.
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.

Quote from: Domi on November 17, 2010, 02:56 PM
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.

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 ! 

Quote from: Cory Ander on November 18, 2010, 01:16 AM
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.

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on November 18, 2010, 03:49 PM
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......

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

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.

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).......

Quote from: Cory Ander on November 20, 2010, 04:56 AM
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!!!

Quote from: Cory Ander on November 20, 2010, 04:56 AM
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.