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2014 annual Members Meeting held
Jeff Sanders, Assistant Communication Director; Mike Dixon, Communication Director
The annual members meeting includes program news and updates, and numerous questions to the board and officers
2014 Members Meeting
At a Glance
  • New 2014 style guidelines will be posted for discussion
  • New web site is underway
  • Actions are being undertaken to reduce tasting exam grading time
  • International growth is strong and countries are becoming self-sufficient
  • Mead and Cider exam will include online exams, and work is underway to develop them and study material
  • A steward ranking structure may be re-considered
  • Graders are needed
  • Members are welcome to apply for grants
The BJCP held its annual Members Meeting at the National Homebrewers Conference in Grand Rapids, MI, on Saturday, June 14, 2014.
The meeting, presided over by BJCP President Gordon Strong, provided BJCP board and staff an opportunity to address program news and updates, as well as program members an open forum for discussion of program matters.
2014 Style Guidelines
President Strong noted that the 2014 Style Guidelines would be posted for review on the BJCP web site “within a week or so” and that he had presented an overview of the updates in one of the conference seminars. He also noted that the exam questions will need to be updated and that the Exam Directorate will call upon the graders for assistance with updating the question pool.
New Web Site
President Strong noted that the BJCP web site is being updated and the BJCP Forums were migrated to the new host earlier this year. After the conference, the data-driven portions of the website will be moved to the new host. The content for the new website will be driven by WordPress and will incorporate a new look and theme. Having the site in WordPress will allow several people to manage the content.
Newsletter
Strong also stated that after the members meeting in Philadelphia, an effort was undertaken to create more push communications and Jeff Sanders was added as Assistant Communication Director to create and distribute the newsletter. He stated that Sanders was also tasked with determining the best provider to use for the email client. He asked the membership to provide any comments regarding the newsletter either at the meeting or in the future.
Recognition of Staff
BJCP Regional Directors and staff in attendance were identified by Strong and welcomed by the membership.
Special recognition was given to Susan Ruud as she retired as Assistant Exam Director. Susan held the position from 2008 to 2014 and is opening a meadery, Prairie Rose Meadery.
Two notable promotions were mentioned, Frank Barickman and Brian Joas. Barickman and Joas recently advanced to Grand Master II and were presented with their pins for their promotion.
Question and Answer
Next the floor was opened to comments.
One attendee asked “What is being done to reduce the turnaround time on tasting exams?”
Strong mentioned the BJCP is working to reduce the Report to Participant (RTP) complexity, and that it had held grader training at the 2014 National Homebrewers Conference. Frank Barickman discussed the agreement with the AHA to use Dropbox to eliminate mailings from the Exam Directors to the graders. It was noted that some graders who volunteer to grade, but then fail to participate still continue to be something which is out of the control of the BJCP. Strong also mentioned the Exam Directorate has expanded with staff additions and has shifted responsibilities of some staff. He stated that the Mead & Cider exams will be moved to an online entrance format followed by a tasting portion.
Another attendee asked “Does the checkbox score sheet save time and does is affect scores by suggesting things which are not present?”
Strong indicated no study had been done to determine if there are variances between the traditional sheet and the checkbox score sheet. He noted competitions are free to use any format they choose, but the BJCP prefers entrants be notified which sheet will be utilized.
One judge asked, “Will there be grader guidelines for the written exam similar to what is available for the tasting exam?”
Strong stated that the Exam Directors will look at possibly implementing a grader guide.
An attendee asked Strong to discuss international growth of the BJCP.
Strong noted that South America is a “very eager group,” who uses the guidelines as a handbook for brewing. He noted that Australia is “more or less self-sustaining and closing in on as many judges in New Zealand as in Canada.” He stated that “South Africa is also fairly self-sustaining, and that the BJCP now has the entrance exam offered in both Spanish and Portuguese. Translations are difficult and time consuming since some words are not easily translated.”
One judged asked, “Can we have punitive action for judges who sign up to judge and are a no show to competitions?”
Strong mentioned that the BJCP had a committee in the past who had addressed this issue, but that the committee focused more on punitive action than on encouragement to change. He stated that the BJCP can set up a Judge Ethics committee and solicit member opinions and inclusion on the committee. He also noted that the Judge Procedures Manual could be updated and a Code of Conduct could be established.
Another member asked, “What is the Mead Exam online format timeline?”
Strong stated that Steve Piatz is working on the online Mead Exam, but that no exact timeline has been provided. He also contributed that there are already several thousand questions prepared so it may finish later in 2014.
An attendee asked, “For the Cider Exam, will there be a syllabus and study guide?”
Bruce Buerger indicated the Exam Directorate is working on questions for the online exam and materials should be produced once that process is complete. A trial cider tasting exam was given during the conference and is going through the exam process and grading to ensure the BJCP is prepared to give a cider tasting exam similar to the beer tasting exam.
A member asked, “Can the BJCP create a Steward rank structure?”
Strong noted that this topic had been discussed several years ago and deferred at the time, but that there is some prior material which could be reviewed. Strong promised to have the Board discuss to determine if it merits allocating resources.
Another member asked, “Can we use Dropbox to send the scanned exams to the Exam Directors and save time?”
Strong said “If the exam scan quality is such that it meets the criteria set by the Exam Directors, it may be possible.” He then deferred to the Exam Directorate by saying “That would be the EDs call.”
Conclusion
President Strong concluded the meeting by mentioning the 2014 Style Guidelines will be published in approximately two weeks to the BJCP web site, and that the BJCP forums would be opened up to comments from members. He noted that the intent is to really look for factual errors, misspellings, and to point out specific comments. He told attendees that the presentation on the styles was videotaped by Chip Walton of Chop & Brew and that the presentation and video would be available for viewing later that week.
Education Director Randy Scorby discussed the new structure for Siebel tasting kits. He also discussed grader training, which will ultimately be available in each region.
Communication Director Mike Dixon suggested anyone interested in providing newsletter content should contact Assistant Communication Director Jeff Sanders. He noted that Jeff welcomes articles and input on the newsletter.
Associate Exam Director Don Blake made a plea for additional graders for the Summer of 2014 because the grader calendar is not full.
Mountain/Northwest Regional Representative Ryan Thomas reminded the group that there is grant money available from the BJCP and the information is available on the BJCP’s website.