From synchro!judge-request at uu6.psi.com Sun Feb 12 06:53:56 1995 Status: O X-VM-v5-Data: ([nil t nil nil nil nil nil nil nil] ["5044" "" "12" "February" "1995" "05:12:18" "EST" "JudgeNet Administrator" "judge-owner at synchro.com" nil "118" "JudgeNet Digest #967 (Feb 12, 1995)" "^From:" nil nil "2" nil nil nil nil] nil) Received: by judgmentday.rs.itd.umich.edu (8.6.9/2.2) with X.500 id GAA04434; Sun, 12 Feb 1995 06:53:54 -0500 Received: from goodman.itn.med.umich.edu by judgmentday.rs.itd.umich.edu (8.6.9/2.2) with SMTP id GAA04430; Sun, 12 Feb 1995 06:53:51 -0500 Received: from uu6.psi.com by goodman.itn.med.umich.edu with SMTP id AA00875 (5.65b/IDA-1.4.3 for spencer at umich.edu); Sun, 12 Feb 95 06:53:50 -0500 Received: from synchro.UUCP by uu6.psi.com (5.65b/4.0.071791-PSI/PSINet) via UUCP; id AA17413 for ; Sun, 12 Feb 95 05:16:03 -0500 Received: by synchro.com (smail2.5) id AA26171; 12 Feb 95 05:12:18 EST (Sun) Reply-To: judge at synchro.com (JudgeNet) Errors-To: judge-error at synchro.com Precedence: bulk Message-Id: <9502120512.AA26171 at synchro.com> From: judge-owner at synchro.com (JudgeNet Administrator) To: judge-recipients at synchro.com (JudgeNet Recipients) Subject: JudgeNet Digest #967 (Feb 12, 1995) Date: 12 Feb 95 05:12:18 EST (Sun) JudgeNet Digest #967 Sun 12 Feb 1995 THE BEER JUDGE DIGEST digest submissions: judge at synchro.com administrative requests: judge-request at synchro.com send cancellations & rank updates to the administrative address messages sent to the wrong address will be ignored FTP Archives: guraldi.hgp.med.umich.edu in /pub/judge WWW Archives: http://guraldi.hgp.med.umich.edu/Beer/Judge Gopher Archives: guraldi.hgp.med.umich.edu Editor: Chuck Cox Archivist: Spencer Thomas Publishers: SynchroSystems and the Riverside Garage & Brewery Contents: No Free Lunch (Fred Hardy) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 11 Feb 1995 16:23:42 -0500 (EST) From: Fred Hardy Subject: No Free Lunch Whew! Boy, did I blow it by suggesting that judges pay an annual fee (dues?) and a recordation fee each time they earned points. Please forgive my naivete. I was reminded quickly and often that the judges are volunteers who spend considerable amounts of money and endure untold hardships travelling great distances to contribute their considerable skills to the field of home brewing. You see, I am from the Washington, DC, metropolitan area and I travel to Kingston, NY (AHA 1st round), Malvern, PA (Buzz-Off), Durham, NC (TRUB), and Richmond, VA (Dominion Cup), to judge in competitions. I have never considered it a hardship. I do it because I enjoy the folks I meet, the beer I taste, and the points I earn towards advancement in the BJCP. I also am the organizer of the Capitol District Open competition in DC. Of the 40 or so judges and stewards participating in last year's event, only six or so were from outside the metropolitan, DC, area. So, you see, I had no idea of the sacrifices that my fellow judges seem to be making. I also received heat over the idea of judges contributing to insure an independent alliance with the same overall goals as the BJCP. Sorry, there is no free lunch. If you want to be heard, be prepared to put up the money. Consider some arithmetic. Let's assume there are 1,200 judges in the BJCP, and another 600 names in the data base because they were at the scene of a competition and were on an organizer's report. The postage for a once a year mailing to report status is about $560, not counting printing and materials costs and the time required to address and stamp 1,800 letters. Now, if the 1,200 folks in the BJCP paid $25.00 a year for membership, and each participated in an average of 1.5 competitions a year, and sent $5.00 for each competition as a recordation fee, the total take is $37,500 a year. Now let's add $40.00 from the organizers as a sanctioning fee. If we assume March has an average number of competitions, I can use the latest AHA Club News Calendar of events to determine that there are 15 events per month, or 180 per year. This contributes another $7,200 a year to the program. For those of you who suggest that organizer's fees alone will support the program, I propose you quit your job and become a full time administrator for this amount (remember, this is gross before expenses). After combining all receipts there is an annual kitty of around $45,000 a year. Administering this program in a quality fashion is a full time job, so this amount must fund salary, facilities, postage, etc., etc. Without doing a careful cost analysis I suspect this is near rock bottom to support an association. Now if we want this association to lobby for legislative change, engage in promotion, provide a news letter, publish a calendar of events, announce changes in individual judge status and so on, I submit that the price goes up. Hey, it's arithmetic, Folks. I also have read many comments about bashing Charlie P & company for their decision, administration of the program, and so on. Well, IMO, they deserve it. This does not take away from the debt all of us owe to Charlie for his vision and perseverance which have essentially created an industry. That a visionary and crusader might not be the right person to administer a growing program should not come as a surprise. It happens in industry all of the time. Thank you, Charlie! Not only for what you have done for homebrewing, but also for bailing out of the BJCP. Now, Folks, I have not changed my opinion. I want an independent organization for beer judges which will serve our, and consequently, the hobby's, best interest. I am ready to reach into my discretionary funds for the few bucks it might cost. Cheers, Fred ============================================================================== We must invent the future, else it will | happen to us and we will not like it. | [Stafford Beer, "Platform for Change"] | email: fcmbh at access.digex.net ------------------------------ End of JudgeNet Digest ************************