When evaluating nominees, the Baking Hall of Fame Selection Committee historically focused on a candidate’s professional achievements, character, education and other attributes. For 2024, the committee narrowed its focus to a single criterion: positive impact on the baking industry.

“This makes it easier for the nominator to zoom in on the most important and most relevant aspects of their candidate’s contributions to the industry,” noted Rowdy Brixey, the committee’s chairman and president of Brixey Engineering Inc. “It’s about ‘positive’ impact, not just impact, on the baking industry and not just any industry. Otherwise, you can get distracted by factors and achievements that are important but not as big in this industry as in other industries.”

While contribution to associations and other factors are important, Mr. Brixey stressed that the nomination should also answer this question: Why should their candidates be in the Baking Hall of Fame?

“We’re looking for a story focused solely on their positive impact versus historical data points, such as starting a company or building a plant,” Mr. Brixey explained. “Those are great achievements, but every growing company has done them. We want to know the impact they had on the industry outside of building a company and a brand. The more specifics, the more impactful the nomination.”

He advised nominators to describe the positive impact to the industry in detail and provide supporting materials like news articles, videos and letters of recommendation.

“The nomination should be almost like you’re making a movie or writing a biography,” Mr. Brixey said. “It needs to show the achievements and be engaging. Likewise, the letters of recommendation shouldn’t simply say, ‘I support the nomination of the person,’ but they should corroborate the candidate’s positive impact on the industry as a supplier, coworker, mentor or even a competitor.”

The letters should also explain why people support the nomination instead of stating they simply support the candidate.

“Tell a compelling story that sheds further light on the person being nominated,” Mr. Brixey said. “How did the candidate positively impact you or others in the baking industry?”

He encouraged nominators to visit the Baking Hall of Fame’s page on asbe.org and read the short biographies of the more than 100 previous inductees.

“Each of them tells a story about the difference they made and why they were inducted, and people can use them as a guideline to fill out your nomination,” Mr. Brixey said. “I don’t know of any better way you can get condensed, consolidated tips than to read those biographies. It will make a huge improvement to new nominations or previous nominations that didn’t make it into the Hall of Fame.”

He urged previous nominators to provide additional supporting documentation and letters of recommendation that better describe the candidate for the committee to consider for next year’s class.

This year’s induction ceremony will be at the American Society of Baking’s BakingTech, during a luncheon on Feb. 29 in Chicago.

This article is an excerpt from the February 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire special report on Baking Hall of Fame, click here.