New Judges Application Process
To: All GBA members
From: Harry Faircloth, GBA President.
On behalf of the Georgia Barbecue Association, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and will have a happy & prosperous New Year.
The GBA has experienced tremendous growth over the past couple of years. We have held contests in many new venues and have trained many new judges. With growth comes the necessity to develop better, more efficient procedures. Beginning with Pigs & Wings in February, we are implementing a new application process for judges.
Our goal is to provide a judge application process that is consistent from contest to contest. The process will also give us a tool to fairly manage the number of judges at each contest with the goal of each judge being seated for at least two of the three GBA categories.
From this point forward Contest organizers will no longer mail applications out. Judges may apply to be confirmed to Judge only by completing the application on the GBA Website. Only Judge Applications submitted using the electronic process at the GBA Website will be accepted. Links to the forms will be on the contest page of the GBA website.
Please remember, submitting an electronic application through the GBA Website does not guarantee you will be selected to judge at the contest.
All submissions will be given to the Lead Contest Representative who will work with the Contest Organizer to manage the Judge Selection process. Consideration will be given to those who sign up early, but that is not the only criteria used in selecting judges.
Approximately two weeks prior to the contest date, the lead GBA Representative will send out confirmation notices by email to the judges who have been selected. It is your responsibility to be sure you enter your correct email address on the form. Should an email bounce, the Rep will make one attempt to reach the judge by phone before selecting a replacement. Additional confirmations may be sent closer to the contest date should more teams sign up.
If you are confirmed to judge at a contest and cannot fulfill the commitment, it is imperative you contact the Lead Contest Representative by 8:00 AM on the morning of the contest. Failing to appear at a contest you have been confirmed to judge without giving notice will decrease your chances of being selected in the future. Should it happen a second time, you may be removed from consideration for the remainder of the contest year.
You are welcome to come to the contest even if do not receive a confirmation to judge. If you do come with out a judging confirmation, please assume that you will not be needed to judge. You may choose to place your name on a standby list the morning of the contest. If we have reason to need replacement judges the Lead Contest Representative may use the standby list to seat a Judge who wasn’t invited. You may also volunteer to assist with turn-ins, table setup, etc.
The judge application form for Pigs & Wings will be posted on the GBA website on Thursday, December 27. Forms for other contests will be posted in early January.
If you have any questions regarding the new procedure or have problems submitting the form, please contact Jim Sewell at jwsewell@mchsi.com.