Big News

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After months and months of debating on what to do about the increasing number of new members, its been decided that capping the group is necessary. When I started TWD, I thought I would be lucky to get 1 or 2 people to play along. Imagine my shock when we quickly grew from 1 to 3 to 30 and on and on. We are on the brink of 300 members now. The amount of time spent on administration to keep TWD running smoothly has been the biggest shock for me. It takes hours and hours of time to maintain TWD. Instead of reading blogs and being able to comment on them, my time is spent replying to new members, current members and updating the blog. In order to get back to enjoying TWD the way I want to, I need to limit the amount of time that is spent on up-keep, hence, capping the group.

Here is the skinny. Anyone may join TWD until October 31, 2008. We will take any and all new members until that date. (You still have to agree to the rules, etc..) After October 31, we will no longer accept new members. If you know someone who has been on the fence, now is the time to encourage them to jump on board.

I realize that many of you may not agree with this decision. But, the decision has been made.

59 thoughts on “Big News”

  2. Here’s my 2cents.

    It all boils down to who’s doing the work to keep the group going and if its not fun anymore then whats the point? I’ll do whatever Laurie decides and continue to help any way I can. Thanks for all you do Laurie (and staff)!

  14. I agree 100% with everyone here! Like CB said, if it’s no longer fun for you, than what’s the point? Thanks for all the hard work that goes into TWD. It’s the main reason I started a blog and I’m so honored to be part of the group.

  19. You know I support you, but I just wanted to put it out there anyway. You are so amazing to have put this together, along with everything else you do, and I really hope that it can become a lot more fun for you again. Otherwise, the whole thing is a bust. Hugs!

    Holly

  21. For myself, I feel a little sad and little glad. I enjoy the new members, but find it hard to read all the blogs. I can only imagine how much work it must involve for you! Thank you for all you do and you have my complete support!

  22. I totally support your decision; I am glad I joined when I did! I can only visit a few blogs each week and feel guilty when I don’t have time to comment when I should. Thank you for all you do!

  23. you know i support your decision too. many people forget just how much work it takes to maintain such a large group. i hope you’re able to start enjoying it again!

  24. I wonder if there would be a way to make the admin process easier … Maybe instead of you (or the admin group) having to check all 300 of our blogs, there could be some way for us to check in here – by commenting with our URL and posting time under a “Tuesday Check-In” header with that week’s recipe name … There must be a way to simplify.

  25. We are ALL part of a hard working, baking group of people (women and a few men..I think) and its a great way to share and be a part of a community. I am grateful to you for all you do to keep the spoons stirring, whisks whisking and the ovens HOT!!!

    Seriously, thanks for all you do for us and we are privileged to share our gifts with each other and hopefully sweeten the world around us with lots more love.

    Hope you get to enjoy some sweetness soon as well. Thank you! I think everyone is in agreement.

  26. that is definitely reasonable. you have to keep yourself sane and enjoying the group, afterall. it’s probably pretty safe to say that none of us can keep up with all the blogs every week, either. thanks again for all you and the staff do to keep this running and to keep it fun!

  33. thank you for all of the work you do with this group. i think it’s great that you are giving over a month for people to still join in. it will be interesting to see what the final number turns out to be on october 31st.

  35. I am so glad I have joined your group. You are responsible for helping me overcome my fear of baking. Thank you!

    I can understand your decision. I can barely keep up with my own meager blog. I can’t imagine running something like TWD!

    Again, thank you for giving me exposure to baking challenges and for introducing me to so many genuinely kind and interesting people!

  36. Do what you need to do. I’m so glad I joined.

    Sorry about the late post this week, between sickness, injury, and the net just being down for us … it’s been “a week”.

  37. I completely understand, you have no idea how much! I run a busy website aside from my two blogs. On that website there are message boards. If it weren’t for my volunteer moderators it would be impossible to keep up with everything. I’m glad I’m getting in though, I would have been bummed if I didn’t make it! Thanks for ALL you do!

  41. Look – I wish I could join – I love to bake but only really have time consistently in the summer. I can’t imagine all the time that goes into this site but want you to know that as someone who can’t be part of the gang, I fully understand and support your decision to cap the group. I want you to also know how much I’ve learned from this site and how much I enjoy it. I peek in at least every couple of weeks – more often when I can – thanks for all the fun!

  46. I agree with you 100 percent and think it is a necessary move. Afterall, we want you to enjoy this too! Thanks for all you do. This has been one of the best things I’ve done in a long time. I’m really a better baker because of TWD!

  47. I totally understand capping the membership, things are getting busy for you all. I also agree that the membership needs to be cleaned out. Things in my life have gotten so busy and crazy that it has been a month since I have been able to make any of the TWD selections. I know that this is not to the original terms and if you need to take me off the list I understand – no hard feelings. I am hoping to get started again, but as I said ~ I would completely understand if I was on the downsize list. Thanks for all the hard work you have done since the start…I can only imagine all the hard work that goes into maintaining this site.

  48. I agree with everyone else…do what you have to do…300 is an INSANE number honestly. I cannot get to 1/4 of the blogs on Tuesdays unfortunately…and I really do try but other than spending hours clicking and posting, it’s not possible!

    Thanks to all of you who help maintain TWD and to all the wonderful members who post regularly!!!!

  50. It is the right decision. I am so glad I joined when I did. It has been incredible fun. But when it stops being fun, it’s not worth the trouble. Thanks for all you do to keep it going. We all love it. Right, Bakers??

  54. Hi there everyone! WOW, the news is a bit shocking, I have been away at school and I am so happy that I decided to hop off that fence and join.

    I understand your decision in the fact that even keeping up a blog is very time consuming and I can not even imagine an entire site such as this.

    I think you have done a great job here, it has brought a lot of people together to bake and I like that.

    Thank you very much for the time you do spend on the upkeep of the site.

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