is this a professional forum??

I noticed the announcement at the beginning of this forum saying please not to post in the professional forums if you are not a professional.
I thought this one - cooking equipment reviews - was for everyone. Is there some mistake? I understood that non-professionals could post questions about home equipment here. If not, is there a special forum for that?

Also, while i understand the pro forums might want to be for pros only, why not simply block those not registered as professionals from posting? I never realized it was not allowed, and thought it was just that most of us non pros wouldn;t be interested. It's possible to block newcomers from posting links, it;s possible to block non-registered users from posting, why not just simply block non-pros from posting in the specialized forums.
Just a thought. I'm afraid i also have posted there, not knowing it was not allowed, and hadn't noticed any announcement about it.

thanks

The pro announcement showed up everywhere didn't it?

Yes, this is for everyone to post in.

Discussions of blocking non pros is ongoing but its not always as clear cut as it sounds.

Thanks Phatch, and actually, you;re right, i didn;t notice but all the forums have that notice, just that i never looked at it on the usual ones i look at.

This "Only Professsionals" ban is a little Procrustean...

There was a post on a "Pro" forum about how a caterer could offer alcoholic beverage service to clients. I offered my experience in hiring a bartender for a service-club get-together, from a large liquor distributor who provided not only the beverages (which were returnable for credit if not opened) but came with dram-shop insurance which is vital. included in our written contract,

I'm not a pro - just a service club member with a little directly-analagous experience, but my post was taken down.

I think that's a little excessive. :confused:

Send your concerns to Nicko on this.

Frankly, we have no idea how great we have it here compared to some of nonsense I have seen.

Knife and sharpening forums have turned into raunchy frat houses. I'm not sure some of the "bikers" in motorcycle forums even own bikes. Political forums can be savage. I personally have a cyber-stalker.

I have no problem with a bit of humor, or some form of passion when the topic requires that response.

But imagine how glad I was to find a forum of any sort that dared to use the term "professional."

I believe cooks, chefs and sous-chefs are professional. I believe serious food hobbyists strive for a level of excellence that underlines that same drive. I believe professional sharpeners and tinkers are "pros" in the sense sought here. We can't cook, but we might have that missing puzzle piece that evokes debate and discussion.

But at the end of the day when even the most tenacious discussions begin with, "Sir, I politely disagree," well, that's a forum worth protecting.

I really like this forum alot. It has an area for those of us working in the industry and then the rest is open to foodies who just love to cook. I started out as a foodie who loved to cook and now I work in the industry. I think the moderators have done an amazing job of making this site what it is and in my short time here I've felt completely comfortable.

And Tourist... very well said!

I agree with the previous two replies. This is a great site. When I started out I was "invading" the pro forums (that was before the new notices were put up) and was reminded that if there is too much talk from people not in the biz, the pros might lose interest.

I agree, and here's why: I've been a heating and air conditioning pro for the last 3 years. People who are not in that trade have no idea what the work involves, and can be pretty generous with their viewpoints. That's all good, and we should know what they have to say. There is a particular site I've chatted at that is strict about the "pros-only" thing and that is valuable to me, also, because I know those people have work in common with mine; they really know my world. There have been times that that was important.

Whether this site is being too strict or not right now, I don't know. I just try to make sure not to get in the way of professionals' conversations. If you want to say something about a topic that pros are discussing, and you're not in the culinary biz somehow, you can start a thread in a non-pro forum. If you do have expertise in the subject, you might want to express that in the thread title. The intent is not to discourage discussion, but rather encourage it, in appropriate forums. It's not meant to be elitist. Just my 2 cents.

To MikeLM: I can see why you would feel put off when you knew what you were talking about. I hope you don't take it personally. I imagine it's a pretty big job to manage this site.