Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Cory Ander on November 17, 2010, 12:54 PM
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I find it interesting to note some recent threads about why people join this forum. I think it is in the forum's interest to understand why members join and, therefore, what they expect from the forum. Then the forum can then attempt (presumably!) to address most members needs.
Please add any comments you may have, substantiating your personal reasons for joining the forum, below.
Regards,
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Here is my "below" part, based on my answer "Some or all of the above".
My original reasons are lost in the mists of time, but it is 99.9% certain that I was searching for something curry-related using Google and landed on the site. Once my interest was piqued, I felt motivated to join. Now I enjoy participating in the discussions, seeking advice, and occasionally offering advice where I feel that it could be helpful. Although I have tried very very few of the total number of recipes posted, Peterandjen's Pilau Rice stands out in my memory as being as important (to me) as Kris Dhillon. Before Peterandjen, my pilau rice was rubbish; post Peterandjen, it is occasionally indistinguishable from the real thing :) Now if only I could find as reliable a recipe for chapatti, so I could stop relying on Elephant Atta Chapatti and make my own, I would be in Heaven !
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Hi Phil,
Thanks for your reply. I've edited out the "some of" in the 7th option because it doesn't really make much sense :-X
However, I understand and appreciate your reply in the context in which it was originally posted 8)
Incidentally, I notice that you joined the forum around 2006, made a few posts, then stopped posting, for around 3 years, until recently? Why was that, if I can ask?
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I haven't selected an option but in the first instance, people join simply to access the information that can not be seen without doing so i.e. recipes etc.
I joined because the site was recommended to me by Chris and upon viewing the forum, seemed like the sort of place I wanted to take part in actively.
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I haven't selected an option
Why not Axe? Isn't there one (or two) that fits for you?
in the first instance, people join simply to access the information that can not be seen without doing so i.e. recipes etc
Thanks, I've added that as an option (though it was otherwise covered by "none of the above")
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Only because I felt that there wasn't an option that best fit my reasons for joining since you removed "some of the above".
Since some areas are out of bounds to non members, I had to join to see what was there. This is why I made my initial comment. Unlike what unfortunately appears to be the norm, I chose to get involved actively from that point forward, for the following reasons:
1 Familiarise myself with the recipes, techniques, spices etc. involved in cooking curry.
2 Better my ability to cook curry
3 Join in the pursuit of perfecting curry at home
4 Talk about curry
5 Talk about food in general
6 Enjoy banter with other members
7 Meet (if only virtually) new people
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Incidentally, I notice that you joined the forum around 2006, made a few posts, then stopped posting, for around 3 years, until recently? Why was that, if I can ask?
What usually happens is that something crops up which requires 100% of my attention, either at work (until I retired) or in my private life. At that point, I more-or-less retreat from all of my other activities (such as participating in this forum) and concentrate solely on the task in hand. When that task is complete, I tend to find that I have moved on (figuratively speaking) from whatever I was doing previously, and start afresh with something new. But of course my other interests continue to lie dormant, and something usually arises to trigger them off again at some point in the future. So you might see messages from me on fora devoted to cycling, satellite television, equitation, linguistics, gardening or whatever; but just as here, you will also see that at some point I just disappear off the horizon completely, only to return a few years later when something has happened to re-awaken my interest. Does this strike a chord with anyone else, or am I a bit odd in this cyclic change-of-focus behaviour ?
** Phil.
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Bit of a pointless poll IMO......Considering it's a curry forum, anyone who signed up is obviously interested in recipes (technique and ingredients are a part of the recipe, quite obviously)...the fact is if people were not interested in curry they probably wouldn't sign up though luckily this board caters for all of the above options and long may it last! :)
I don't think it matters particularly why members sign up as long as they are good members who treat other members with respect and act within the forum rules.
Friendly chit-chat/banter between members be it on or off topic does give the board a friendlier, more welcoming atmosphere too and can lead to new members joining in with the forum since we have heard alot of members say they didn't post for a long time as they "didn't feel qualified/experienced enough" yet quite alot have responded to bantering posts (check out the welcome section - Razor and Axe are great with the "meet and greet" and I'm certain that without such posts, alot of new members would never get beyond their first "Hi" post).
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I think i selected one wrong option, not happy :'(
i think i selected "(cos I'm not too interested in recipes, etc)"
OMG sorry I though it read "(cos I'm too interested in recipes, etc)"
can i have another go pls ?
I should change my handle to "cupid stunt" asap too :D
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Well, I have selected options, to learn recipes, ingredients and techniques and to Chit Chat about curries. I would like to add to that , chit chat with like minded people on a friendly, welcoming forum.
I would also like to think, that we could slightly drift off topic now and again without gettin a bollockin, just as long as it stays friendly.
I would also like to see people use the emotion symbols more often, and people try to understand them. All to often, something can be said, and the reaction that you get, you'd think that you had just run off with their wife :(
This is the only forum that I'm active on, albeit that I'm a member of a few. That suggests that, it's pretty good as it is, without any real need for change.
Ray :)
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i joined this forum for one reason and that was to access the recipes and methods and while I really enjoy trying new recipes and ideas I do get a guilt trip when I don't offer anything as good in return but I do try to take part as best I can.
I do try and give feedback when I try to replicate what I read here but have to admit I tend to only open my mouth when it's positive feedback and tend to not say much when it isn't what I expected :-X and the reason for that is that it's too easy to get into a pi$$ing match on here unfortunately ::)
On the whole I can't think of a forum that I enjoy being part of more than this one and the reason my post count is so low is because I can't see the point in speaking for no reason other than to hear myself speak :-X
Rob.
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Bit of a pointless poll IMO
It's not "a bit pointless" at all. As I've already explained, it is an attempt to better understand why people join this forum and, therefore, what they expect to glean from it.
No doubt peoples' reasons are many and varied, but it's always dangerous (and, I think, pretty ignorant) to dare to presume what is "obvious" and what is not. The only clear way is to ask!
We all know that, out of 14000 or so members, only a handful of members post regularly (if at all). In my opinion, the views of those that do swamp the views of those that don't. This is an opportunity for those that don't to have their say (if they can be bothered).
Having understood why people join, the forum can then either strive to meet their expectations or, at the very least, individual members can then be more sensitive to other members' needs besides their own.
Otherwise, the forum is likely to always reflect the input and views of only the very small number of "more vocal" members.
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after joining I realised I am taking part in an important experiment that interests people world wide. namely ,re creating bir food at home. I joined as i had to, but i continue to be an active member as its one of the few worthy sites on the whole frecking internet ! I normally avoid most internet shite ! facebook, what a load of old crap !
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We all know that, out of 14000 or so members, only a handful of members post regularly (if at all). In my opinion, the views of those that do swamp the views of those that don't. This is an opportunity for those that don't to have their say (if they can be bothered).
Not sure if they swamp the views of those who don't because if they don't post then we don't know what their views are. It remains to be seen if those who seldom post will take up this opportunity to have their say.
I agree with others about the benefits of trying our recipes, giving feedback, posting recipes (I am not the most prolific of recipe posters but I have done a fair few now), and chatting away about all things, so I am in the "all of the above" category. I would say that my cooking has improved since joining the forum so that's what keeps me involved. I don't expect to discover anything earth shattering, but I do expect to progress by increments and that's fine by me.
I like the idea that the forum just continues and reflects the opinions of those chipping in. It means the forum can go in a number of different directions, off at tangents, round in circles or a combination of all of these at the same time. That's what keeps it fresh but more importantly driven by the members themselves.
So for me the question isn't so much about why people join but why they remain active members and my reasons for that are noted above.
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It remains to be seen if those who seldom post will take up this opportunity to have their say.
Yes it does, and I hope they will......
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HI
The reason i joined was that for years i had been making curry but the only recipe books i had were more of a home style cooking than BIR cooking so when i came across this site i thought i could learn allot about restaurant style cooking and i was not wrong since i joined i have learned so much from using bases to spice mixes to basic techniques so i thank everyone on the site for that.
Jamie
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Perhaps an important question to ask, of all the people that do join, how many find the forum to live up to it's expectation and how many actually stay with the principal ideas of cooking BIR with all of it's separate processes?
Whilst I am keen to move forward and learn the why and how of BIR cooking, I rarely find myself cooking each and every process in advance, choosing only to have a pre-made base in the freezer and adapting recipes to suit a one cook process. I know some of us do a similar thing. Perhaps we should have a section for these alternative "cheat" recipes.
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So far, accessing recipes, ingredients and techniques seems to be the dominant motivator for joining the forum (at 41%) rather than chit chat about curry related issues (at 10%) or chit chat about none curry related issues (at 7%)
Some join for all reasons (at 12%)
So far, no one seems to join the forum to access stuff they otherwise can't (at 0%)
It would be great to get many more views on reasons for joining the forum (particularly from the less active of our members).......
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So far, accessing recipes, ingredients and techniques seems to be the dominant motivator for joining the forum (at 41%) rather than chit chat about curry related issues (at 10%) or chit chat about none curry related issues (at 7%)
Some join for all reasons (at 12%)
So far, no one seems to join the forum to access stuff they otherwise can't (at 0%)
It would be great to get many more views on reasons for joining the forum (particularly from the less active of our members).......
Good to see you back Cory!!! :)
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So far, accessing recipes, ingredients and techniques seems to be the dominant motivator for joining the forum (at 41%) ... So far, no one seems to join the forum to access stuff they otherwise can't (at 0%)
But if you can't "access recipes, ingredients and techniques" without joining the forum, surely this automatically means that those same people are joining the forum "to access stuff they otherwise can't", does it not ?
** Phil.
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Hi Phil,
I think you're correct, everybody who joins the forum, has to, to enable them to have full access. Maybe it didn't need to be one of the options as it really is a "given"?
The way it panned out for me was;
1, to gain full access,
2, to learn recipes and techniques,
3, to "chit chat" or discuss recipes,
4, to "chit chat" with like mined people about curries, BIR's and TA's,
5, to "friendly" debate recipes and techniques from different regions,
6, to have a bit of friendly banter with other members
I put them in that order because, that's the way I feel my time on cr0 has developed.
I've got to admit, I really would like to see a greater contribution from our quieter members, if only to get to know them a bit better and hopefully, uncover a competent cook in presence.
I can understand certain members reluctance to post, especially when you have a few prolific posters, like myself, commenting in every single post! It's almost as if they (the quiet ones) see us as the "experts" and doubt their own contribution.
Of course, we are not experts by any means and I think that we would do well to remember that! The "meet and greet" introduction for me is one of the most important areas on the whole forum. How a new member is welcomed could well determine how much of a contribution, that member puts into the forum. A simple "welcome to the forum and good luck" is often all it takes!
Ray :)
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I think all four 'access' choices could have been incorporated as one.
I'd like to see a friendlier atmosphere on here both within the serious topics and especially in the general chat sections for both curry and general chat section. This will almost certainly allow new members to feel more comfortable about posting and perhaps encourage them to take part in the more serious topics.
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But if you can't "access recipes, ingredients and techniques" without joining the forum, surely this automatically means that those same people are joining the forum "to access stuff they otherwise can't", does it not ?
I'm not the one ticking the boxes Phil. I was simply summarising which boxes people have ticked so far. And no one (yet) has ticked the box "To access things I can't access without joining" as one of their main (two) reasons for joining the forum.
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No one (yet) has ticked the box "To access things I can't access without joining" as one of their main (two) reasons for joining the forum.
Not would I expect anyone to, because the more specific reasons for which people might join have already appeared in the questionnaire. I'm sure you know at least as much about questionnaire design as I do, Cory, but in this case I think that the answers we get are not as revealing as they might be if all questions were mutually exclusive.
** Phil.
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I would expect someone, whose (one of two) primary reason(s) for joining the forum is to access information they otherwise couldn't access, to tick that box.
They wouldn't really know what additional information (recipes or otherwise) they could access without joining and seeing.
Sorry Phil, I don't claim to be a statistician and I don't claim the questions to be perfect. Nonetheless, I wanted a simple way to find out why people join the forum.
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Well I got lured in by the promise of sex, drugs and indian food, unfortunately two are sadly lacking but at least I got one out of the three ;)
Rob.
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Hi
Canicant, if your doing it right, you should be getting two out of three.
Regards
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I joined years ago as I loved BIR food and wanted to make a curry at home. In the years before joining I had half heartedly tried my hand at this (cookery books, recipes from a friend of a friend who apparently worked at a BIR) with zero success.
I had heard a base sauce was important, but had know idea where to start.
I stumbled across this website, and to access the base sauces you had to join - so i did. I spent weeks pouring over all the posts going years back. Had a go at a few recipes. They weren't great (I didn't have the technique or follow the recipes properly) but were a vast improvement over anything I'd made before.
I now make the same recipes and they are great!
However, I feel my experiences really offer nothing new to this forum that hasn't already been covered. My curries taste brilliant, but are still missing that last 5%. I think I really expected to find a secret ingredient, but from reading all the posts it seemed very unlikely.
I was/am amazed at the dedication that some of you have to getting that last 5%, which makes me think it isn't really possible at home! If it was I'm sure one of you would have cracked it by now.I suspect it's something to do with the scaling of recipes in BIR, or reclaimed oil or using bhaji oil or any number of things that aren't easily reproduced at home.
Saying that I really love my home curries, and to friends and family they are better than the real thing!
So in summary, I really appreciate all the info on this website and it's helped me make great curries. I don't have much to contribute that hasn't already been covered, but like popping back in the hope I'm wrong and someone has cracked it for the last 5%
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Well I got lured in by the promise of sex, drugs and indian food, unfortunately two are sadly lacking but at least I got one out of the three ;)
Rob.
Maybe a bit o'hashish is the thing we're all missing, Rob ;D well...some of us lol
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Domi..... I never said which one of the three I got from here :-*
Rob