2014 is an election year for the BJCP. In order to provide BJCP members and voters a better understanding into the platforms and policies of representative candidates, The BJCP Bulletin recently conducted interviews with the candidates. Because BJCP Officers are elected from the BJCP Representatives, the platforms and policies of the candidates will likely impact all program members, not only those who reside in the candidate's geographic region.

The BJCP Bulletin adapted a set of questions from a similar certifying organization (KCBS) for the purposes of the interviews. Each candidate was provided the same standard set of questions and exactly two weeks to provide responses, via email, to the question set. Each candidate was instructed that there was no limitation to their response length, however, all responses had to be received at the end of the two week period. Each candidate was also asked for a picture to accompany their responses.

Below are the responses received by MidWest region representative candidate, Sandy Cockerham. No alterations were made to either the question set or to the responses as they were received.

1) Please describe the skills you posess (which you believe are stronger than the other candidates) which would make you an asset as a representative and board member in dealing with the challenges facing the BJCP, and give an example of how those skills would serve the BJCP Board of Directors and its membership.

I’ve put in many hours of volunteer work for the BJCP. I’ve graded exams, proctored, administered exams and have served as a reviewer of graded exams in the Associate exam director role. All of these require attention to detail and knowing what the BJCP is about: across the board, from judging, educating, grading and advocating. I’ve spent countless hours on the road driving to competitions where I’ve participated as a judge and gotten to know the organizers and other judges. I’ve listened to concerns and I am ready to continue to do so and to help get those concerns heard by the Board of Directors.

2) As a judge, exam grader, steward, or member of a committee, please identify the major BJCP issues concerning one of the areas in which you are involved. Describe the major issue, your strategies to correct or improve the issue, and what you see as the biggest challenge to the success of your plan.

I served and continue to serve on the BJCP Cider committee. The major concern is that we haven’t yet created the study materials that we need. I will work to help the BJCP identify the right people to serve on the committee; those who have the knowledge, can work with others and can help us develop the materials that we need for both our membership and the cider community. The biggest challenge is convincing our cider making kin that this is the path forward. Frankly, they don’t all see or (or they don’t fully understand) what the BJCP brings to the table. Being immersed in the BJCP, I clearly see the structure that our guidelines, our score sheets and our judge ethics bring to a competition. Plus, we have some really great people with lots of knowledge! I’ve worked hard and will continue to work to develop relationships with cider makers, to continue to learn more of the art and science of cider and to do what I can to help the project succeed.

3) Identify your major short term goal and major long term goal, if elected to the BJCP Board, and your plan to implement change or improvement in order to carry out each of these goals.

My main short term goal will be to read past Board actions to help myself get up to speed for the tasks ahead. Long term, I want to work with my fellow board members towards new changes in the exam grading program feedback that will help us speed throughput and enable us to get more people, more future judges, through the exam process. To that end I also want to work towards enlisting more National judges to become graders.

4) If elected, please explain your level of committment, time and energy for committee projects, judging, exam grading, organizing competitions, as well as representing the BJCP to the public and being responsive to our members.

My level of commitment is significant. I will stay on to serve on the Cider Exam Committee. Then again, with added workload for the BJCP I might not be out there judging 16 competitions a year as I have the last 2-3 years, but I will be out there often and I will be right in the middle of it with my fellow judges here in the Midwest region. And, I’ll be paying attention. I will grade exams now and then to stay fresh but I will be focused more on the administrative side of the grading process. I will still organize competitions, but they will tend to be smaller ones. I really enjoy the little 40-60 beer competitions as it is an excellent training ground for new judges. We have a wonderful competition here in Indianapolis, the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup. It’s huge and can be intimidating to a newbie (but they shouldn’t shy away, they will be matched with an experienced judge.) But the little competitions can really allow terrific mentoring by our senior judges. I will be out there talking about the BJCP and what becoming a judge is all about. I find myself educating someone nearly every week about what judges do, how one becomes and judge and how much work it really is, but how much reward comes along with that work. I’m adept at social media and I’m good at responding to emails. I’m going to be accessible to members and will welcome ideas and feedback about the BJCP.

5) Please describe your previous participation in BJCP activities and years of experience.

I’ve detailed most all of it above but I’ll recap again in this space. I began preparation for the BJCP exam in late 2006 and sat for the exam in March of 2007. I started judging in February just prior to taking the exam. Since that time I’ve judged all across the Midwest and on both coasts. I’ve had the pleasure of judging at NHC Finals since 2010. I’ve judged at 75 sanctioned competitions. I served and continue to serve on the BJCP Cider Committee. I’ve graded over 150 exams progressing from second grader to lead grader and then joined as an Associate Exam Director. I’ll be training to share the role of Assistant Exam Director within the next few months. I’m finalizing planning of the BJCP Reception at NHC in Grand Rapids and I will be administering all of the BJCP exams at conference this year.

6) Please explain why you want to be a member of the BJCP Board.

I'd like to become a BJCP board member in order to have a more direct role in shaping the policies of the organization. I’ve seen more transparency the last few years but more is needed. We owe it to our membership to be as open as possible about actions the board is considering and about the final proposed changes. I believe the BJCP has started to move faster on many things but we still lag. That being said, change for the sake of change alone isn’t a good thing either. I have strong troubleshooting skills and I enjoy figuring out the part of processes that need to be fixed and then attempting to maintain those that do not need to be discarded.

We’re an all-volunteer organization. Personally, I feel more engaged in the BJCP because of my volunteer hours. I’d like to help make this organization something that more people want to volunteer for in order to meet the common goals and to help support and improve the BJCP with their time and ideas. I would welcome the opportunity to serve as your regional representative.

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Ms. Cockerham's candidate statement may be found at /docs/2014sandy.pdf

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The BJCP Bulletin wishes all candidates the best of luck in the 2014 elections.

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