Summary of BJCP Board Meeting at Homebrew Con Pittsburgh
June 21, 2022
Attendees:
Dennis Mitchell (President, Mountain/Northwest), Sandy Cockerham (Vice President, Midwest); Brain Cooper (Treasurer, West); Fred Mullner (Mid-Atlantic); Gail Milburn (North); Gordon Strong (President Emeritus)
The in-person board meeting is typically a dinner that serves as a combination of team building and strategic discussion. Votes have occurred at this meeting in the past, but no votes took place this year since attendance was limited. President Emeritus Gordon Strong was invited to provide any historical contexts and to answer questions from reps.
Topics discussed included:
- Current stabilization and improvement efforts underway in the IT and Exam Directorates. Gordon provided a history of key retirements and resignations in the Exam Directorate over the past several years so reps could better understand the current state and why staff turnover has occurred. There was support to get these projects completed as quickly as possible.
- A brief update from Sandy that the work on the Documentation Committee has started. Gordon noted that he was working on updates to the scoresheets prior to leaving the President role and would pass that in-progress work along.
- The recent rep turnover in the Asia-Pacific region and the potential issues in finding interested and qualified reps to serve in all the regions.
- A slowdown in judges trying to move to advanced ranks and the potential need to evaluate the current exam formats. Dennis noted there was difficulty in getting an exam committee started due to different visions and personalities, so he will continue to work on that. These efforts may be delayed slightly until the Exam Directorate in on more stable ground and properly staffed. Gordon indicated the potential to consider members who have previously helped the organization but may not currently be serving.
- The difficulty to get reliable volunteers and how to handle situations where assistant reps or staff are not fulfilling duties. Also, briefly discussed was if the organization should eventually consider a paid part-time director/manager to handle operational business and project management.