Getting A Little Boring Around Here....
Lounge By Jinkies Updated 16 Apr 2017 , 9:32pm by SandraSmiley
You have me rolling on the floor. (wiping tears form my eyes)
Quote by @carolinecakes on 4 minutes ago
You have me rolling on the floor. (wiping tears form my eyes)
See can't even spell correctly, laughing so hard. Should say "from" not "form"
@Jinkies oh my word I almost fell of my chair laughing :)
Quote by @Jinkies on 29 minutes ago
Ok, since we're all venting now, I have a pet peeve and it goes like this:
"Hi, I have an order for a 5 tiered wedding cake and I need some help. I need a good vanilla cake recipe and what kind of buttercream should I use? I've never done a tiered cake before so can someone tell me how to do that? The client wants to pick up the cake two weeks before the wedding, do you think the cake will still taste good? Will the cream cheese filling be ok because the cake won't fit in my fridge. Here's a pic of the cake they want, how much should I charge her for it? Any advice/help you can give is appreciated. I'm just a hobby baker and I have no clue what I'm doing, lol! TIA!!"
There, I said it, I feel better :)
Hahahahahaha!
I was proofreading an article I'm writing for American Cake Decorating for the Sept/Oct issue, and I used the phrase "crush their dreams" about five times. The article is about "managing customer expectations." ;)
As a hobby baker and relative newbie to this site, I don't have the history with the site that others do, but for me I was thrilled to find a place where inexperienced and experienced bakers - professional and amateur - could share experiences, seek and give feedback, ask silly questions etc.
I guess its inevitable there will always be the same old questions about things like pricing and maybe if there is a permanent place where advice on that thorny topic is given, people can be politely referred to it. I also think this should be a supportive and friendly place - but presumably no-one sets out to deliberately belittle or patronise someone else but the trouble with written comments is that you don't get the tone and intonation you would if you were talking to someone, so perhaps that where some of the 'misunderstandings' come from. If I ask for constructive feedback I'd like suggestions as to how I can improve, not slated because I'm a novice or have obviously cocked something up. I don't want to be made to feel useless/inadequate - not that I'm saying that has happened to me! As a hobby baker who is only doing stuff for family and friends its sometimes difficult to get a measure of how you are really doing because nearest and dearest often dont want to be critical, but I'd look to this forum to provide that 'reality check' but I don't want to be made to feel stupid - how is that going to help me improve. What I'd like is pointers on how to improve and where I might look for further guidance etc
I think like many I have found the glitches that seem to have plagued the site frustrating. Finding pages and pages - and more pages - of spam is frustrating and I would have thought easy enough to sort out. The inability to edit my own posts (still) is irritating, not being able to posts pictures and texts is also a pain - some of these things have hopefully now been resolved, but not all, and they are SO frustrating.
I guess the other thing for me is who is the site aimed at? Is is for ALL who enjoy baking or just professionals - in which I'll get my coat now!!
Just my two 'penneth! Helen
to answer @hep275 - The purpose of cakecentral.com is to make cake decorating accessible to anyone who wants to learn, at any skill level.
The challenge as the community grew was how to provide for the needs of the established members as well as making new members feel welcome. Not everyone agrees on how to accomplish that, and most people make suggestions based on what they want to get out of CC, not necessarily what is best for the community as a whole, on both sides of the equation.
I think we should avoid focusing on the old bullying vs critical feedback topic. The thread is not about dwelling on old arguments, the question was raised of how to get those people to come back. All communities go through growing pains and evolve.
Ultimately the community members will decide what they want to be a part of, how they want to be treated by their peers, and how they want to treat their peers.
y'know I mean I just like to talk about cake usually -- yeah sure sometimes I get tired of whatever repeat question that might come up so I pass -- easy peasy -- next time I might answer --
I have decades of experience in business and caking -- my motto is 'here take my advice, I'm not using it' 
Well thanks for starting this thread I've got a couple of cents/sense to share tooo:
1. I definitely long for the return of 'subscribe' to a thread so you can follow along without posting.
2. Posters should be banned from posting topics that only say 'Help I got something due in 5 minutes'. Get to the point and make that point your topic.
3. More on #2. If you start a post, come back to it and at least acknowledge the responses. How many times does the OP disappear and the thread goes on between others.
4. Knowing what's new/improved/restored is something we'd all like to hear more about Heath!
5. Heath and Jackie - why don't you start topic threads? Engage people with discussions. Whether it's the scratch v mix topic that keeps rearing it's head (!) or about new trends, using non-traditional items to help decorate/bake, etc., ask people's opinions and get a conversation started.
Thanks for 'listening'
Oh yea and my customer only wants to pay me $10 but it cost me $20 - should I still do it?!? 
T
Quote by @theresaf on 3 minutes ago
Well thanks for starting this thread I've got a couple of cents/sense to share tooo:
1. I definitely long for the return of 'subscribe' to a thread so you can follow along without posting.
2. Posters should be banned from posting topics that only say 'Help I got something due in 5 minutes'. Get to the point and make that point your topic.
3. More on #2. If you start a post, come back to it and at least acknowledge the responses. How many times does the OP disappear and the thread goes on between others.
4. Knowing what's new/improved/restored is something we'd all like to hear more about Heath!
5. Heath and Jackie - why don't you start topic threads? Engage people with discussions. Whether it's the scratch v mix topic that keeps rearing it's head (!) or about new trends, using non-traditional items to help decorate/bake, etc., ask people's opinions and get a conversation started.
Thanks for 'listening'
Oh yea and my customer only wants to pay me $10 but it cost me $20 - should I still do it?!?
T
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback and suggestions!
i could be wrong but i think we have to take people as they are and as they post -- i often like answering how to price because when i started pre-internet i did not know how to price -- i know some peeps simply want bragging rights -- "'they' say this cake i made should cost x amount" -- it makes them feel good --
but as is SO often the case people get orders before they know how to price -- the horse is already out of the barn -- caking can be a momentum thing and that needs no explanation -- some people do learn all about business first but all of us are different --
i often like to help peeps who are in time crunch -- yes because i have done everything wrong at least once -- yes i have been in time crunch jams -- my favorite thread of all time was a lady who nearly burned her house down trying to get her daughter's cake done -- i loved helping her --
we're all different and it's ok isn't it -- ultimately i think if we just keep doing what we're doing it will pick up -- there's room for everyone --
-- any way to make the last post the first one so that we don't have to scroll unless we want to -- how would that sit with everyone -- if it was even possible
idk -- i like it here -- shoot me
This may not be the right place to put this but I've noticed when a long thread has more than one page if I click on the arrow to go to the next page it just repeats the same page you are already on. In other words, this thread now has 2 pages. When I finished reading page one and clicked on the arrow (instead of the #2) it didn't go to page 2 but reloaded page 1. But it does go to page 2 if I click on the #2. Is that as clear as mud?? :)
K8 I'm not against helping people in a crunch - just so you know! I'm against 15 threads that start and end with the word 'Help' and you have to click on them all to see what they need/want help with. I'm suggesting people tailor their topic lines so if the problem is with buttercream you can click on it if you want but if the problem is Antartica cake supply shops you might want to skip it! I'd certainly like to think that if there was a last minute problem someone on CC might be able to assist!
T
I don't think helping anyone is an issue here. Everyone on here is very helpful and we all answer questions and give direction when we can.
When I started lurking here a few years ago, there were a lot of professional "cakers" on here that posted regularly. I read and read and learned so much from them (and, yes, from them schooling newbies) that I knew what to do and not to do when opening my own business. There was a wealth of knowledge- free for the taking- and I took it all-and it's served me very well.
Most of them are gone. Of the ones still here, only a small handful post regularly and I, personally, find that sad.
Heath, I find it hard to believe that all those people actually unsubscribed. I bet most just stopped coming. Why can CC send an email to accts that have been inactive for a while and ask for some feedback? Get it from the horses mouth, so to speak.
theresaf -- oh for sure -- i getcha -- this has been discussed many times and still peeps post this way -- it's a perfect efficient request for us to all write crystal clear subjects to our posts -- it just hasn't worked yet -- it's not who we are --
so here's what would make a difference - - when you click on 'make a new conversation' there's pop-up that says:
please make your subject very clear -- not like this "help" like this "please help with buttercream"
idk if that can be done but that would go a long way toward it
I think this thread is a perfect example, by the way!
The topic caught people's eye(s) and it has led to reasonable, comical and solution based responses. We need more of that again!
Now the hard part - how to get people back!
And yea, I'd love a 'like' button or some other thumbs up!
T
In answer to Heath, I would like to say that you cannot fix problems if you do not first acknowledge where the problems are. How can you possibly entice people back, or get them to stay, if you ignore the reasons they left in the first place.
....and look at what has happened since my 'honest' comments. A lively discussion has started up. I have been told that this is one of the longest threads people have seen in quite a while.
....and that's what CC used to be about. DISCUSSION. Not just answering peoples queries and pandering. We ARE all different and have different opinions, and everyone's opinions should be counted and learnt from. Just because we don't like what someone says does NOT mean that they should be discounted or banned.
hep 275, I am a hobby baker. I am good enough if I wanted to go professional (and a lot better than a huge amount of the professionals I have seen, or what I should say is people selling cakes) but I refuse to sell my skills short and I live in a country town there is not a lot of demand for high end cakes and they are already covered by others. I am quite happy puddling along doing my own thing, with no restraints. That does not mean that I do not still strive to improve. I did not get to the stage I am at without a lot of practice and, just as importantly, a lot of critical criticism. I took it all on board, rather than get offended, so that I could learn. I did not get my nose out of joint if someone told me that my covering needed a lot of work, or other such suggestions, because I stopped and acknowledged that they were right, rather than getting my nose out of joint and jumping up and down and screaming bullying. And those comments were made to my face, not anonymously, so even harder to take. You sound like you would take it on board but there were an awful lot of people on here who didn't, even when suggestions were made on how to improve.
Goodness me, why can't people just scroll past a question if they don't have any constructive criticism or advice. Sorry to say it but some (in particular one) old member was regularly handing out nastiness under the guise of being 'constructive' so it is not true that all newbies are oversensitive and should just take on board the advice/feedback they were given.
No doubt people need to be given real feedback but there is a good way and a bad way to do it. You could say, hey your icing looks like it fell from your bowl right onto your cake or you could offer advice on how you smooth your cake.
If I was new to this forum and read some of these posts I would run for the hills. This gives you two problems, one the old members have already run for the hills during the 'upgrade' and two the new people just trying out the site find a site where they are not welcome and don't come back.
If you want more posts then answer more question, people will feel welcome and ask more. If you don't like the question then scroll on past and let someone else answer it but don't back on up and add comments about 'amateurs giving out advice' when you aren't doing it yourself and they feel like any advice is better than no advice for their fellow cake friends. Just the other day there was a post that was asking for dairy free recipes for icings/cakes etc and yep it's annoying when people don't do their own research but I just handed out a few tid bits then suggested the poster do some googling of their own. Problem solved.
You can't have it both ways, whinge that no one is posting then whinge because you don't like the questions being asked.
Quote by @bubs1stbirthday on 13 hours ago
If you want more posts then answer more question, people will feel welcome and ask more. If you don't like the question then scroll on past and let someone else answer it ...
That was the problem though; is that some of the questions were asked over and over again..so everyone was scrolling past.
Perhaps…….when you look around the forum and find that there is nothing new, and it’s boring, and you wonder where the old timers have gone that taught you for free:
You are now the old timer who is supposed to answer all the newbies questions, and keep the threads interesting, and teach all of them for free with the information and knowledge you received here. It might be your turn to pass it on & PAY it Forward. Who's going to teach all the new people otherwise.
This is brilliant...........
Quote by @MBalaska on 3 minutes ago
Perhaps…….when you look around the forum and find that there is nothing new, and it’s boring, and you wonder where the old timers have gone that taught you for free:
You are now the old timer who is supposed to answer all the newbies questions, and keep the threads interesting, and teach all of them for free with the information and knowledge you received here. It might be your turn to pass it on & PAY it Forward. Who's going to teach all the new people otherwise.
Dear CC members, old and new...
As a newest member here on CC I must say few words.
Maybe CC is not what it was before. Maybe beginners and amateurs bothering professionals with same questions (same questions bothering me too), but still.... I like this page and checking it daily. I can find all answers here without asking.
I am not professional baker and will never be. I am hobby cake baker for my family and friends. Most of my techniques, ideas and knowledge about *bake a cake* I learn here on CC. I bring happiness to my people with cakes and it is all because your forums and tutorials. I must say THANX to you all. Thanks for your time and advices.
@MBalaska That is a very nice sentiment. Although this thread has taken a turn and clearly has offended some, the whole point of the original post has been lost.
I don't think there is an issue with people helping people here. I like to help anyone I can, whenever I can and so do many others.
The original post was re: there are not many people posting here at all. It used to be a place where we could come for conversation re: cake and all that it entails. I, myself, don't have "cake friends" irl to vent to who understand all the frustrations of custom caking. Some of us were simply wondering how we could bring people back here for more conversation. I could start 20 threads a day, but who cares, if no one is here to interact with them?
I think the ease of people being offended and jumping on posters for voicing an opinion (or, having a little fun) which was not aimed at anyone in particular, is a clear indication of why people have left. This is a forum about cake, maybe we should all lighten up :)
i've read all of this as it occurred and i don't remember anyone getting offended -- i remember peeps reporting how they got offended previously -- but i will re-read it later and see if i find it --
for me in general -- i'm trying to forgive and forget and move on -- i sure as shooting don't need to re-hash any of the negative stuff from here or from anywhere --
idk -- why don't we pick up the pace ourselves
@kakeladi I have a thread I wanted to create and I think it would be really fun but I'm torn on whether or not to share the reason I came up with it lol which is why is why I haven't posted it. It is semi cake related but more of a funny type thread..... Hmm to do it or not to do it?!?!?
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