AHA 2011 Regional Judging

[kingsbrew]

We have been communicating with the other clubs through the Lone Star Circuit council. So far here is the response from the local clubs.

Cap and Hare - at least some interest in doing it.
Knights - will not help in admin but individuals will help with judging.
Red River - "unanimously" against, will not help
Horsemen - haven't talked to any of them

I have commitment from the High Plains Draughters (OKC) and FOAM (Tulsa) to help judging. Also, BAM has expressed interest in sending some judges but probably not many.

I hope to get to the Iron Mash in the morning so that I have an opportunity to talk to some Cap and Hare and KOBB members to get a better feel of their support. Also, to hopefully see if Rahr would be interested in hosting the judging.

While I appreciate the naysayers and their experience, there is a group that would like to do it and we are not totally inexperienced. I would make sure that no planning or operation of this will interfere with the BBO. The BBO is a priority. If you don't think it can be done, I respect your opinion. I just ask that you respect the energy and opinion of those of us who do think it can be done.

BTW, the list posted by Brewdaddy (whoever you are) is NOT entirely accurate as much of the data work is done by the AHA. Random numbers assigned, labels shipped to us with a fully populated MS Access database. We don't have to worry about payments and coordination of that. All entries are prepaid to the AHA. If an entry isn't in the the database it is not allowed as part of the competition. And yes, I am totally aware of the other actions that need to be performed.
I am not rushing into this. The AHA wants to make a decision by December so we have plenty of time. And, yes we could begin serious planning in Jan/Feb. By this time most of the BBO planning is done. If I remember correctly there was no Feb. planning meeting for the BBO this past year.

[Fred David]

You are correct that planning meetings are over by the end of February for the Bluebonnet but a large portion of the work has just started. Also, while this forum is a good way to discuss this among a few(mostly rah rah go for it) individuals, it does not come anywhere close to addressing the entire club. Why not start an e-mail campaign to everyone and include everything that needs to be done, not just the judging aspect. Share the other clubs thoughts without censure both pro and con either in the body of the e-mail or as attachments. Let the entire club put in its two cents worth. If any club resources at all are used then this must be done! If it is being hosted in the name of NTHBA it must be done.

[kingsbrew]

Everyone with an interest be at the August meeting at The Rugby House on Tuesday.

Latest update
As I stated in the Newsletter this month, I visited with several members of Cap And Hare, the Knights and the Horsemen. ALL responses were to the positive. James Lallande even offered that if we were to commit to multiple years that Cap and Hare would admin next year.

Per the National Director, it takes three people to direct. Obviously it takes many more to pull it off. I already have commitment from more than three people to help make sure we get this done. So I don't understand what your concern is about administration. Some of you act like the rest of us don't have any clue on what needs to be done. Do you really think we(I) are(am) that clueless? Do you think it cannot be done without you? I don't mean to be rude, but I just don't get it. I believe at this time we have all of the commitment from the area clubs to pull it off. I plan to ask for a hand count of those who will commit from NTHBA at the meeting. It will NOT be an NTHBA event so I don't see that it has to be a yea/nay vote but if it makes you happy I will be glad to do that.

As I said earlier, this will NOT be an NTHBA event. This is a DFW homebrew event. It cannot be done by just one club. So fare we have support from 4 of the 5 area clubs. I see that as a great majority. All I would ask is if you want to help, commit yourself to the event. If you don't want to help, that is fine. Just don't be discouraging people by saying it cannot be done. It CAN BE DONE. Will it be a lot of work, YES. I get that as do many others. We just believe with the support that we currently have it can happen. As a matter of fact there is some energy from Cap and Hare that says "Let's do it!".

One very important item that needs to be worked out is a site to hold judging. I have not worked on that yet since I have not been sure we are even going to do it. I would make sure we have a site lined up before making any commitment to DFW hosting the event. We do have a budget that would allow us to pay rent so I don't see it as something that cannot be worked out.

Actually being close to BB may be of some assistance as I would plan to hand out flyers and/or posters to advertise the need for judges. There are many capable judges within a 2-3 hour driving distance of the area. I am not counting on them showing but if they did it would be very nice.

[Bill Lawrence]

Wow, you guys are really getting your panties in a wad over this whole deal. Remember, we are talking about beer here, if I wanted to get serious about stuff I would become a wine snob. I thought the question was "do you want to do it" rather than "can you do it". I don't think that there is any question that it can be done. After all, the Bluebonnet is the biggest, best and most fun event on the entire planet and we collectively do it every year so emperical evidence suggests that it's doable. It's the "want to" issue that I wondered about but it would seem that I am again in the minority so I will submit to the will of the masses.