Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

Fellow Beer Nuts its that time of year where you get both the chance to step up responsibility by volunteering your time and commitment to the club through running for a seat on the cabinet or make sure you vote for someone that you believe will fulfill the duties of one of the five cabinet positions.

I think all of you know who is currently in our leadership team and roles, but I want to make sure for any new members I would like to recap:

Travis S. (Big T) – prez
Tony B. – VP
Jim P. – Treasurer
Tim S. – Secretary
Empty – Event Coordinator

First I hope all of the beer nuts whether you agree with the views and actions of the cabinet members appreciate their commitment to making this a better club. The leadership team doesn’t get any extra privileges, we pay dues, subscription fees, etc. I want to thank them personally for their time away from families, extra work, and money spent being part of the team.

I just want to make it clear to all of you that these positions are all open, the current incumbents are welcome to run again, but if you feel you have the interest, time and passion to help drive this club’s success at a more formal role, you should consider your options. I just ask two things before both the current cab members choose to run again or if anyone else decides to throw their name in the hat.

1. Please consider the commitment level these positions hold, there is an extra meeting for cab members, strong attendance to club events, and meetings is a must and there are various other activities these roles help support to keep up with the club needs.

2. Don’t loose sight that this is a tight club, and I don’t want to see any personal divides so choose wisely how you feel about politics in such a small environment around many close friends.

But don’t discount the importance of the members, you are what make this a club even exist, and the cabinet is here to serve the club needs. I hope whatever you all choose that you not only decide how you best fit in the club but also what you enjoy most.


Rough timeline of elections (Remember - current members can only vote)

October 20th
– Must announce if your running by meeting (preferably on this thread)
– Chance at Randy’s to speak briefly with the club as a whole as well as individually

October 20th – November 17th – Campaigning through your various means (this thread as one)

November 17th
- Email elections close at 5:00 pm
– Elections to take place 6:30 Long branch
– Election night – 6:00 speeches to group
– Elections to take place 6:30 Long branch

Fellow Nuts,

I wanted to take a quick moment to let you all know my intentions for 2012. As many of you know I’ve been with this club for some years now, and have been in the capacity of VP and Prez for what will be 3 years the end of this year. Its been an amazing 3 years and the list of accomplishments I could be part of have been extremely exiting and proud how far this club as come and know there is so much more growth possible. Which is why its been hard to come to this conclusion as I think we have so many committed and enthusiastic members that this ride is nowhere near over. So it’s after some reflection of where I need to spend some time in 2012 and my ability to keep this pace going I’ve decided to step down completely out of the cabinet race for 2012.

That doesn’t mean I won’t consider coming out of retirement some day, but the role can be taxing, the politics can get ugly and its time to take a breather and enjoy just being part of the club as I know there are plenty of other talented folks with time and drive that can keep our growth in 5th gear for 2012. Of course I will still continue as club president through the remainder of the year and look forward to help transition in the 2012 cabinet members.

I’ll write my exit speech sometime this winter over a few barley wines and a nice fire. But I just quickly wanted to thank you all for the opportunity to serve you. And that this might be a brew club, but it’s really about friendships to me and I’m thankful that no matter what capacity I serve I’ve made so many great relationships around this club.

Only slightly related, but I have a request of whoever is on the cabinet next year. The club's checking account is bascially a personal checking account with access by myself and Jim P. I really like Jim but I think it is time for us to end our joint account. I take my finances and credit scores very seriously, could be my Finance degree and MBA. I have had no damage but would prefer to not have the checking account in my name anymore. Since we are now a registered non-profit, I think it is time for the club to get its own checking account. There should be some free checking available somewhere. I know my wife's Girl Scout stuff is free through Veridian.

That is all. I am not running for any offices. It is a time commitment I cannot fulfill at this time. Good luck everyone.

I'm sure my Credit Union would do a club account.

I hate to be the voice of desention here, but 8 days to make a decision seems kind of short to me. Why exactly does announcement of whether to run have to be done by the 20th? Was this a cabnit decision?

I do agree that there should be a deadline to announce whether or not you are going to step up for the club so that ballots can be made and so forth. However, a full month seems a bit excessive, when the election announcement is made 8 days prior to the meeting.

Maybe I missed a statement made at last months meeting, I was late for it. So it could be my fault for showing up late. However, there are often members who can't make every meeting and rely on the forums for information such as this.

Would one of the cabinet members (current or former) mind giving a few additional details of the responsibilities associated with the various cabinet positions? In particular, it would be helpful to see a quantified description of the time commitment. Are we talking about 2 hrs per month or something closer to 20?

I'm willing to step up and be more active in this fine organization. I'd be happy to fill any seat that is needs filled if that's the will of the group. Right now I'm leaning towards running for Event Coordinator because there's a need for it, but I'm open to other roles as well.

Usually closer to 2 hours.  We generally meet once a month for a cabinet meeting, which usually runs around 2 hours.  Other than that, we generally put in a few extra hours right before big events (Benz, etc), but nothing too outrageous.  I'm not counting the time we spend on the forum answering questions, etc, since many of us live there anyway.

I'd sum up the duties as follows:
President - presides at meetings, spokesperson for club
Vice Pres - Backup for president
Secretary - Takes notes (and ideally posts them) for club meetings
Treasurer - Keeps the books, handles the money, builds portable bars
Events Coordinator (currently unfilled) - coordinates signups for events, helps find volunteers to lead events


All of the council members actively participate in the managing of the club.


-Jim


On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 8:47 PM, DrPaulsen <brew-members@crbeernuts.org (brew-members@crbeernuts.org)> wrote:

Would one of the cabinet members (current or former) mind giving a few additional details of the responsibilities associated with the various cabinet positions? In particular, it would be helpful to see a quantified description of the time commitment. Are we talking about 2 hrs per month or something closer to 20?

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

Thanks Jim for trying to sum up responsibilities. I personally think its much more involved, and varies greatly month to month. I think Jim is a perfect example with his help in building the Club tap box, I can’t vouch for how much time it was but I’m sure with trying to spec out the bar, obtain material, communications, building, etc that it was much more work. Not that isn’t necessarily the role of the treasurer but I think the cabinet in general tends to be involved more in “special” projects”.

Also the cab is responsible for answering general questions that come into info@crbeernuts.org (info@crbeernuts.org), meetings can be 2-3 hours including travel time, I know I have prep time to both prepare for our cab meeting as well as our general meeting. I spend quite a bit of time networking with other clubs, various groups beer related groups around the eastern area, etc. Event building is a big commitment as well, but with an events builder I think that would take some strain in general off the cab as a whole.

So I think that Jim is accurate in the respect that you can spend as little time below, but its easy and in the spirit of the club I would assume more time. Also Jim is very correct in that the structure of the cab is that secretary plays as much of a role as president in the cabinet meetings so don’t feel the title will short change you on being a voice.

Not trying to talk anyone out of the roles, but I know I spend quite bit of time each month and I think that the cab is more involved if they really think about what they do and I just don’t want anyone to take on a role they don’t have the time for in fairness to their personal life as much as the club.

If anyone has any specific questions, I would recommend they contact any of the cab members separately for more details.








From: JimPotts [mailto:brew-members@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 9:22 PM
To: brew-members@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Election Time for 2012: please read carefully


Usually closer to 2 hours. We generally meet once a month for a cabinet meeting, which usually runs around 2 hours. Other than that, we generally put in a few extra hours right before big events (Benz, etc), but nothing too outrageous. I'm not counting the time we spend on the forum answering questions, etc, since many of us live there anyway.

I'd sum up the duties as follows:
President - presides at meetings, spokesperson for club
Vice Pres - Backup for president
Secretary - Takes notes (and ideally posts them) for club meetings
Treasurer - Keeps the books, handles the money, builds portable bars
Events Coordinator (currently unfilled) - coordinates signups for events, helps find volunteers to lead events


All of the council members actively participate in the managing of the club.


-Jim


On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 8:47 PM, DrPaulsen brew-members@crbeernuts.org (brew-members@crbeernuts.org))> wrote:
:
Would one of the cabinet members (current or former) mind giving a few additional details of the responsibilities associated with the various cabinet positions? In particular, it would be helpful to see a quantified description of the time commitment. Are we talking about 2 hrs per month or something closer to 20?

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

First of all, I would like to thank Travis for his service to the club. Being president is a big job. And he has done it well. The club has grown, and expanded it's focus over the last 2-3 years. We are certainly on the way up, and I think we can continue that growth and expansion. I am excited about our potential.

That said, I will be throwing my hat into the race for president. Over the years, I have seen the club grow from a small group of guys, who were getting together to share beers once a month, into an active, organized club. I want to push that growth. One plan I would like to see is to have our own BJCP sanctioned competition, sometime in the first half of 2012. I would like to develop our relationships in other clubs, possibly including a gathering (sort of a brewer's picnic). I would like the club to do a philanthropic activity. My thought is a beer event to raise funds for a charity. I will actively seek out a partner to host such an event. This may not happen within the next year, but plans need to be set in motion.

Thanks, and please consider my nomination for president. I have been happy to serve you as secretary for the last year, and hope that I can do even more as a club president.

Tim "Brownbeard" Sines

With Tim vacating the office of secretary, I would like your consideration for that role. I would like to be a more active member of the club and feel that I can fill this position. I would continue Tim's great work over the past year. I would like to investigate posting our meetings and events on public social calendars. Being a not-for-profit, we can use local media to advertise the club for free. Thanks for your consideration


Kent

Thank Kent for stepping up. A reminder anyone else who wishes to run, please throw your name in the hat tonight at the meeting or even better post it up here. This includes any of the incumbents that wish to run in their current positions.




From: kjball [mailto:brew-members@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 7:51 PM
To: brew-members@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Election Time for 2012: please read carefully


With Tim vacating the office of secretary, I would like your consideration for that role. I would like to be a more active member of the club and feel that I can fill this position. I would continue Tim's great work over the past year. I would like to investigate posting our meetings and events on public social calendars. Being a not-for-profit, we can use local media to advertise the club for free. Thanks for your consideration


Kent




Bad people drink bad beer. You don't usually see an empty bottle of Rochefort tossed onto the side of the road

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

I'll officially throw my feet into the fire (since we have plenty of hats in rings already) and declare my intention to run for Event Coordinator.

It's a job we've never had filled and it's about time. We're adding more events all the time. I also would like to see a charitable fundraiser organized by the club. Another event that has been mentioned is a more formal competition perhaps in league with other clubs.

I can offer my fairly strong organizational skills as well a strong commitment to the board and the club's goals. One advantage I bring is that my time generally has fewer demands on it than many, which makes me readily available for club business.


On Thursday 20 October 2011 4:53:15 pm you wrote:

Thank Kent for stepping up. A reminder anyone else who wishes to run,
please throw your name in the hat tonight at the meeting or even better
post it up here. This includes any of the incumbents that wish to run in
their current positions.




From: kjball [mailto:brew-members@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 7:51 PM
To: brew-members@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: Election Time for 2012: please read carefully


With Tim vacating the office of secretary, I would like your consideration
for that role. I would like to be a more active member of the club and
feel that I can fill this position. I would continue Tim's great work over
the past year. I would like to investigate posting our meetings and events
on public social calendars. Being a not-for-profit, we can use local media
to advertise the club for free. Thanks for your consideration


Kent




Bad people drink bad beer. You don't usually see an empty bottle of
Rochefort tossed onto the side of the road

------------------------
Travis (big T)
Prez Nut

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

Alright, as I don't see commitments from any one for the position of VP. I guess I will throw my name into the ring once again.

I guess my platform with be the following. This club has grown by a fairly large amount and our numbers keep getting stronger. At this point I feel that we are missing a revenue stream that we could be using. I feel that our current web site has served us wonderfully over the past however, I feel that this has become outdated and is time to be refreshed. With modern technology you can now build sites in a couple of weeks (in spare time). With this I would like to add functionality to the club, expanded forums, club calandar, automatic pay system, and here we go ADVERTISING! This would include putting up a site tracking membership for several months, then approaching those companies that we all use and love to promote themselves through our site. As well as seeking sponsorship for raffles and club prizes.

Also I as Tim am dedicated to creating a legacy for this club, an yearly fund rasing event that one day will hopefully rival Madisions event. However, you don't get there overnight, I think we need to move on this set a date find a partner company and sell some tickets, starting small serving homebrew and containing local breweries and hopefully building upon that every year.

There you have it, these are my idea's and the things that I would like to see the club go forward with in the coming year.

Please remove me from the list Tony, I only threw my name into the hat because I didn't see anyone stepping up to fill the role and didn't want the club to go without a full board as that would reduce the effectiveness of the board and pose as a barrier to acomplishing the many tasks that need to be done.

The fact of the matter is, with the two little ones in the house now and the state of the department I work in, I have little time for anything else. This would have just reduced the already little amount of time that I have to spend with my friends and family. However, as said prior, I just didn't want to see the club without representation for all positions.

So I officially withdrawl my candidacy for the position of Vice President of the Cedar Rapids Beer Nuts .

I leave that task to someone who has already shown the dedication and desire to produce a quality club.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Orchuk (BrewHound)