• Letter from the President

    Letter from the Program Administrator

    Missing Judges

    Missing Points

    Financial Statement

    Letter from the President

    7/1/2002

    Dear BJCP Judge:

    There have been a number of personnel events in the last year. Norman Dickenson and Peter Garofalo have been promoted to the rank of Grand Master Judge, a singular and well-deserved honor in both cases. Steve Moore, the regional representative for the Gulf Coast Region and Alan Moen, regional representative for the Mountain/ Northwest region, have decided to retire from the Board of Directors after two terms of outstanding and meritorious service. We thank Alan and Steve for their contributions to the BJCP and we will miss them. Ron Bach, a distinguished Master Judge from Florida, has been elected to the position of Gulf Coast representative to replace Steve and we look forward to working with him on the board. Alan's position is technically open at the moment. He and I are actively looking for a replacement. Oh yes, I was also returned to my Regional Director's seat.

    The ongoing program to update and enhance the judge database and improve access to it has made a significant advance in the past year. Thanks to Russ Wigglesworth and heroic efforts of Gordon Strong, the restructured database is now in place and undergoing operational shakedown. This new database design will allow more than one person to make updates and queries so that the frequent bottlenecks in data entry will now be alleviated and any accident to Russ (Heaven forefend) or the database itself will be safeguarded by multiple access capability and multiple sites. In the very near future, this new design will allow individual judges to view their own records online (see Russ' comments below).

    Last year we had the same number of exams given as the previous year, which was a slight increase from the year before that. So we maintain a steady flow of new judges into our organization.

    This year we had substantial excess of income over expenses due mainly to some income that was accrued in the previous year but did not arrive in our accounts until 2001. Nevertheless we are running ahead of our expenses and have a comfortable financial cushion. The financial report is included elsewhere in this mailing.

    We are instituting a change in our communications with members. One of our greatest yearly expenses is the mailing of the annual letter, financial statement, individual judging records as well as the mailing of ballots and promotion certificates. Most BJCP members have online access and the percentage keeps growing. It is orders of magnitude cheaper to communicate with the membership electronically over U.S. Mail. So we will use electronic distribution wherever feasible from now on.

    There are important exceptions: If you don't have internet access or if you just prefer hard copy mailings, please contact the Program Administrator and tell him that you want hard copy mail and verify the address to which it will be sent. If you do nothing and we have an email address for you we will distribute to you electronically wherever possible. Make sure we have your current email address.

    Ballots (when necessary) will continue to be distributed as hard copy unless we can find a foolproof way to vote online. Certificates of promotion and exam results will continue to be mailed.

    It's been a good year and we can all look forward to another one.

    Cheers!

    Bill Slack
    President and Representative for the Northeast Region
    Board of Directors
    Beer Judge Certification Program, Inc.

    Letter from the Program Administrator

    Program Administrator, BJCP
    PO Box 751271
    Petaluma, CA 94975
    707-769-0425
    RussWig [at] aol.com
    7/1/2002

    Dear BJCP Members,

    We have finally done it! The flat database has been replaced by a new relational one that incorporates all of the functions (judges, exams, competitions) into one system. This will greatly reduce the number of keystrokes that I will have to make and eliminates duplication of data entry efforts between the Exam Directors and myself. The net result to you is that experience points (and subsequently, promotions) will be processed at a much more timely rate than in the past. I am completely up to date at the time of this mailing and expect to remain so.

    You may notice some small variations in the Judge Record that has arrived with this letter. We are now listing competitions and exams with the most recent first. You will also see that a "Web Password" field has been added. You will need this in order to view your points record on the web. More on that in a minute...

    Right now I would like to say "Thank You" to Gordon Strong of Dayton for all of his work on the new database. Gordon has been working on this project for over 3 years and has logged countless hours on it. He took whatever procedure I was performing with the old system and automated it into the new. As Gordon and I continue to shake down the new system we are constantly brainstorming new ideas for ways to streamline the movement of data between the competitions and the program. I have no doubt that we will see more innovations form Mr. Strong. The entire BJCP membership owes him their thanks. Never allow his glass to become empty!

    Back to business. We are already taking address and telephone updates via the web site. As a result of the new database we will be making much better use of the site as a means of getting information out to the membership. Delinquent competitions will be listed there with regular updates. Names of missing judges will also be displayed. And, best of all, we will now be able to offer access to judge records via the site. Monthly updates of the database will be linked so that judges will be able to review their own records on-line. Next time you visit the site follow the links and enter the identification information as prompted, including the "Web Password" noted on the enclosed judge record. This feature has been long anticipated and I think it will have been worth the wait.

    Moving to e-mail. As Bill said, it is much more cost effective to distribute this annual letter via e-mail so this will be the last that goes out to all the membership this way. After this, if you have an e-mail address on file you can expect to get mailings electronically. You may request that we keep you on the US Mail list by dropping me a note to that effect.

    Please review the Judge Record that came with this mailing and verify that all the contact information is accurate. Be sure to verify your e-mail address because this will be the last US Mail annual mailing we will send unless you specifically request that we exempt you from the e-mail list. If you find a discrepancy please notify me through the web site, or by direct e-mail (RussWig [at] aol.com), or by US Mail (PO Box 751271, Petaluma, CA 94975).

    Competitions:

    As I said previously, delinquent competitions will soon be listed on the BJCP web site. I have not included them with this mailing because I have just sent them all a reminder letter and I have hopes that they will respond to that. If, by September, I do not get a response I will post the list. As in the past, if an organizer continues to fail to report, I will accept a list created by at least 3 judges who attended the event and who will agree that the list represents those who judged. Contact me prior to taking such steps, as there may already be a list in the works.

    I will be requiring organizers to make more effort to include judges' ID numbers with their reports, so please make a note of your ID as it is listed on the enclosed Judge Record and use it when you register or sign in at competitions. If you need a replacement ID Card, just ask and I will provide.

    We have been registering commercial competitions for some months now (both the World Beer Cup and the GABF are registered) and as a result more professional brewers are learning about the BJCP.

    Election Results:

    Once again we had only single candidate ballots and so, as per the by-laws, we did not hold a vote but awarded the Regional Director posts by default. The results are as follows:

    Northeast: Bill Slack

    Gulf Coast: Ron Bach

    Northwest/Mountain: Vacant (Alan Moen is serving as Interim Director for the present.)

    I have included Ron Bach's Candidacy Statement as a means of introduction.

    Missing Judges:

    There are some 120 judges (too many to list here) who are considered Active but we do not have a valid address for them. Please return soon to the BJCP web site and review the list and let me know if you have address information on any. Or, contact the judge directly and ask them to contact me or update their address via the web site.

    Missing Points:

    If you find you are missing points for an event as you review the enclosed report, please contact me directly and I will check into it for you.

    Russ Wigglesworth

    BJCP Financial Statement for Calendar Year 2001

    Cash on hand 1/1/2001 $29,112.42
    Income  
    Competition registrations $3,565.00
    Exams $7,641.00
    Total income $11,206.00
    Expenses  
    Annual mailing $1,496.00
    Exam grading/proctoring $523.00
    Judge pins $1,130.00
    ISP/net/comm/domain/etc. $247.38
    Other expenses * $1,013.96
    Total expenses $4,410.34
    Cash on hand 12/31/2001 $35,908.52
    Profit (loss) for the year $6,795.66

    * Includes office supplies, computer and data storage equipment, software, telephone and other communication costs, printing and copying not associated with the annual mailing, and other miscellaneous operating expenses.

    Please note that these totals are calculated on a cash basis, not accrual, and represent the state of the finances at the end of the reporting period. There was an unusual amount of income from the previous year that had been in arrears.

    POSITION STATEMENT & BIOGRAPHY OF RON BACH FOR THE POSITION OF BJCP GULF COAST REGION REPRESENTATIVE

    As a candidate for BJCP Regional Representative to the Board of Directors for the Gulf Coast Region, I bring with me a wealth of vast experience judging and homebrewing. I will use this experience to provide the best representation for the BJCP judges in the Gulf Coast Region.

    Since 1990, I have had significant involvement in judging and homebrew competitions. I am a BJCP Master Beer Judge who has been involved in all aspects of homebrewing from being club president, organizing competitions, judging, teaching beer education classes, administering exams and grading BJCP exams.

    Results oriented, as President of the Central Florida Home Brewers for 3 years, I increase membership form 98 to over 200 members, increased finances from a deficit of $67 to over $3500 surplus. Additionally, I brought the club into the Gulf Coast Circuit, which includes Orlando, Houston, Dallas, and New Orleans with three of the largest club competitions in the United States.

    I started brewing in 1992, have brewed over 80 batches of beer, won 50 ribbons in competition including Best of Show at the Crescent City Competition in New Orleans with 370 entries.

    In 1990, I started judging and have judged in over 50 competitions (35 AHA/BJCP Sanctioned competitions) including 23 best of show. Currently a BJCP Master Judge, I administer exams and have been grading exams since 1999.

    I have organized at least 18 homebrew competitions of all sizes and built the Sunshine Challenge, an Orlando, Florida competition from 98 entries in 1993 to 678 entries in 2001. This three-day fun filled competition is now the largest club competition East of the Mississippi.

    Seeing a need for a way to better track competition entries, I devised the flight score sheet that has been adopted by the AHA. This tool significantly simplified the tracking of entries for each flight judged speeding the ability of the competition tabulator to track and list competition results.

    For five years, I wrote a column on homebrewing for the now defunct "Southern Draft Brew News." Additionally, I have had articles published in Zymurgy and Brew Your Own as well as other minor publications.

    While President of the Central Florida Home Brewers, I initiated a comprehensive beer education program. I am team leader for this program, which has been in operation for five years. This program, in addition to educating dozens of homebrewers, has produced more than two-dozen BJCP judges. In addition to heading this program, I also give lectures and presentations on over two-dozen topics.

    Ron Bach
    BJCP Gulf Coast Regional Director
    Winter Springs, FL