There tends to be a polarizing effect from the use of those "buttons"...I hope we all feel like LTBBQ is different than the other forums out there Thom.
We want to preserve the feeling of one big happy, fun, back-yard BBQ. We don't focus on competition here as a priority. We do not avoid or dis-parage it at all - it's just that competition is not THE yardstick by which we measure a successful cook
. It can be a very useful one - and we want to encourage our members to grow in experience and confidence to compete - if that is what they want. ( In fact it is in the plans to start working on the forum section for competition talk )
Tho it shouldn't - the competition oriented boards often have divisive, and polarizing threads. Sometimes the feeling extends throughout the site. I just want to make sure that we don't drive away a lot of folks due to any sort of adversarial feel.
I am not picking on any site in particular - we all know which ones that we as individuals have visited and gotten that feeling from....
Ever notice this at the extreme upper right on every page? :
"BBQ is neither verb or noun. It is an experience, and best when shared with friends."
That is who we are!