The Communication Directorate has remained very busy since the last BJCP Bulletin. Here are some updates on topics and events.

In 2014, the BJCP introduced its official Instagram account. If you're an Instagram user, find us at http://instagram.com/bjcpcomms. You may notice that The BJCP Bulletin doesn't include a lot of photos from competitions. We're hoping to change this. If you'd like to share images from a competition, tag our account (BJCPComms). Please remember to exercise proper judgment and ensure ethical content sharing in doing so.

The Instagram account is being managed by Assistant Communication Director Jeff Sanders. The same policies that apply to our other social media channels apply: No profanity, be civil, always redact personal information when sharing content, and ensure posts are in some way related to the BJCP or events for judges. Due to the visual nature of Instagram, we are adding a rule that obscenity in any form will not be allowed.

The Instagram accompanies our presence on other social media outlets: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and The BJCP Forums.

At the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, MI, a seminar was held as part of the BJCP Judge Reception. Grand Master judge Don Blake, who is also an Associate Exam Director, led the session when organizer Sandy Cockerham (Grand Master, Assistant Exam Director, and Midwest Representative) was unable to attend due to injury. Don’s presentation covered the ethics involved with judging and competitions as well as some aspects of social media usage as a judge. Care should be taken when posting on social media to ensure judging remains unbiased and participants in discussion are not offended. The two most popular for interaction with BJCP judges are The BJCP Forums and The BJCP Facebook Group. Don detailed the rules associated with both in his presentation.

You may have noticed a new look and feel to The BJCP Bulletin. You may have also noticed a call for content, especially around Features and Editorials. There's only enough program news within the BJCP to justify a newsletter every once in a while. However, there are a lot of other great stories that occur within our membership, and with future members (i.e. blogs on studying for an exam). If you'd be interested in writing an article or a series of articles for the BJCP, please contact us. Also, if you'd like to provide feedback on the newsletter, or the BJCP, please contact us as well.

Communication with the BJCP has taken many forms over the years. In the early days of the program it was mailings that arrived once per year and included a brief annual report. With that report also came any rank achievements and until the update arrived you could not even claim the new rank. With regular use of email people participated on JudgeNet, which was never controlled by the BJCP, but was used to convey information to the judges. Over time that evolved into the BJCP Forum and emails when necessary for elections or announcements. The email process was cumbersome and time consuming so most communication to members was mainly through the website home page or the BJCP Forum. As social media usage among judges started to increase a LinkedIn group was started and a BJCP Facebook Group had been created.

It became clear judges desired more information in many different forms at the BJCP Members Meeting in Philadelphia. The issue is some want an email push system rather than just a website or forum they must visit and others desire a social media presence with notifications of postings. There are still some who want no contact at all, but thankfully that populace is very small. After the meeting, staff was added to investigate a less cumbersome email system and to create and distribute a newsletter for judges. That system was utilized for the most recent election cycle and worked magnificently to get the word out about the elections and resulted in the highest voter turnout in years in two of the contested regions. Also a Twitter account was added for those judges who tweet and a Google+ account. As we move forward the idea is to have more contact with judges who desire to be engaged in the program via several different outlets with goal being greater judge involvement. We are also examining additional mediums for communications, including video and podcasts (our new web site has much great capabilities to deliver streaming and downloadable content). If you have suggestions on how we can continue to improve, our would be interested in playing a role in our evolving communications strategy, please let us know.

As always the Communication Directorate is here to assist with any login issues including lost passwords or system malfunctions. We are your first and best contact for any question and will gladly assist or forward your concern to the appropriate person. We handle the day to day requests for guideline usage and also handle the badges for members.