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, Brian Eichhorn. 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 come from a different background than most in that I started out tasting commercial beers with friends and critically analyzing them and scrutinizing them for a number of years before I ever touched a homebrew set up. I have long been involved in the local beer scene (which I know is not inherently different) and have a different perspective of beer appreciation and find it to be one of the most important missions of the BJCP. Given this, I feel that I would act well as a conduit to the general beer drinker to better understand what they are drinking and to become better educated as a consumer.

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.

As a judge & exam grader, I have seen a number of issues. Perhaps the most interesting and pressing, at least in my opinion, is that of continuing education. The restructuring of the exams was great in that it refocused emphasis on scoring the beers and completing scoresheets. Taking this a step forward, I think that continuing education is important and should be recognized. There are many judges who's studying began and ended with the exam. By enhancing the continuing education piece, it could create a means to keep judges engaged beyond just judging. I feel that this would help to keep up the quality of score sheets for all judges and to create more continuity across the board in terms of expectations for competition entrants. It could also result in an increase in higher ranked judges, which is unfortunately one of the issues with the sudden increase in interest of the BJCP. If we had alternate means to attaining certain ranks, it could help with interest as a lot of individuals that have expressed interest in the BJCP have been turned off by the exam process. Of course the challenge with this idea is that there would need to be some symmetry between this CEP idea and the exams themselves. It would also be challenging in that some judges may be content with hanging where the presently stand. Piquing interest would be the most important piece of this idea.

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 major longer term goal, if elected, would be as stated above. A more robust continuing education program, with regional seminars (and continuing with grader education as well, which I know has already been begun) and opportunities to earn additional credentials are the cornerstones of this. In the short term, I'd like to see the grader education piece become regular and to see more consistency with regards to grading. I feel that this is already going in the right direction and I would like to help keep it going.

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.

With regards to commitment, I act at a high level presently, judging any competition that I can, presently averaging 10-12/year. If elected, a short term goal is to go to a competition in every state in the midwest region. Eventually, I'd like to try and judge in each region and, ultimately, each state. I recently have begun as lead grader and still am getting used to the demands but feel that I owe it to this organization. I also would act as our region's advocate and would like to help with any potential policing of judges that may be necessary. Beyond this, I would act as a liaison between the at large beer community and the BJCP as well. I feel like we could improve our image among certain beer drinking groups and would love the chance to work towards that.

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

At this time, I have been an official BJCP member since August of 2010, when I first took the exam. My first judging experience was in March of 2010, in anticipation of taking the exam. I attained Master in April of 2013, Just over 3 years after my first judging experience and am on pace to be Grand Master in less than a year, barring any issues. I have judged in nearly 40 competitions and have met some great people that I'm proud to call friends. If you'd like to know anything more, feel free to contact me at bheichhornjr@yahoo.com. Cheers!

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

I want to be a member of the BJCP in order to help carry on the work of the BJCP and continue with its growth. I feel that I can offer a unique perspective and represent the midwest region well by carrying through on the ideas that I have laid out above, particularly in the arena of stewardship with non-judge homebrewers, as well as non-homebrewing beer drinkers. There are myriad opportunities for growth in terms of those populations and I would appreciate the opportunity to grow that relationship.

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Mr. Eichhorn's candidate statement may be found at /docs/2014brian.pdf

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

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