AHA Governing Committee Meeting Summary: June 2022

Here are the notes from the annual in-person American Homebrewers Association Governing Committee (GC) meeting. This meeting took place in June 2022 during Homebrew Con (Pittsburgh).

GC Members Present:  Jen Blair, Matt Bolling, Sandy Cockerham, Chris Frey, Chris Hummert, Jill Marilley, Amy Martin, Melissa McCann, Gail Milburn, Doug Piper, Goose Steingass, Roxanne Westendorf

AHA Staff: Julia Herz, J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, Nancy Johnson, Jeff Guggenmos

Absent (but listening online): Shawna Cormier, Annie Johnson

Agenda of the meeting included:

• AHA and BA Overview
• GC Role
• GC Expectations
• Committee and Subcommittee Chairs and Charters
• GC Social Contract
• 2022 Yearly Plan and 2023 planning process
• GC Committee Report – June 2022
• Conflict of Interest Form
• Non-Disclosure Form
• Executive Director Job Description
• Homebrew Con / National Homebrew Competition Overview
• Executive Subcommittee Election Prep

General Announcements

• Julia Herz gave an overview of the current state of the American Homebrewers Association (AHA)
  • We currently stand at approximately 37,000 members.
  • We currently have 2700 domestic clubs and 300 international clubs affiliated with the AHA.
  • There are currently 377 clubs that have taken advantage of the club insurance program.
  • There are currently 630 local homebrew shops and 200 international homebrew shops associated with the AHA.
  • There are presently 2300 member deals that can be redeemed with AHA membership.  These are listed on the AHA website.
  • The breakdown between members who receive Zymurgy in print is 65% and the percentage of members that are E-members is 35%.
  • The AHA is part of the Brewers Association with the BA registered as a 501(c)(6) “not for profit” organization.

• Set up a “parking lot” for ideas that can be discussed and addressed at future meetings.
  • Review member deals program.
    • Look into the “Homebrew 101” discussion group on Facebook where there is a lot of Q&A about the various aspects of homebrewing.
    • Setting up a member demo profile and information on homebrewer levels of expertise to access appropriate levels of resources on the AHA website. 
    • Data on homebrewing practices.
    • Discuss the “how and why” with regard to industry and retailers.
    • Approach to membership.
    • Webinars.
    • Evolve Zymurgy to not just include “how” to brew but “why” to brew?  Idea is to include newer brewers without alienating the advanced brewers.

Committee Review

• The AHA GC is a standing committee of the Brewers Association.  In that committee we have one standing subcommittee.
  • Executive Subcommittee led by the GC chair and vice chair.
• Other subcommittees being proposed in 2022 are (which need to go through the process of BA staff approval, GC approval by consensus, and then BA Governance Committee approval):
  • Competition led by Sandy Cockerham and Gail Milburn
    • Events and Special Projects led by Shawna Cormier and Amy Martin with help from Chris Frey
    • DEI led by Roxanne Westendorf
    • Club Support led by Goose Steingass
    • Industry led by Jen Blair with help from Matt Bolling
• Subcommittee chairs will review the draft mission statements for their respective subcommittee which will be reviewed by the Executive Director and staff.
• As of now, the subcommittees will not have a staff member assigned to them.  This could change in the future.
• Training will be offered by the Executive Director for the various subcommittee chairs.
• Institute a Member Benefits subcommittee?
• Set up working groups to tackle various issues?
• Vetting of potential new subcommittee members to a subcommittee will be required by the GC and by Exec. before being confirmed.

Officer Nominations for Executive Subcommittee

• GC members desiring to serve as an officer, and thus a member of the Executive Subcommittee, (chair, vice-chair, secretary, and BA board members) can self-nominate for the respective office.  Elections will be held during the July GC meeting.
• The immediate past chair of the GC is a member of the Executive Subcommittee for a period of two years.
• Self-nominations are to be sent to the current Governing Committee Chair.
• AHA Executive Director requests that the GC Chair also hold one of the two AHA BA Board seats.
• GC Executive Subcommittee will vet nominations and suggest a slate of candidates for the 7/12 election requesting the GC approve the slate.

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