competition? WOW!!!

We should all send thanks and congratulations to all of the Reps and their assistants who officiated at both events.

Ken
The Mustanger

KCBS CBJ ; MBN; RMBBQA; NCPC

[bbq.tom]

The judging experience at the Invitation was wonderful, as the organization of the event was GREAT! The entries were pretty dadgum good, and the "sides" judging was truly something else too! After judging the regular 4 categories, we judged vegetables, potatoes, beans, and dessert. Holy cow!!! After taking a bite or two of each of these entries we could hardly make our way back to the hotel. For dinner that night we took two Tums and went to bed!!!

The Open judging was completely amazing also! To get that many judges and table captains seated as quickly and with as little commotion as they did is quite a feat. The Reps did an outstanding job once again!

All in all, this was a "once-in-a-lifetime" event for us that has now become a "EVERY YEAR" event!!!

Try it - YOU WILL LIKE IT!!!

[bbq.tom]

Well, it is now almost 3:45 (EST) and I've been constantly checking the AR site (and the KCBS site as well) to find the Invitation judge application. So far NOTHING!!!

No worries, I'll keep checking! Can't miss it!!! Got to GO!!! It is one GREAT experience!!!

[arrowhead]

early next week
Applications will be available at:
www.americanroyal.com
Click Events, then select World Series of Barbecue
Judges Applications icon will be found at the top of the page

[bbq.tom]

I just got the email from Kim Palmer also. Will have to wait until next week.

[Porcine Perfection]

Registration is open judging but of course things are slow.

[Rookie'48]

Originally Posted by JP7794

Registration is open judging but of course things are slow.

Slow might be a compliment!

It took me over 20 minutes to register for the Invite and twice my application for the Open has failed .

[trohrs123]

Originally Posted by Rookie'48

Slow might be a compliment!

It took me over 20 minutes to register for the Invite and twice my application for the Open has failed .

anyone have a direct link? I am searching all over the site but fail to see the online registration forms...thanks

[bbq.tom]

Took over two hours with at least 20 server errors to get both my wife and my application accepted!!!
Still working in the sides and open!

Good luck everyone!!!

[rweller]

It took me close to a half hour with two or three server errors but I signed up to TC Invite, judge the sides and TC the open on Sunday. Of course I know I will have to judge the open also but thats ok.

[cds9333]

Have tried multiple times, haven't made any progress. I keep getting errors after hitting submit.

EDIT: Apparently I just had to post that. Signed up for Invitational, Open meat and sides without any delay or problems directly after posting this.

[jketron]

Where is the link to cook

[Mustanger]

Originally Posted by Rookie'48

Slow might be a compliment!

It took me over 20 minutes to register for the Invite and twice my application for the Open has failed .

Dave, count your blessings. You were very fortunate!

It took me 44 minutes to register this afternoon for the 5 events I wanted!

When I was finally done, all 5 registrations were nicely stacked up in my inbox, gmail style.

The American Royal servers were apparently getting slammed really hard this afternoon.

I think that molasses on a cold day in -20 degree weather flows a lot faster than the American Royal servers did this afternoon!

It makes me wonder whether or not the Royal paid to temporarily increase their bandwidth, like the KCBS did last January for the Sam's Club registrations? Apparently, they did not.

The KCBS Sam's Club registrations eventually went real slick!

Well, at least that is one chore and worry that is out of the way.

Tonight, I need to start to sending emails to the organizers who have not responded to my mid-January judging inquiries. I don't want to appear to be too pushy.

March 15th, 2013 is the unofficial start of the 2013 BBQ contest season in the greater Kansas City, MO area.

"Beware of the Ides of March!"

I feel that I am very fortunate to have sent in my inquiry as early as I did. I got my acceptance email late last month, for the March 16th judging.

The year seems to be starting out pretty good!

Ken
The Mustanger