I was just wondering if and why all my closest CC buddies have vanished... I even went into their profiles and suddenly their photos were all deleted. I went away for a few weeks, came back and they're gone...

I can reach them other ways, but I really enjoyed seeing them here. I can think of 3 or 4 off the top of my head that offered me invaluable advice when I was ready to make my business a legal one... without them, I don't know where I'd be today.

Where ever you are... you are sadly missed.

I've noticed it too. There was a big ban a week or two ago where several members were purged. Maybe they were part of that??

Pretty sad to see them go.

Are you serious? I don't think these friends would do anything intentional to get banned or hurt anyone...they've always been so helpful.
Honest, but helpful. I'm sorry to hear that if it's true...

Yes, but sometimes our "help" is another one's "attack". I wasn't on the day it happened, but I was told it was so petty. Quite unnecessary.

I know Jamie, Deb, Mike, Mensch...off the top of my head. Are those the ones you were talking about?

I'd rather not name names... out of respect for their privacy. They will not go unmissed...this is depressing...

They're defininately missed. They have helped so many people in so many ways.

I never would have made it through my first MONSTER 6-tier cake without their help, one offered to fly out and help me if I wanted... how cool is that!? The honesty meshed with wit (not sarcasm...it wasn't mean, just funny...) and humor got me through some pretty tough nights where I wanted to pull all my hair out... I'll have to call them at home and see how they are doing.

I feel you. I was missing that day too. It took me a while to find out what happened. One person finally wrote and they don't even know why they were banned.

This sort of thing has happened on other forums - and it is a real shame!

Has anybody looked at the Member List lately - only managed to browse through 50 pages but was amazed at the pages and pages of members with zero posts - whats this mean? why aren't these members purged?

LaBellaFlor ~ hey, is your signiture a reference to the Robert Jordan novel..? I love that series. Just wondering.

I don't know what happened, but I know some of the regulars are not on anymore. Some of them were brash, but that's what I liked. Honesty in it's purest form with a sense of humor. They were/are a wealth of information. More than once have I had a few of them help me trouble shoot a problem.

I'm sure the powers that be have their reasons though, even if we don't know what they are. Some things are better off not known.

what the heck happened?

Is this topic Taboo???

I was wondering the same thing.

I was too wondering where they all went. I wanted to pm DEB, but then I couldn't find her anymore. Is it bad to ask what happened??

Ya, thats to bad too, hope I never do whatever they did !

..

I searched the forums but couldnt find anything on this subject???

Shhhh, this subject may not be spoken of.
They are listening.

Yeah, honesty can be interpreted as attack for sure, people get very sensitive about caking it seems. And it is a real pity. I've missed the advice, I noticed that there has been a real drop in the volume of replies this last week and lots of expertise has been lost.

You never spoke to me. I was never here.

Gosh I could have sworn I just heard someone speak.Oh well, I guess it must have been the "Cake Whisperer"... either that or Im just crazy.

You're not crazy. This whole thing is kind of crazy.

I spoke to a few of them and I am still a bit confused, but it's not my call. In recent years I've been attacked both in PM's and in threads for the things I don't eat, and yet those members are still on this site... I'm sure they have their reasons for deactivating certain members, and I guess it's between the parties involved.

Just get people's email addresses now, so that when they disappear you'll still be able to find them. If I disappear...oooohohwwhooooo! (that was a ghostly whispering) Sometimes things happen and nobody's ever given an explanation that makes any sense, either. Oh well, I've emailed most of the people who were kicked off and they don't seem to be hurting for it

I've been a lurker for a couple of years now, but recently decided to join and participate.

I'd just like to say that I've seen this happen on other forums and it's a real shame.

If the most talented and experienced business owners all get banned then who are we to turn to for advice? You'd have to pay to get the counsel that these members handed out so unselfishly.

I know I can only speak for myself when I say that whenever I saw responses from any of the names you mentioned I always read and absorbed their great advice.

I too have noticed that posts are not getting the quality responses that they did when these members were here.

I feel like we've lost an invaluable wealth of knowledge. =-(

I think you guys need to read some of the stickied messages at the top of the forums and your questions will be answered.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-117741.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-661107-.html
In this thread Jackie said:

Ladies and Gentlemen of CakeCentral:

Over the last month or so there has been an unsettling increase in the volume and frequency of petty bickering in the forums.

This behavior is completely unacceptable and against the spirit of Cake Central.

The moderators and administrators are fed up with trying to keep up with this ugliness and trying to keep the peace.

Quite frankly, Heath and I are disgusted with the behavior of a handful of members and we are putting an end to it.

Consider this message fair notice to everyone. The leniency is over. We are going to start banning any member we feel is starting problems, provoking others, making snide remarks, or insulting other members.

I don't care if we have to ban 1000 users if that is what it takes to get this community back to focusing on cakes instead of inter-personal drama.

We are all supposed to be here to talk politely about cake, support each other, and lend a helping hand.

If you don't agree with someone, by all means.... disagree, but do it respectfully.

If someone asks for your constructive criticism, then give it... constructively.

If you find yourself unable to write a post, PM or response in a constructive, encouraging or supportive way then you need to walk away.

Remember, this community is based on values of caring, and generosity of spirit.

Focus on what you share in common, learn from what makes you different, support each other through struggles, and celebrate each others' success.

Yup Kathy read it and I still don't agree that this is the reason these members were "banned" or whatever it's called here.

I guess we're all entitled to our opinion on this.