 
| It is the mission of the FBA to promote the uniquely American tradition of barbecuing meat over natural wood or charcoal-fired heat and smoke through education, family-friendly fellowship, and competition. |
FBA 2020 Board of Directors Candidates
Vice President |
Ed Shemanski
| I am nominating myself to run for the office Vice President. In the last two years I feel that my fellow board members and I have accomplished quite a bit but there is still more to do. We have definitely gotten the FBA into a better position, brought in new competitions and started moving forward with new ideas and programs. I feel that I have been one of the driving forces in this progress. By continuing as Vice President I feel that I can continue serving the membership and helping the organization to be the best it can be. There is still a bit of progress and growth needed with our organization and I believe that I can be an integral part of continuing to make that happen. A little bit of my FBA background; I joined the FBA in 2006. I have been a member of the IT Committee for over 4 years and the Chair for the last 18 months. I am a Lead Contest Rep and a Master Judge. I also cook competitively when I have the time and opportunity. Some of my professional background; I work for the 9th Circuit Court of Florida as the IT Infrastructure Manager and recently celebrated 23 years with them. Before that, I worked for Orange County BCC for 10 years in their IT department managing networks & systems. I have also served on the Lake Conway Water and Navigation Control District Advisory Board for Orange County. Additionally, I served as co-chair of the Lake Eola Charter School IT Committee for 18 months. If anyone has any questions please email me at eshemanski.fba@gmail.com. Thank you for your consideration |
Treasurer |
Shelby Lomen
| I am submitting my name to run for the position of Treasurer for the Florida BBQ Association. In the past two years as your Treasurer I have:
I have appreciated the challenges that have been presented in my past two years as Treasurer and look forward to continuing to work with the FBA to make this a wonderful organization for all to enjoy.
Thank you for your time - |
Director at Large |
Rob Dopp
| My name is Rob Dopp and I have been married to my beautiful wife for 23 years and we have an awesome 8-year-old son. I was born and raised in Apopka, Fl. and I own a landscape company. We currently live in Altamonte Springs.
I have been in BBQ for about 5 years now. I compete on two teams, Rum Runners BBQ and The Shed BBQ competition team. BBQ for me means family, not just cook outs at home in the backyard. When we first started competing, we had teams give us a hand and show us little tricks. Some would just simply come and hang out and made us feel like part of a big family. One time I got sick at a competition and other teams came up to my wife and said we will be glad to help you finish the cook. So, when I say it means family it really does mean family. We all take care of each other. Its important for us to secure the future of Florida BBQ so future generations will be able to compete and judge. My son being one of those future generations. He already competes in steak and is also learning to cook ribs at home. I want to be part of growing the FBA and helping others to get involved. |
Chris Warren
| I would like to serve on the FBA Board of Directors to provide guidance and direction to the association as it emerges from the new reality of COVID-19. I think the association is at a cross roads and like many other sanctioning bodies is going to have challenges in the future. The number of contests has dropped to a small number and it is obvious from the Camp Mack contest there is interest among both Professional Teams and Backyard Teams to pursue this sport. As a result of the high interest expressed by many of the teams at Camp Mack, we need to take the opportunity to place this organization on firm foundation and allow us to grow the sport into the future. I would like to try and accomplish the following:
1. Encourage the board to undergo a strategic planning exercise to address the fundamental challenges we need to get through in the next 1-5 years. I would like to see a 1 year, 3 year and 5 year strategic plan adopted by the board, along with measurable targets that would provide focus and direction to board. This could be accomplished in conjunction with the direction and vision of the President of FBA and the collective board.
2. Develop a more robust Backyard Team competition pool. It is from the Backyard Teams that our future will be guaranteed. We need to take every available step to be inclusive of this group and help provide them with a pathway to the professional team ranks. I was encouraged by the enthusiasm and the participation of the Backyard Teams at Camp Mack. The Backyard Initiative should be a part of the strategic vision of this organization.
3. Help develop more contest organizers. This group of individuals spends enormous amounts of time promoting their event and I would like to ensure that FBA can help them as much as possible. With the COVID issues and the requirements placed on the contest organizers related to this, I would like to see FBA develop more of an outreach program to help the organizers.
4. Work with contest organizers to bring new and innovative competitions to the BBQ world. We all have opinions as to what this would could entail, but we need to ask the formative questions around this to keep our membership engaged and provide fresh new ideas into the competitive environment.
5. Understand this is a volunteer run organization and we need help from all of our members. It is one thing to pitch ideas to the board but it is another to roll up our sleeves and get everyone involved for the good of the organization. We need to be mindful of the time and energy required of our volunteers to run this organization and seek to involve our membership to the greatest extent possible.
We all need to understand the challenges the last year has put on the FBA. We have two choices: We, as an organization, can make the future or we, as an organization, can have the future make us. I prefer choice one. I would like us to make our future as an organization.
I respectfully ask for your vote. |
