For various reasons, sometimes judges may go several years without any BJCP-related activity. These judges often ask what they have to do to become an active judge again. Or, from time to time, a beer judge decides that active participation is no longer possible. Although we hate to lose you, we appreciate your situation. It would be a great help to us if you would notify us so we can change your status in the database.
What happens to your record?
In all cases, we don’t erase your record — we simply mark it with the appropriate status, and you can still view it online. Judges in one of these status codes are not included in lists of judges provided to competition organizers, are not eligible to vote in BJCP elections, and do not participate in any events, programs or functions that are offered to active members.
How can you reverse this status?
If an inactive judge decides to judge at a competition, the organizer can report his or her participation and the judge automatically returns to active status. You can also “reactivate” your record by using the Change of Address form.
Making yourself inactive
If you need, for whatever reason, to drop into Resigned or Retired status, you can simply send an email to notify the IT Director. Your record will be marked appropriately, and you will no longer receive invitations to judge from competition organizers.
Incidentally, if you know of a former BJCP judge who is deceased, we would appreciate being advised of it, so his or her family doesn’t have to deal with competition invitations in the future.
Status Codes
We have several status codes used to identify judges who are not active:
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Lapsed
Judges who have had no BJCP activity (such as judging at a sanctioned competition, taking a BJCP exam, attending a CEP event, or validating contact information) for at least two years. In other words, they simply lost interest. This is a passive status change based on judge activity, and is updated by IT staff.
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Resigned
Some judges have asked to be placed in this status, and no longer wish any involvement or contact with the program.
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Retired
Members who have retired from active judging but wish to remain affiliated with the program. Judges must request to be placed in this status, otherwise they are likely to appear as lapsed.
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Deceased
We have a list of those we know about.
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Banned
Someone whose membership has been terminated for cause by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors, in accordance with Section 2.5 of the BJCP Bylaws. To date, only one such person has been banned–see Board Actions (Dec. 10, 2004).