Post #557519 by MadDogMike on Sat, Oct 2, 2010 7:53 PM

First of all, if we have a serious conversation here will we be kicked out of Bilge?
Second, Please don't take my comments as criticism of Hanford or the moderators. TC is extremely well moderated for SPAM and for rule violation, but it is not moderated for content. As attractive as that idea may be, it is probably not the answer.

I understand your frustration that TC is in danger of becoming nothing but a tiki-flavored Facebook. My questions - is the golden age of Tiki Central over? Has TC become a victim of it's own success? Was it better when there were only 200 members and there was undocumented tiki history around every corner? Where do we go from here? I'm sure I am partially to blame, I've got 3000 posts and I doubt that 5% have any real content.

Here's my assessment of the current state of TC - do you agree or disagree?
GENERAL TIKI - There is almost nothing of value posted here. Anything of real value has a place to be posted in one of the other forums
HOME TIKI BARS - Great addition. Beautiful tiki bar inspiration for every budget and space.
TIKI GALLERY - This is OK, allows you to do a semi-quick review of an artist's work without having to wade through too much fluff.
LOCATING TIKI - Seems the main benefit is to serve as an archive. 10 years ago, there was lots of tiki history to document. I'm sure there are details yet to be uncovered but the bulk has been documented and the evidence has been torn down to build condos.
TIKI TRAVEL - I don't visit this forum enough to comment
TIKI EVENTS - This forum is very active, especially California events. It seems a good thing to bring the ohana together and keep them informed of events. But none of these events could be accused of providing any tiki content.
COLLECTING TIKI - Is at least holding it's own. There are lots of serious collectors who are gracious enought to post pictures and discussions of their finds. Threads like the Crypto Mugs have brought about great discussions and discoveries
TIKI MARKETPLACE - I'm not sure this really serves any purpose, the real collectors don't need someone to tell them there is a rare mug on e-Bay, they are already bidding. In fact, they would just as soon the rest of the TC world NOT know about the mug
CREATING TIKI - CARVING - This forum is booming. The carvers are a very prolific group and are creating great and very visible works of art. They are really the ambassador of tiki to the world; their work is often set in very visible public places. Whereas hobbies like mug collections are often done in private and some of the greatest collections are never seen.
CREATING TIKI - OTHER CRAFTS - A few years ago this forum was populated by some great and active painters & ceramic artists. Now the great works of art seem to be fewer and farther between.
TIKI FOOD & DRINKS - There is some great information here about mixology and tiki food. Some of you have had your fun with the "What's for dinner" thread in which I have enjoyed making frequent posts - but I'll be the first to admit it has nothing to do with tiki.
TIKI MUSIC - This is a mixed bag. There is some great information about old bands, there are some great reviews about current music, there is also a certain amount of fluff about current bands.
OHANA - Probably adds to the "FaceBookization" of Tiki Central
FORUM OF MYSTERY - What we do here is secret
BEYOND TIKI - Whatever
BILGE - If you go swimming around in the bilge (and I always do :D ), you deserve whatever you find.
TIKI SHOUT! - Should probably be renamed to just SHOUT! Anything that has to do with tiki is posted in the appropriate forum.

So there's my 2 cents worth :D

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-10-02 20:11 ]