Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • Luis Cazares - Monday, May 21, 2018 12:07 PM

    Jeff Moden - Monday, May 21, 2018 10:21 AM

    Luis Cazares - Monday, May 21, 2018 10:11 AM

    A question for all the BBQ aficionados.
    First, some background. We're organizing a BBQ contest with the help of the Kansas City Barbeque Society for a non-profit. I'll have to create/manage the website and my wife is in charge of the marketing. We don't have all the BBQ culture that you might have, so I'd like to ask what would be important not to miss in the website and promotional materials for an event like this? There's obviously a whole team organizing this (and we're the only mexicans) but at times I feel that they're as lost as we are.
    If someone wants to share some suggestions, you could PM me to prevent flooding the the thread. Or you could use the thread to stay away of the spam complaints.

    Who is the "non-profit" and where can we get the event details?

    As a bit of a sidebar, a Scratch'n'Sniff invitation may double the attendance. 😀

    It's the Rotary Club of Dunwoody (member of Rotary International). The profit will be mainly donated to a cause yet to be defined (could be polio erradication, a project to supply clean water to communities or some other project) and a small part would be used for projects within the community and different scholarships. The details are not yet available, as the event is still in the planning stage.
    I'm not sure if Scratch'n'sniff is something that still exists. 😀

    Couple thoughts for you (note, I've never organized anything bigger than a family "secret Santa," and that went...  Poorly...) on this:
    * Try getting in touch with a group that does BBQ contests elsewhere to see if they can give some suggestions.  Let them know this is a charity thing up front.
    * You can probably get "scented" mailers, rather than "scratch-n-sniff," after all, perfume companies do this sort of thing...

  • Luis Cazares - Monday, May 21, 2018 12:07 PM

    Jeff Moden - Monday, May 21, 2018 10:21 AM

    Luis Cazares - Monday, May 21, 2018 10:11 AM

    A question for all the BBQ aficionados.
    First, some background. We're organizing a BBQ contest with the help of the Kansas City Barbeque Society for a non-profit. I'll have to create/manage the website and my wife is in charge of the marketing. We don't have all the BBQ culture that you might have, so I'd like to ask what would be important not to miss in the website and promotional materials for an event like this? There's obviously a whole team organizing this (and we're the only mexicans) but at times I feel that they're as lost as we are.
    If someone wants to share some suggestions, you could PM me to prevent flooding the the thread. Or you could use the thread to stay away of the spam complaints.

    Who is the "non-profit" and where can we get the event details?

    As a bit of a sidebar, a Scratch'n'Sniff invitation may double the attendance. 😀

    It's the Rotary Club of Dunwoody (member of Rotary International). The profit will be mainly donated to a cause yet to be defined (could be polio erradication, a project to supply clean water to communities or some other project) and a small part would be used for projects within the community and different scholarships. The details are not yet available, as the event is still in the planning stage.
    I'm not sure if Scratch'n'sniff is something that still exists. 😀

    I know a lot about BBQ, especially KC style but I don't know jack about organizing a bbq competition. In fact, most of the bbq I make would do horribly at a competition. For example I do not like pork spare ribs at all. I think they are greasy and the cartilage veins are disgusting. But for competition those are the "only" ribs you can use. I much prefer baby backs. They are more flavorful and have a much better consistency for my tastes. I also cook my ribs until the bones come out clean. That is nearly an instant failure in a competition setting. The meat is actually supposed to have bits that stick on the bone.

    But for things to include on the site and promo materials:
    Entertainment - there should be some mention of bands or other entertainment if such is happening.

    food and beverage choices. A BBQ competition sounds like a great place to visit until you visit one not part of a team. If you are a spectator it is cruel. Everything smells amazing and you see guys with incredible looking stuff everywhere. But you can't actually purchase any and eat. Make you sure understand and are very clear on alcohol policy. Is it going to be available? Is is allowed to BYOB? Is an alcohol prohibited type of event?

    Activities for the kids. definitely should have some stuff for the kids during the day at some point.

    Location, cost, hours etc.

    Weather options (what is the plan if it is raining? Is this a rain or shine event?)

    Maybe some mention of states with competitors? Most competitions, no matter the size, will attract competitors from several states.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Need help? Help us help you.

    Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.

    Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.

    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

  • jasona.work - Monday, May 21, 2018 12:21 PM

    Couple thoughts for you (note, I've never organized anything bigger than a family "secret Santa," and that went...  Poorly...) on this:
    * Try getting in touch with a group that does BBQ contests elsewhere to see if they can give some suggestions.  Let them know this is a charity thing up front.
    * You can probably get "scented" mailers, rather than "scratch-n-sniff," after all, perfume companies do this sort of thing...

    That's why we're partnering with the KCBS. They're probably the largest BBQ association (or that's what I have understood).

    Luis C.
    General Disclaimer:
    Are you seriously taking the advice and code from someone from the internet without testing it? Do you at least understand it? Or can it easily kill your server?

    How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help: Option 1 / Option 2
  • Luis Cazares - Monday, May 21, 2018 1:00 PM

    jasona.work - Monday, May 21, 2018 12:21 PM

    Couple thoughts for you (note, I've never organized anything bigger than a family "secret Santa," and that went...  Poorly...) on this:
    * Try getting in touch with a group that does BBQ contests elsewhere to see if they can give some suggestions.  Let them know this is a charity thing up front.
    * You can probably get "scented" mailers, rather than "scratch-n-sniff," after all, perfume companies do this sort of thing...

    That's why we're partnering with the KCBS. They're probably the largest BBQ association (or that's what I have understood).

    Only contest I've been in is with friends and neighbors in my backyard.
    One neighbor is from KC, and in spite of the rules specifying baby backs, he did spare ribs.
    To top it off, he made some odd black berry sauce.
    His wife didn't even vote for him, so his ego got bruised a bit.

    Since BBQ tends to be regional, depending on how many teams you attract, having some different classes may be a draw.
    If you are able to get a famous judge or two that would show up, a bonus for both crowd and cookers.
    A nice twist would be to also be able raffle off places on a 'peoples choice' panel to judge.

    The slight tug, but comes off the bone clean - hard for me to do if I have a clock to compete with.
    Usually when I drive places I try to find a BBQ in the area for a meal.
    Only been disappointed once, I'm sure next time I visit Iowa, I can find place that does a pig justice.
    Recently found a place near me that does real BBQ, and the bonus is they have over 150 different beers.
    Place was off the beaten path, and it was packed.

    Sounds like a fun event to organize. Hope it goes well.

  • So, how do you report SPAM posts?  There used to be a button for reporting such things.

    And yes, the spam is back again.

  • Lynn Pettis - Monday, May 21, 2018 5:33 PM

    So, how do you report SPAM posts?  There used to be a button for reporting such things.

    And yes, the spam is back again.

    There still is, Lynn. It's the little flag under the post. 🙂 I admit, not as obvious as it was before (I think it was a blue button that said "Report").

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • Please, Redgate, do something to address the spam soon. Removing hundreds of garbage notifications does nothing for my mood.

    If you haven't even tried to resolve your issue, please don't expect the hard-working volunteers here to waste their time providing links to answers which you could easily have found yourself.

  • Phil Parkin - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 5:07 AM

    Please, Redgate, do something to address the spam soon. Removing hundreds of garbage notifications does nothing for my mood.

    I'm sure it does something for your mood. :angry:

  • Thom A - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 1:56 AM

    Lynn Pettis - Monday, May 21, 2018 5:33 PM

    So, how do you report SPAM posts?  There used to be a button for reporting such things.

    And yes, the spam is back again.

    There still is, Lynn. It's the little flag under the post. 🙂 I admit, not as obvious as it was before (I think it was a blue button that said "Report").

    Definitely not obvious, and the coloring doesn't help.

  • I know a lot of us have unsubscribed from things, due to the spam, but has anyone had all of them completely stop? I've not had a notification since 03:16 BST (it's 15:11 now), and several threads I'm subscribed to (including this one) have had replies.

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • Thom A - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 8:12 AM

    I know a lot of us have unsubscribed from things, due to the spam, but has anyone had all of them completely stop? I've not had a notification since 03:16 BST (it's 15:11 now), and several threads I'm subscribed to (including this one) have had replies.

    Thanks for mentioning that as I was wondering what was going on. Mine stopped today as well. It's been intermittent like that for the past several days. One day last week I had none and then woke up to a slew that were all sent in the middle of the night, that type of thing. I think most of yesterday they seemed "normal". Otherwise it's been unpredictable.

    Sue

  • Sue_H - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 8:43 AM

    Thom A - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 8:12 AM

    I know a lot of us have unsubscribed from things, due to the spam, but has anyone had all of them completely stop? I've not had a notification since 03:16 BST (it's 15:11 now), and several threads I'm subscribed to (including this one) have had replies.

    Thanks for mentioning that as I was wondering what was going on. Mine stopped today as well. It's been intermittent like that for the past several days. One day last week I had none and then woke up to a slew that were all sent in the middle of the night, that type of thing. I think most of yesterday they seemed "normal". Otherwise it's been unpredictable.

    Sue

    Least I know it's not the new exchange server then. :hehe:

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • So, just curious what others think of something.

    Yesterday I replied (with incorrect information) to a topic (Here) and when it was pointed out I was wrong (and I double checked myself,) I edited my post to indicate it was wrong.
    The other option I considered was to remove what I posted (replacing with [deleted]) and a new post in reply to Eric indicating that I was wrong and had removed the incorrect information.

    Myself?  I prefer what I did, as it allows people to follow the topic.  Now, if the topic had gone on for a couple more replies before it was pointed out I was wrong, I might've done things a bit differently, maybe a link down to Erics' post plus a reply to his post.

    Thoughts, comments, should I duck a flying pork chop?

  • jasona.work - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 9:15 AM

    So, just curious what others think of something.

    Yesterday I replied (with incorrect information) to a topic (Here) and when it was pointed out I was wrong (and I double checked myself,) I edited my post to indicate it was wrong.
    The other option I considered was to remove what I posted (replacing with [deleted]) and a new post in reply to Eric indicating that I was wrong and had removed the incorrect information.

    Myself?  I prefer what I did, as it allows people to follow the topic.  Now, if the topic had gone on for a couple more replies before it was pointed out I was wrong, I might've done things a bit differently, maybe a link down to Erics' post plus a reply to his post.

    Thoughts, comments, should I duck a flying pork chop?

    I think what you've done is fine. In fact, it may well add to the topic more; if others had the same understanding as you they will now see the clarification more readily.

    It's something that sometimes bugs me about comments on SO; when someone gets something wrong  you only end up with one side of the conversation (as the party who was wrong has deleted their comments). This means the other half lose meaning, or possibly even context entirely. I realise that Eric has quoted you, and you can't do that on SO, but it's still better for the conversation flow. SSC is a message board after all. 🙂

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • jasona.work - Tuesday, May 22, 2018 9:15 AM

    So, just curious what others think of something.

    Yesterday I replied (with incorrect information) to a topic (Here) and when it was pointed out I was wrong (and I double checked myself,) I edited my post to indicate it was wrong.
    The other option I considered was to remove what I posted (replacing with [deleted]) and a new post in reply to Eric indicating that I was wrong and had removed the incorrect information.

    Myself?  I prefer what I did, as it allows people to follow the topic.  Now, if the topic had gone on for a couple more replies before it was pointed out I was wrong, I might've done things a bit differently, maybe a link down to Erics' post plus a reply to his post.

    Thoughts, comments, should I duck a flying pork chop?

    I always appreciate it when someone mans-up and makes a correction (including strike throughs) rather than a wholesale replacement.  That way, people already know what has been tried and what was done instead.  Shoot.... I've done similar in my articles.

    --Jeff Moden


    RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
    First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
    ________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

    Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.


    Helpful Links:
    How to post code problems
    How to Post Performance Problems
    Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Viewing 15 posts - 61,591 through 61,605 (of 66,547 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply