Eat and Run

little bit of r & r said:

Maybe it is a southern thing for judges to take left overs home. I have seen it at every contest besides sam's

Click to expand...

it's not just a southern thing. i've seen judges take coolers home from every contest i've judged.

Well trained, seasoned judges are hard to come by. I am a CBJ in KCBS, MIM, and MBN and a cook in NEBS, MIM, MBN, and KCBS so I see both sides of the spectrum. Lets go percentages.

I think it is safe to say that 90% of BBQ Teams do less than 5 contests a year.
I'd say 80% of judges do less than 5 contests a year.

NOW...the difference.

The majority of those 10% of BBQ Teams that do more than 5 contests a year are winning money back, thats how they do more than 5 contests a year.

Those 20% of CBJ's that do more than 5 contests a year are dishing out 100% of the money to judge our food. Figure a hotel room for 1 or 2 nights, Gas, a meal or two at local restaurants, a few tasty beverages...well, it stacks up. This is love, I will take a judge that travels for the LOVE of BBQ over a guy that would travel 30 miles from their house and pay a $20 (or more) fee.

Charging to Judge is what peoples choice contests are for.

Just my 2 cents.

Pay To Judge has been tried, and as Hance said it nearly killed the Big Pig Jig, which is one of the most long running and prestigious events in the South. A few events have made the move of eliminating the traditional free T-shirt and offering the option to pre-pay for one when you send in your judging app, but that's about as far as you dare go as an organizer.

My question is what is your motivation behind the idea of charging to judge?

Yes, teams pay plenty to participate, but they also have the chance to win that money back and more. Typically 75-80% of the money teams pay in entry fees goes right back out as cash prizes, and any remaining funds are used to buy trophies, ice, power, water, garbage collection, etc. - all items that directly benefit the teams too.

Judges are compensated for their time and travel by what they consume and what they receive in their goodie bag. Cooks can hope to win more than they spend, judges will NEVER do so.

Bottom Line: If you want experienced, quality people to be CBJs, you cannot charge them. If you want cooler-toting people who have no interest in serious judging and see the judging tent as an all-you-can-eat buffet, then go ahead and just collect $9.95 a head from anybody who walks in the tent on contest day.

little bit of r & r said:

I think they need to ban coolers. It sickens me to see a judge walk in with a cooler seriously the one free meal wasn't enough no wonder judges score full boxes better.

Click to expand...

As an organizer, I do ban coolers.

No food leaves the judging tent at any contest I run, period. Extra samples from the boxes goes to the grazing table to feed table captains & volunteers. Judges have the opportunity to visit with the teams who agree to provide them with take-home food if they request it (most do not).

This system seems to work well for all involved.

rib runners said:

Just a thought......Since so many people want to eat and judge bbq at contest, why not charge judges to do this. It looks like many contest have no trouble filling their judging needs most of the time. Where else can a person do something this rewarding for not to much cost.
Considering what a cook has to lay out to do a contest, it seems right that judges would share some of the expense to put on a contest. :idea:
Sams club has no trouble filling their judging needs! Also, new judges have a hard time getting to judge contest that have been established for a few years.

I will get off my soap box now and let the fires begin.

Life is Good when you can eat and run.

Ron Yater, KCBS member and judge since 1994.

Click to expand...

What's your goal? Increased contest revenue? Improved judging?

I can see it increasing revenue, maybe. That assumes that the contest has a reputation strong enough to draw judges willing to pay. I can also see it creating a situation where the organizer is forced to drag judges off the street which introduces a whole new set of issues.

Some of your assumptions are off as well. I know, first hand, that there have been Sam's Club events that came up short of judges. If you've been a CBJ since '94 you may recall the reaction from some judges when the Royal decided to charge folks to judge the invitational.

This is such a bad idea on so many levels.

From what I have seen, the judges have plenty of opportunity to visit with teams on Friday (if they can get there that early) and after turn-ins on Saturday. They can get to know as many cooks as they wish and I am sure the cook teams will offer some left-overs.

I see many teams on here that covet their leftovers. We usually don't, mainly because we are either tired of BBQ or our freezers are full and/or we just don't want to deal with it.

I will say that I think we are blessed in the GA area to have some of the best judges....judges that take their responsibility seriously and they are dedicated. We generally see many of the same ones at most every contest. That in itself is a decent dedication. Some might call them eaters, but they are taking time away from their families or other responsibilities to allow us to have a hobby.

No. Only if you want to kill the hobby / sport / pastime / job that we call competitive bbq. Think bbq night at the local all u can eat cheap family joint and you'll have your judging pool if you charge.

rib runners said:

"Lets flip the coin". What if judges were paid to judge a contest. Do you think cooks would get a more serious quality job at what they write on the score sheet? Could bbq organizations be more demanding at the qualifcations for judging?
Maybe taking some of the money paid to the cooks and spread it out to judges.:idea:

That was my thought process to start with, if a little something was charged maybe it would eleminate some of the "willy nillious" of some of the judges. I know there are many judges that do a great job and try hard to be fair with the numbers. And I would think that people taking their time and money to judge would want to do a good job.

The only way that charging judges to judge would work is if every contest bought into the idea. And we all know, that is never going happen. Contest would end up short of people judging. This is probably why no one would step into that puddle.:crazy:

Wouldn't be nice to live in a perfect world.:wink:

Thanks to all for your fead back.

Ron Yater

Click to expand...

The next step would be merit pay. I'll pass.

op2:

Ron, you need a hobby! :wink:

I have to disagree.
We judged 2 years almost, and I put the leftovers I liked in a cooler when the organizer allowed it.
Some will say gross, whatever but it wasn't like anyone else was going to eat it, I hate throwing away food, and I never kept a piece I hadn't taken a bite out of (as opposed to some I'd seen putting food in their coolers indescriminately)

Once I'd taken a bite of a piece of rib or whatever, nobody else would want it so why throw it out? And I guarantee I did my best to judge each entry fairly and for its own merits.

At the same time, we saw judges who would write down scores for taste and texture based solely on an entry's appearance, and announce it to the table. But they had no cooler. Did that make them a better judge?

Also...I've had lots of food as a judge that was totally inedible. It ain't all award winning.

I understand, and it's the off-season on top of it! See you at Winterfest?