Hello:
During nominations last month, some posters implied/suggested that it might be fun to alter the concept a little bit.
Do people like DoTM as-is, or would anyone like to suggest a change? Lemme know…
No. I think it’s good. Maybe just pick the theme, to keep us more focused and not so unruly 
. For instance: One month we’re doing a particular food, or a dish, or a region of a country, etc. Let people vote on which food, dish or region. If that seems like you are being too much of schoolmarm then leave it as is. Because I think it’s great, and the reason I left CH to come to FTC. DoTM brings the community together (L.A. community anyway).
I would make one suggestion for this month though. The guys have been patient while we delighted our way thru Farmer’s Markets, picking fruits & berries. @CiaoBob’s funny entry sums up what most of the guys were probably thinking. Maybe we should make it “guys month”. They can have their octopus, squid, spicy food, head, whatever it is guys like to eat.
Thanks again for doing DoTM @paranoidgarliclover!
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ditto
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Thanks for the feedback thus far. 
I’ll give it until the end of the day for other posters to chime in, if they wish. I do like the idea of selecting a theme for the month. If folks have ideas of different themes they’d like to see, feel free to list them here, and I’ll try to remember them for the future. 
And if people end up hating the theme idea ultimately, then we’ll just go back to business as usual. Or we’ll go back and forth.
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Third this.
The only suggestion I have is to let the posts and discussion develop organically as long as it stays nominally on topic. I know there was some friction over this earlier this month, but I’m not talking just or even primarily about @paranoidgarliclover. This comment is really directed at all of us. I’ve had at least one interesting discussion truncated by self-moderation (i.e., by the other poster) even though it struck me as generally related to the topic.
I just think the goal should be more cool photos and discussions, even if they don’t meet a strict definition of what Dish of the Month is about.
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Question about the self-moderation… Since posters here aren’t being banned by mods and such and it doesn’t seem like we have a lot of randomly disappearing threads, would it seriously disrupt the flow of the interesting detour in the conversation to start a new thread on it?
Even if it’s generally related, sometimes starting a new thread about the detour might be helpful for new posters who are using a search engine to research a topic (or even pre-existing posters like me who don’t have a fantastic memory and sometimes want to run a search about something that I vaguely recall being discussed previously).
The other thing about starting a new thread is that I don’t read all the topics here and turn off alerts and notifications and such. So, if a thread wanders a bit (and I mean no judgment or snark by that), the sub-thread might’ve been more interesting to me, but I won’t even know it exists b/c I wouldn’t have been that interested in reading about the main topic to begin w/. I think it’s happened once or twice already, and I imagine that some other posters are similar to me, in that regard.
I’m actually hoping that spinning off a topic into a new sub-thread would ENHANCE the discussion, not end it.
I’m also just thinking about how confusing or intimidating it might be to a new posters. So perhaps another viewpoint to consider…
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+1 Ditto
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Fair question. In theory, it shouldn’t make a difference. In my experience, however, it usually means the end of the discussion. Conversations are about flow and the moment, and those things are easily lost. In the case I cited, we were discussing Korean food generally on the Korean Dish of the Month thread, and someone mentioned we were going off topic. Rather than argue or continue the conversation somewhere else, I just dropped it.
I understand this concern. However, I was a new poster here not so long ago. And while I can only speak for myself, it was the quality of the discussions, not the organization of the posts, that attracted me to FTC. Besides, searches show results as posts, not threads, so I’m not sure it’s that big a hindrance to research.
Don’t forget, moreover, it’s daunting for new posters to learn the formal and informal codes of conduct on a discussion forum. It can be discouraging to have your discussion truncated by someone telling you you’re going off topic or otherwise posting against the rules even if it’s done in a friendly, non-confrontational way.
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I agree with @paranoidgarliclover about this point (above). I get what @Bigmouth is saying as well (both sides), but I can see where if a sub-thread topic about, say, Chinese food appeared inside the “VEGETABLES” thread, there are plenty of posters who wouldn’t venture inside the Vegetables thread to discover a Chinese food discussion (and maybe some questions that the poster wanted answers to), let alone participate in it.
By moving it off to a new thread (with its own appropriate title), more people can participate, or say, a few weeks / months down the line, if someone wanted to go back to the discussion, they wouldn’t have to remember the “wrong topic thread” to find it:
Say the Chinese food discussion is left inside the Vegetables thread. 2 months later, someone wanted to reference or remember something about it, and they forgot it was inside the Vegetables thread. Sure they can “Search” but as our database / threads grow over time, it’ll get harder and harder to find the thread that a sub-topic got buried under.
But perhaps a compromise might be to let the sub-thread discussion happen and develop a bit, and if it started growing crazy (20+ posts just about that subject?) to move it to a new thread to let it have appropriate attention (with its own unique title heading)?
That way we’re not overly stringent, and when it blossoms into a huge discussions inside another thread, it would have enough momentum and maturity in discussion to continue on in its own thread (without feeling like anyone was truncated)?
I’m OK with either way, because if it got lost, someone can just ask a question again in a new thread. 
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That’s a very fair point, @Chowseeker1999. What I have in mind is when a discussion on KOREAN dish of the month digresses slightly to a discussion of Korean cuisine generally. I really don’t think that merits a separate thread, since the digression is small and separating the discussion would presumably require moving to a separate forum on FTC.
But I can see how a discussion of Chinese food on a VEGETABLES dish of the month might merit a separate thread, especially if it’s about Chinese food in the LA area.
I also think your suggested compromise is reasonable and appropriate. When a digression reaches 10 or 20 posts, the conversation probably has sufficient interest and momentum to sustain a move. I suppose I mean more don’t nip those discussions in the bud by moving them prematurely.
Shit, after being on this planet for 69 years, I just found out I’m a “guy.” Should I tell Bob?!? 
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Har! On a somewhat related note, I always assumed @Chowseeker1999 was a guy simply b/c his/her posts are so similar to exilekiss (who was a man, IIRC). So while I did sense that some folks wouldn’t mind a more “meaty” DoTM for this upcoming month, I actually never associated it w/ gender-related preferences.
DoTM nom thread coming out later today…
And I’m just jealous cause what y’all have access to just blows my mind. If I had a car and driver, I’d move to LA in a heart beat.
Grass greener fence…
Well, Lake Tahoe does have other things to offer
“other” is a hee-yooj word in your case.
Ding ding ding! We have a winner for the best use of emojis EVAH!!!
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Oh, this reminds me of Cher’s Twitter feed…
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[quote=“paranoidgarliclover, post:12, topic:3601”]
Har! On a somewhat related note, I always assumed @Chowseeker1999 was a guy simply b/c his/her posts are so similar to exilekiss (who was a man, IIRC). So while I did sense that some folks wouldn’t mind a more “meaty” DoTM for this upcoming month, I actually never associated it w/ gender-related preferences
[/quote] Pardon my sexism. I live in a house of guys, and none of them like fruit. But I admit, my beloved stepfather was a fruit freak, and the reason I’m so passionate about organics.
That b-wordess is stealing my thunder!! 