I belong to a coin forum where if you want to sell or buy coins from other members you have to have at least 50 legitimate posts, not just a few words here and there. Would that work in this case. Just a thought....
Love the idea except that we want brand new members to compete. If they can't vote I feel they will be less likely to want to compete. Fine with a coin forum but maybe just not practical with us and our BBQ.
I too, feel that the votes need to remain visible. I believe it has always added to the fun. It's only because we have a situation where a member, or members have been seen to be overzealous in recruiting votes that we are bringing this into question. Let's not hide the mechanism that led to this discovery. We'd be just killing the messenger.
Having said that, I believe that each and every member here has the integrity to now personally cease and desist any further vote gathering activities now that the mechanism has been shown, and that the general consensus is that brand new members should not be solicited for votes.
Personally, I feel that such a practice IF it has taken place is akin to the new kid at school making friends on his first day. He's making friends with the guys that have got no friends. The new kid at school learns pretty fast, and so do the new members. At issue here is that a new member may be turned off the BBQ brethren by being approached in this way and groomed for votes. A new member doesn't have to stay. He'll vote and then he will leave and we may have lost a potentially fantastic member. We'll never know.
I believe once we all know this, that we will all have the integrity to do the right thing. After all. It's just food on a plate. Of course we have a great time with it but let's not lose perspective of the big picture here. It's just food. When you start taking it too seriously, it's not fun anymore. You ruin it for everyone and you end up taking your ball and going home.
Integrity for yourself, respect for your fellow brethren and HAVING FUN is what this is all about.
All of us need a little self reflection and I believe we can have a great 2015 of competitions.
Cheers!
Bill