KCBS Board of Directors Candidate

Who is Phil Rizzardi?
A long time BBQ enthusiast, a Competitor, KCBS certified judge, and founder of

The BBQ Brethren

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"My desire is to bring a strong background in corporate management, technology, and love of BBQ to the KCBS Board of Directors, with member involvment, support and regional representations as my overriding goal."

Besides being a KCBS certified judge and competitor, I am the founder of the very successful online BBQ community, “The BBQ-Brethren” and the pit master for our flagship team. Like KCBS, The Brethren was established specifically to promote our craft, and to bring together BBQ enthusiasts from around the country. We are now over 4000 strong. Not only does this make me easily accessible to hear your voice, but also, it is this devotion and experience that will enable me to see to it that the ideas and concerns of KCBS cooks, judges, reps, and general membership are addressed.

Professionally, I am a Technology Manager for a major defense contractor and have been with them for 28 years. My responsibilities have included the management of a large staff and million dollar budgets. I'm formally trained to work with people, initiate change and assist in long-range growth of a corporation through team building. My management skills are geared towards being a leader, not a boss, fostering a loyalty in our employees that encourages them to work productively and efficiently. My staff works with me, not for me, and we do things together as a team. My technical responsibilities are to establish and implement processes that enable our division to perform our functions effectively and efficiently with minimal waste and overhead.

In my personal life, I’ve owned a small computer consulting company since 1984. Additionally, I have served as President of my hometown Civic Association since 1987 . In that capacity, I have the responsibility of meeting with elected town board members, developers, and representatives of businesses, to ensure they hear and understand the concerns of our residents. Our association has been responsible for many positive changes that have allowed our community to grow, improve, and prosper. On behalf of town residents, I have negotiated with the corporate offices of large business chains, and their attorneys. We fought hard against negative impacts and always supported the positive. A major accomplishment of our association was to have our Town Board address, update, and rewrite our community's outdated strategic plan, originally written in 1915. It is this practical experience that I offer as evidence of the skills I possess. I believe these are the assets required to assist in the growth of KCBS and work with the members of the board.

As both a competitive cook and a judge in the Northeast, I am witnessing the increased popularity of BBQ in this region. Like other areas of the country, the art of “low and slow” is gaining momentum and these areas need representation. My major short term goal is to strengthen representation of the new regions where BBQ is starting to boom. The Northeast is lacking in representation and recognition within KCBS, as is other understated regions such as PNW and West coast. These regions need representation as BBQ grows and flourishes. I would attempt to organize some regional representation within KCBS for theses areas by involving people from the many BBQ organizations such as NEBS, CBBQA, Mid Atlantic BBQ Association, etc. I would also drive to have KCBS meet directly with theses regions and ultimately strive to have KCBS become more regionally aligned.

In the long term I plan to utilize my professional abilities in Information Technology to assist KCBS to run more efficiently and effectively.

The KCBS board needs experienced business people running the business side of KCBS to help it grow and flourish. However, KCBS also needs people who will keep the ideals and goals of the BBQ enthusiast in mind. The membership needs someone to listen to and bring their issues to the attention of the Board. As the leader and founder of The BBQ Brethren, a large international BBQ Community of 4000+ members in 58 countries, I have the channels already in place to hear the voices and needs of many KCBS members and bring them directly to the table.

I have the open channel, the training, and the experience to hear, understand, and act on your issues. If elected to assist in the growth of KCBS and the growth of our craft, I will bring to the table a solid background in corporate business management and technology, a vision for the future, and a proven passion, and devotion to the art of BBQ.

I ask for your vote, thank you for your consideration and taking the time to read this.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at
bbqchef33@bbq-brethren.com