OT (sort of) priorities

The "clannish" atmosphere seems to be comprised mostly of those who plan/work/attend Fests and those who don't.  A majority of the ribbing is fun among friends.  In the few years I've been around all have been welcomed and I've yet to see any legitimate question go unanswered.  I've been active on several different forums over the years and have found this one self policed, better moderated and more tame/civil than most. 
Thank you for contributing and Merry Christmas!

If you really think about it, part of the problem is the depth of knowledge that is pooled here with the "Elders". Anyone on here very long soon knows the people who post consistently who can run an egg with their eyes closed. When those old timers answer a question, unless the feeling is strong from others that there are different answers, the case is closed--next topic. Even so, it's true that it would be good to add a (^^^This^^^) to further confirm and support the answer. This forum is a community. Like any community, it has a "town council" of sorts, who try hard to keep the peace, work towards improving the greater good and keep life enjoyable. We try to keep it centered around the BGE, but the reality--mostly it's a 21st century coffee shop or the benches outside the courthouse where people congregate to share their lives, check up on town gossip and stay connected to other people that share common interest. As with any small town, the old timers have the history, the arcane knowledge and usually the real answers to the questions. If someone posts a question about the correct temperature for cooking a spatched turkey, you aren't going to get very many variations. When a thread gets rolling on a question, it is probably because many members have very different opinions about how to achieve the results.
Now, if we are not responding to "show and tell", new members with their first pork butt, or their new egg or even just the cook posts in general--shame on us. The point of the forum is support. Without some admiration for their achievements, people become despondent. Everyone needs atta-boys. And not just the Elders.
To me what it is more interesting to think about are the people who can seriously cook: that sit quietly, learn from our mistakes, test our theories, try new and different ways to achieve the same or better results, post infrequently and think the rest of us are idiots. I would love to hear more from them. 

SaintJohnsEgger said:

Yes, I may feel more like part of the in crowd if I attended Butt-Blast and other events. I attend my local Eggfest but I'm retired and can't afford to run all over the country to attend events that sound more like a drunken campout than an Egg event. I don't drink anymore so I doubt I would fit in even if i had the money to attend. That's the problem with retirement; you finally have the time but not the money. Just the opposite of when I was working.

So a couple of things on this.  I will say that I don't think you really need to attend one of these kind of events to get to know people fairly well here.  I do interact regularly with a bunch of people here that I haven't met in person.  I feel like I know some of them fairly well, and I hope they feel the same way.

Secondly, while there is a bacchanal aspect to Butt Blast, we regularly have people there who aren't drinking much or even at all.  I don't think you have to imbibe to appreciate things like Nola stealing my pizza turner to stir his crawfish boil and other kinds of shenanigans.  You definitely don't need to be drinking to appreciate the food, although it does help to have had a good amount of bourbon before trying anything Brent puts out - just from an antiseptic standpoint.  I kid.  

I don't know man, this place is what it is.  It is unlikely to change anytime soon.  My advice is to try and focus on the things you value and ignore the things you don't.  I think that's generally a pretty good way to go through life.