Add me to the list of people who question why folks who aren't members of the AHA get a say in any of this.
AHA membership has historically not been a requirement for entry to the NHC. As far as I'm aware of, the only benefit of being an AHA member in the past with regards to the NHC was a discounted entry cost and early registration (hypothetically).
There were 2,187 entrants in the NHC last year, with the proceeds going to benefit the AHA and their membership. People who say that non-AHA members shouldn't have a voice in this are disregarding the fact that non-members were charged $17 an entry last year. That was one of, if it not the highest, entry fees for a single entry to a homebrew competition last year.
Yes the AHA and NHC have experienced growing pains. I was one of the folks who was shut out of entering the 2013 competition because my regional judging center was slammed with entries. It sucked.
I feel for you man. A lot of people got shut out entirely while some people were able to register the full limit. The reason this happened is because the AHA underestimated the demand and the server and software crashed almost immediately.
But the solution to the overwhelming demand is not as simple as adding servers. All beers entered need to be judged and judged competently. There's no way the AHA could throw money at that problem - the pool of BJCP judges is somewhat beyond their control.
It is obvious that some entrants are going to be frustrated and disappointed until the supply of judges catches up with the demand of entries. I can't think of one good reason to give benefit to a brewer who refuses to support the AHA at the expense of a brewer who does support the AHA.
I honestly think the AHA is going to have a very hard time finding enough qualified judges for all the regional competitions, if that's what they're doing this year. As a I said a couple pages back, judges are volunteers and are not paid or compensated for their time/expenses and not all judges are AHA members. Most judges I know, including myself, would not go out of their way to judge a competition that they themselves could not enter. If the regional was held in Raleigh, I'd likely judge just for the experience points, but I wouldn't go out of my way and I suspect that most judges would feel the same.
Now I did see on the AHA forums that judges/volunteers for this year might be getting a "free" entry to next years NHC which would be a good carrot.
When you're dealing with a 750-entry competition, you need to have around 75-80 judges plus stewards plus organizers just to handle the crush. The AHA also puts the emphasis on having higher ranking judges at these events - with the exception of the 2nd round, I question whether if that will be feasible at all the regional locations (again if that's how they're doing it for 2014).
I saw some complaints about the short version BJCP scoresheet which is what I believe they're using for this year's NHC. We used the short version for the NC State Fair and as a judge I really liked it. It was easier to get through a larger volume of entries with a small pool of judges (and non-BJCP judges). The point of the state fair was to determine winners not to necessarily provide quality feedback. I personally wouldn't be thrilled to spend $12 an entry (based on 2013 fees) to get back a short version scoresheet especially when the AHA specifically wants high ranking judges involved. The short version sheet kind of defeats the need for high ranking judges as well...
The AHA is right to support AHA members before it courts non-AHA members. If you want the benefits of AHA membership, become an AHA member - it's just that simple.
That being said, the AHA would be smart to work quickly to ensure that all AHA members CAN submit entries to the NHC competition. If I continue to get shut out, I'll need to rethink renewing my membership. I'm as charitable as the next guy - but $50 is 50lbs of 2-Row.
Well like I mentioned above, being an AHA member hasn't ever been a requirement to enter the NHC. The membership benefits (Pub benefits, zymurgy, a book, knowing you're supporting an organization) didn't include unrestricted entry to the NHC in the past.
Honestly, changes needed to made after last year and this is probably the best way to do it. The competition is just too big for the AHA to manage and still keep everyone happy. I think this does "cheapen" it though as placing or winning is just beating out other AHA members. It's essentially going to be a very large club-only competition. I hope that it goes smoothly this year though and that the AHA reconsiders making the NHC as an exclusive event for their membership for 2015.