It's Election Time! Nominations Now Being Accepted
It's that time of year when we want our members to start thinking about the role they play with and in the Specialty Coffee Industry.
Each year the leadership of the Barista Guild finds itself with some Regional Representatives and Executive Council members meeting the end of their term. As a guild, our process each year is to nominate new potential leaders and hold an election where our membership votes to choose their new leaders. For many of you, it's likely that you don't think you're qualified or don't have anything to bring to the table for the Barista Guild, but you might be wrong. I've always felt that this is a key time in the year to check in with you and make sure we're on the same page. It's not uncommon to meet people interested in the Barista Guild but completely unaware of who we are, what we do, and how we work.
Who are we? Barista Guild Chapter Representatives and Executive Council Directors are Barista Guild Members, like you! You’re probably well-acquainted with these folks. Refresh your memory, or drop them a line about their experiences as a Chapter Rep or Executive Council member via the Contact Page on the official BGA webpage. For a description of how we work, take a few minutes to read our bylaws.
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
This year the Barista Guild is looking for 5 Regional Representatives (Chapter Representatives), specifically in the Northwest, Western, Mountain, South Central, and Southeast regions of the US.
Regional Representatives are the direct connection between their region’s members and the Executive Council. As a Regional Representative, it's expected that your contact members, field questions and requests, and overall act as a support to your region's membership. If you recall from reading the bylaws, the responsibilities of the Regional Rep are summed up as:
- Serve a term of two years, beginning and ending at the SCAA Event.
- Assisting in the coordination of BGA/SCAA events.
- Seeking out and communicating with individual members to serve as part of the Regional Committee with the guidance of the Executive Council.
- Work with their Council contact to generate membership growth within their region.
- Attend the annual SCAA Event, Camp Pull-A-Shot, and the corresponding regional barista competition.
- Execute additional duties and responsibilities defined in the Chapter Representative Job Description
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
This year the Barista Guild is looking for 3 Executive Council members. Executive Council members are self-motivated individuals willing to dedicate time to leading our guild in a forward direction.
An Executive Council member’s role and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Serve a term of two years, beginning and ending at the SCAA Event.
- Contacting and working with Regional Representatives to assist them in building membership and coordinating regional events.
- Communicating with the EC group and as a whole and attend scheduled conference calls.
- Attend the SCAA annual event, Camp Pull-A-Shot, and the SCAA leadership summit.
- As an EC member, your experience in the coffee industry will likely lead to you developing and working on specific projects related to guild in areas such as certification, events, or membership.
Don't doubt your personal experience in the coffee industry! If you've got some great ideas and can commit to attending the required events and activities you're definitely worth nominating.
With this post, election season is open! The official election timeline is as follows:
December 20, 2011 – January 20, 2012: Nomination submissions being accepted
February 1: Voting begins (only Barista Guild members may vote in this election)
Stay tuned!
Scott Lucey