Its Quiet on this Board

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thommo
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Its Quiet on this Board

Post by thommo »

Where is everyone?
cheers
12x7
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by 12x7 »

Lots of lurkers
Davo
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Davo »

Many Boards like this have suffered the onset of Facebook, not only BBQ forums but many of the traditional forums have been deserted in favour of Facebook and Instagram etc.
This used to be a very active board, we were the biggest BBQ forum in Australia once but people come and people go....we still have a few good members here so you'll generally get your questions answered most the time.

People like the idea of being able to post pictures up quick n easy whereas with forums theres photo sizes and quotas which can be a bit of a pain. The downside is that with forums like Facebook, your picture and subject often gets lost in the wilderness and is not always easy to find later on.

Cheers

Davo
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thommo
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by thommo »

Davo wrote: Thu Feb 21, 2019 5:59 am Many Boards like this have suffered the onset of Facebook, not only BBQ forums but many of the traditional forums have been deserted in favour of Facebook and Instagram etc.
This used to be a very active board, we were the biggest BBQ forum in Australia once but people come and people go....we still have a few good members here so you'll generally get your questions answered most the time.

People like the idea of being able to post pictures up quick n easy whereas with forums theres photo sizes and quotas which can be a bit of a pain. The downside is that with forums like Facebook, your picture and subject often gets lost in the wilderness and is not always easy to find later on.

Cheers

Davo
I got a private message with a link to another forum, maybe that explains why its not busy here.
Seems a tad shifty to me.
Thank you for the replies.
Cheers
BBQ-Dad
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by BBQ-Dad »

thommo wrote: Wed Feb 20, 2019 12:14 pm Where is everyone?
cheers
Out having a BBQ?

But, in all seriousness, yes, it's a ghost town in here.

I also do not see many lurkers. Anytime I drop by the number of viewers is very low. Like, almost none most of the time.

I do agree with the posting pictures hassle. It is a PITA and detracts from the ease of posting new content. I'm not certain, but I believe there is a php (the forum web language) plug in that can be installed by the forum owner which provides a simple posting option - it compresses pictures as they upload. It's on other forums I visit.
Davo
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Davo »

I'll ask Paulr The forum owner about that plug-in, if we can get photos compressed automatically...that would help a lot.

I'm sorry it's quiet in here, a bit ghost townish I know, many from here have gone and made their own forums, some who were high profile got others to follow leaving this place barren...I've tried to build it up again but I think it's gone too far.

It is what it is.....only members can get this place going again but when the owner doesn't bother much.....theres not too much hope for the place.....I'm the only original one here..... :(

We still get a lot of new members sign up and I activate them, but not many of them post anything at all or maybe one or two posts and that's it.

Davo
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BBQ-Dad
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by BBQ-Dad »

IMO, new user engagement is key. New users need to feel welcome. A couple of ideas to try:

- send a welcome PM to each new user. Just a simple, hi, great to have you here, tell us about yourself (link to thread, see next point)

- have a introduce yourself thread with a template. Questions like BBQ used, cooking style, best and worst BBQ experience, how'd you learn to cook on a BBQ, etc.

- recruit a half dozen regulars to be the welcoming committee... Just a few regulars to reply, comment and engage when the new user posts. Once the interaction starts, just let it roll then

- reduce the 'weber is best' tone and influence. Plenty of other options, styles and cooking approaches. Whether intended or not, the comments on my post felt very pro Weber to the point of getting marketing ... As an example, I rebutted the whole 'need two gas bottles' and 'burn gas like a V8' ... I accept different opinions, but, the inference from my initial engagement was anything other than a Weber is inferior.

I took the time to post a detailed review and information because I had used this forum in my research. I like to give back. There was a lot of misinformation on here, especially about the eBay type BBQs I was researching. The whole Australian Gas Approval number but fact to BS and I thought it important for others to be aware of significant savings available.

Good luck building the community on here. I don't know the details, but I'll have a guess that those who left to start other forums or groups (Facebook etc.) will have done so because of the tone and style of engagement and interaction on here in the past.

Every ghost town just needs a new gold rush. What's that going to be for this forum?
Bill44
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Bill44 »

I'll tell the truth that everyone is walking around. This great forum was rooted because the owner of the forum let a mate drown the place pushing his product. This led to faction fights and the place virtually disintegrated because people like me who got sick of the bullshit went to other places where this product wasn't rammed down your throat on every new thread that someone opened. i just drop by now and then to see what is smouldering in the ruins.
Davo is a great bloke and I don't know why he still worries about this place after all the work he put in was ruined by the owner who in all my time on this place never seemed to give a stuff what happened.
Bill
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Davo
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Davo »

Bill44 wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 7:52 am I'll tell the truth that everyone is walking around. This great forum was rooted because the owner of the forum let a mate drown the place pushing his product. This led to faction fights and the place virtually disintegrated because people like me who got sick of the bullshit went to other places where this product wasn't rammed down your throat on every new thread that someone opened. i just drop by now and then to see what is smouldering in the ruins.
Davo is a great bloke and I don't know why he still worries about this place after all the work he put in was ruined by the owner who in all my time on this place never seemed to give a stuff what happened.
Yep Bill44, that's pretty much it and is what had happened.....oh and by the way, that product wasn't Weber it was a Wood Pellet grill called Yoder and the Importer who has also abandoned the place because theres no-one to market to now....but yep...it kind of exploded, members fought and members moved away, 3 separate forums were made from members out of this forum....before facebook came along...but some of those forums not going great either, I'm a member of all of them and one has all but collapsed, even quieter than here, another might have a post on it every couple of days but the last forum has all the members from this forum and that's where they are today, some still come here and I appreciate that, not to rubbish what has gone on here but to help along, members like 12 x7 has been great here helping our new members, Lovey who still helps doing some light moderating work here at times Bill 44 comes here sometimes...all are welcome. We are still getting a healthy list of new memers join up, some post some don't....I practically activate all new memberships so I know whos coming in and keeping the spammers out....I do this by using who-is which tells me where they are posting from....we don't allow those from quite a few countries that just want to spam the forums but a few tricky ones still sneak in...but rare.

As for me....even though I wasn't the owner, it was my baby so to speak, I was the 3rd person to sign up when the owner got me on another forum....During the massive war on here, I tried to walk away many times but couldn't but I think it's getting too hard to re-ignite now, I'm trying to keep it together but theres no-one to help me here....and to be honest, I don't think I have the energy and motivation to go on much longer......I don't BBQ much these days because I've moved around a fair bit the last 10 ears and I've lost a lot of my friend and contact base....so...there you have it.

Should I walk away and let this joint breath it's last breath....or try to rebuild.

BBQ Dad, I've taken on much of what you've written and yeah I do come over to be very Weber fan-boyish but that's mostly the only BBQs I've cooked on, I've always strived to buy the best I can because if you buy quality, it's going to last a long time so when this forum began back in 07, there wasn't the variety like Komados and offsets and Pellet grills etc that's around today, the BBQ product list in Australia has exploded in the past 5 years that it's almost to the point of saturation.

Ok about the Internet offerrings, I'll admit that it's not the same today as back at the time I just wrote about, much of the BBQs sold on ebay weren't of great quality back then, as few earlier members we had bought from ebay only to have major design issues and substandard product, oh they all looked nice, big and shiney but were very questionable. Even some of the Gas BBQs sold from BBQs Galore at the time were of questionable quality but that's all changed now, in a short 5 years, the standards have become very high....but they still can't do what Weber has been able to do and that is to design a BBQ that will safely high heat grill with the lid down and many BBQs due to the way they are ventilated still can't do and it's because of the world wide Patent on design, they are able to get hot because the heat is under the hood, they can vent and can do this on lower comparable gas power and consumption than regular BBQs and that is why I wrote about the Masport I owned a few years ago, being a 6 burner, went through a 9kg gas cylinder like a V8 Supercar....I still maintain that and it's wise to have at least a small standby 4kg at least. The Masport was a well built and solid BBQ, I can't take that away from it but there were a few design issues I still had troubles with like the flame tamers, Upside down V-channel pieces that went over the burners, the problem I found was that the fats used to slide down the Stainless steel V channels and then when it got to the end, used to fold up under the lip of the channel where the damn fire was and then catch on fire.....they flame tamers didn't go down far enough to keep fats away from the fire....things like that.

If I walk into any BBQ shop today, much of it's very specialised now, it had to be and the staff have to be very knowledgeable because of so many different types of BBQ and whilst they all cook food, they all do it differently, not like buying a car, whether it's a ute, SUV or sports, they are still cars with variants but BBQs all have different techniques to use them to get the best out of them. China has also come a long way in it's quality...it had to improve but they are as you've proven a worthwhile consideration these days BBQ Dad. I'll also take on some of your suggestions too BBQ Dad, thankyou for your input.


Cheers

Davo
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BBQ-Dad
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by BBQ-Dad »

Davo wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:51 am
....but they still can't do what Weber has been able to do and that is to design a BBQ that will safely high heat grill with the lid down ...
I 100% agree there are some dangerous BBQs out there. But, as you say design has come a long way.

I 100% disagree with your statement above though as there are plenty of lid down models equal to or IMHO better than a Weber.

Horses for courses.

And, as for needing two gas bottles on the bigger 4 or 6 burner non Weber style BBQS... Mate, seriously give it a rest. A gas bottle on a Weber can run out at anytime too, so it's wise to have two for ANY gas BBQ. Whether that is another 9kg or smaller 4.5kg doesn't matter.

And, while we're on that subject again, you do not use all 4 or 6 burners at once, and if used, is rarely for long. Once my plates are hot, I'm rarely above low on two burners for cooking.

I totally understand you like your Weber, and we like many use BBQ a differently. Each to there own I say ... But, sorry, this whole gas burner other brands need two bottles is doing my head in... As I wrote above and previously... ANY bbq can run out at anytime so.a spare bottle is always handy.
Davo
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Davo »

BBQ-Dad wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 10:16 am
Davo wrote: Sun Feb 24, 2019 9:51 am
....but they still can't do what Weber has been able to do and that is to design a BBQ that will safely high heat grill with the lid down ...
I 100% agree there are some dangerous BBQs out there. But, as you say design has come a long way.

I 100% disagree with your statement above though as there are plenty of lid down models equal to or IMHO better than a Weber.

Horses for courses.

And, as for needing two gas bottles on the bigger 4 or 6 burner non Weber style BBQS... Mate, seriously give it a rest. A gas bottle on a Weber can run out at anytime too, so it's wise to have two for ANY gas BBQ. Whether that is another 9kg or smaller 4.5kg doesn't matter.

And, while we're on that subject again, you do not use all 4 or 6 burners at once, and if used, is rarely for long. Once my plates are hot, I'm rarely above low on two burners for cooking.

I totally understand you like your Weber, and we like many use BBQ a differently. Each to there own I say ... But, sorry, this whole gas burner other brands need two bottles is doing my head in... As I wrote above and previously... ANY bbq can run out at anytime so.a spare bottle is always handy.
You are correct in saying any Gas BBQ can run out....even a Weber....all I'm saying is that in my experience and what i'm used to is that the BBQ I had with multiple burners went through a 9kg much quicker than my Weber Qs and the V8 supercar thing was first used by me as a slight attempt of some humour by using it as a comparison. My Family Q for example is using a 9kg tank, it's lasted me pretty much all of summer, mostly because I hadn't cooked on it as much as usual but because of the hot ambient temps this season, it doesn't take long to get up to heat and I don't have to have it quite as high a temp. Was only using the term as comparison but I mostly always have 2 tanks on hand, a 9 % 4 kg. My Current 9kg can't be filled anymore, it's just passed it's 10 year useby date so i'll go and buy another 2 shortly. The Gasmate ones from Bunnings are pretty good and reasonably priced. I didn't mean to do your head in BBQ Dad :lol: :lol:
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Bill44
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Bill44 »

At 74 I've well and truly seen the years of shit BBQ equipment and totally agree with Davo's opinion of Weber. I doubt that there is a BBQ supplier in Aus who has the warranty and back up service equal to Weber. I can personally speak of one very large franchise master base that boasts and advertises that they hold in stock spare parts for every BBQ they sell. From personal experience I can attest that this is BULLSHIT, and it was only after threatening to spread the word on this forum, when it was in its heyday, and going to Fair Trading as it was then, that they gave up and actually sent me a brand new BBQ, and didn't want the old one back, it was the only way they could give me a simple cast iron grill that only suited that particular model BBQ.
I will admit that there are some BBQ's that initially give some models of Weber a run for their money, initially being the key word. I've seen some of those with a few years under their belt and you can see where the Weber quality comes into play.
Part of my gear is a Weber kettle that is nearly 40 years old, I bought it second hand and very neglected to the point where I bought a new grill for it, and just recently the charcoal holders gave out and were renewed. It does everything that a brand new one can do except it does not have the fancy ash collector underneath.
Bill
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12x7
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by 12x7 »

Things go in cycles.

Ebay has changed from people selling stuff to businesses.

The Facebook fad is starting to die as people move to the next fad.

The height of the forum era has passed.

Even on the busiest local BBQ forums it is only the core posters that are still there from a few years back.

When it comes to BBQ brands that has lasted over ten years, there's only a few left standing. Anyone who's a regular BBQ poster will more than likely have one of these brands. Most of the brands come and go on the whim of the marketing department.

When this forum was starting there wasn't a lot of local BBQ information around. Nowadays there's lots of information so you can do a google search, find what you want without asking anyone. eg a search of this forum will cover just about any BBQ question you have except for the "what do you think about this recent brand"

How much things cost has changed. eg the price of red meat. You have to really think hard about throwing a t-bone on the bbq with the price you get charged. The cost of a BBQ has dramatically fallen too. eg charcoal kettles, gassers etc. They are now low enough so you can buy and a few years later throw it away and get whatever is available.

How you buy things today has changed, You can drop into Aldi, buy a chicken and charcoal Roti to cook it on. If the TV is broken, buy one of those on the way out too.
Smokey
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Smokey »

Hi yall, :) Yes this was a great place,Had a lot of fun and met face to face some real characters. It got so big that it imploded. So many business interests fighting for space and no commander in chief laying down any real rule. Only those passionate ones who stood up and complained got banned. I was one of those so I walked.
Nowadays forums seem to work where there is a business interest or run by a business who is constantly attending to its content.
But for a hobbyist like Davo and myself who have to go out and work all day, It becomes difficult to give a forum what it needs.

That said, I feel that even a small forum such as I run is part of a community service. Those people there are close and in the past years we have shared much more than just BBQ. In my mind this is way more important than being the biggest kid on the block'

There will still be a need for traditional forums. And for BBQ forums in Australia, I see a constant requirement to adapt , Merge or reinvent. And for this forums owner, To Divest.
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
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Davo
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Re: Its Quiet on this Board

Post by Davo »

Both good posts by 12 x 7 and Smokey....

Yeah it's many things and mistakes made but you can't turn back the clock, before this forum, there was no other BBQ forum in this country, the Internet was still relatively young and there was not much around except the usual snag burners and Weber Kettles....not much in the way of offsets, Komados, pellet cookers etc. so when this forum was young, there was excitement when it came to some thing new.....but I misjudged when it came to the pelletpooper, this concept brought on a whole new challenge,......there was only Traeger available and that was in a firesale so to speak...before then...never knew they existed.
We learn many techniques on this forum thanks mostly to Urbangriller our resident chef, we learnt a bit about food science and why was it so type discussions....but then an outsider came in with a new toy and tried to sell the members straight from the bat.....I couldn't at the time understand why everyone was so against this guy who was about to import new Pellet BBQs....so I'm not running away from my misjudgement of why I tried to protect this guy...but I didn't realise at the time that it was the beginning of the end for this forum. It was an extremely stressful time and it got away on me and everyone went on attack mode :shock:

Fast forward to now...well we still take in new members, there's still a lot to read here and whilst it might look like a ghost town...there are a few of us spooks that still haunt the joint...so it's not fully dead :lol: I'm wishing and hoping for a new Urbangriller to turn up :lol: But if the members here that are reading this want this forum to continue and make it their home....then I can't do it on my own...i need good people who will help rebuild it.....more of a discussion forum rather than full-on knowledge.

The difference with these types of traditional forums is that whatever is written can be found however old the post is.......Facebook on the other hand...i can't even find what i wrote in an answer 3 weeks ago. I noticed some of the new members have brought up topics that began a few years back.

But as what was said before....the era of forums are changing....what will be the new facebook or online interest group?


Davo
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