By Dennis Mitchell, Communication Director
The Communications Directorate (CD) manages communications with members through periodic email newsletters, front-page website posts and social media activity. We also respond to general inquiries to the organization from prospective judges, the media or those wishing to use our guidelines for various purposes. Other areas of responsibility include overseeing elections, member badge orders and the member merchandise store.
2020 was a challenging year for many, and we took a “less is more” approach to our communications while members likely dealt with staying safe and sane during the global pandemic and other events.
Newsletters
The main method of communication between the BJCP and members is email. Automated emails are sent regarding exam scores and promotions (that automation is handled by IT), and the CD oversees emails of periodic newsletters or major organizational news. Newsletters are emailed approximately quarterly to all active judges. We sent three newsletters in 2020; email open rates ranged from 29-41 percent (down slightly from 2019) while click-through rates were up from 2019 and ranged from 14-21 percent. We hope the increased click-through rates indicate that we are publishing content of greater interest to our members!
CALL FOR NEWSLETTER HELP! If you are interested in writing an article for the newsletter, please contact Assistant Communication Director Andrew Luberto. We can offer non-judging points for submissions.
- April: COVID-19, rethinking palate cleansing, regional updates, and more
- June: 2020 Members Meeting, Updates From the Board and Directorate, Post Covid Judging, and more
- October: Malt Sensory Training, Canadian Beer Styles, Updates, and more
Member Badges
After having continued difficulties with the BJCP prior badge vendor, the CD worked to secure a new badge vendor in 2020. The new vendor is able to provide our badges at a low cost and with increased reliability compared to the prior vendor, and we have caught up on prior badge orders that had been delayed or missing in 2018-2019. We purchased 431 badges for members in 2020.
However, we did experience some COVID-19 related shipping difficulties in 2020 to international countries, as shipping to some areas was halted due to the pandemic. We are trying to identify which shipments were not delivered and send new badges to those judges. If you ordered a badge in 2020 but did not receive one, please reach out to Toby or Dennis.
If you need a badge, visit the badge page for more info. Other Member Communication
In addition to newsletters, the CD triages emails sent to the general organizational emails such as info @ BJCP.org, as well as emails from members with account login difficulties like lost passwords or forgotten BJCP ID numbers. About half of those emails were related to account access issues (forgotten passwords or IDs). Other common email topics include questions about ordering a name badge or new pin, asking for permissions to use the BJCP guidelines, asking how to become a judge, or those wishing to provide feedback to the BJCP on various topics.
In addition to email, the CD oversees the BJCP social media platforms as well as a member forum. The BJCP Facebook page continues to be a frequent means of communications between members and with non-members asking BJCP-related questions, and the group grew by nearly 1,000 members in 2020 to a total of almost 6,500. Frequent topics in 2020 included COVID-19 response, virtual judging, beer history, where certain beers should be entered in a competition and discussions about BJCP processes.
The BJCP Twitter (@BJCP_Official) receives periodic questions and mentions and has grown to over 3,000 followers. We have not been highly active on this platform in 2020 but hope to use the time of new communications staff to provide a greater presence. We are currently working with the IT Directorate to transition to a new member-only forum on the new website and archive the old forum, which is not being updated at this time.
Website
The CD has been waiting for the IT directorate to wrap up the migration to the new website. Responsibility for maintaining the website is shared between IT, the CD and the other directorates that manage their own content.
BJCP Logo Merchandise
In December 2017, we launched a new BJCP member store with an expanded selection of BJCP logo merchandise through an embroidery-on-demand store hosted by Queensboro Embroidery. This new shop offers a significantly wider range of products, including work shirts (Red Kap brand), polos, T-shirts, jackets, dress shirts, sweatshirts and bags/backpacks. Clothing is available in both men’s and women’s cuts and a variety of colors and brands. Queensboro also offers international shipping, so our members outside the US can now order BJCP logo merchandise. For more details on how to access this new store, members can visit the Merchandise page.
Member interest in BJCP-logo merchandise is low, with only 11 orders placed in 2020. This is down by about half of the orders from the prior two years, and this may be due to limited judge activity during the pandemic. The BJCP makes no profit on orders and logo merchandise is provided as a service to members. Given the low cost of maintaining the on-demand store, the fairly low number of orders placed is not a concern at this time.