I've finally received a date from Rupert on a meeting with him. It will be held on March 20 at 1430 for about one hour at YUL.

I am responsible for selecting the "very small group" heading up to meet with him. I am selecting and giving preference to those who are long time AC FTers. I've just emailed an invitation to them and waiting to hear back from them. If most of them are ok with the date, then that will fill up all the spots available on the group.

For those who are interested and didn't get an invitation from me, please email me so if anyone happens to not make it at the last minute, you'll be substituted.

Also, please email me any suggestions you want to be taken to Rupert.

Empress, would it not be easier to have the suggestions posted here for all to see? May avoid duplication in emails & offer some insight to those who are unable to attend...

Cheers. Dogstar.

Rupert,

Thank-you. I respect you for taking the time to have this meeting - it is commendable.

[edited for spelling.]

[This message has been edited by makin'miles (edited 03-01-2002).]

Hey Empress,

JUST WONDERING: Is AC flying you guys to YUL on a pass, or are you flying on your own dime???

Inquiring minds want to know!

It was the FT'ers who requested and later demanded the meeting, so I assume they're paying their own way.

Now it would be nice if AC gave them 15K or 25K in return (enough to duplicate the trip on points) but I'd expect AC to make that offer at the meeting, not in advance.

andrew

I was basically told "We asked for it, we pay for it". So we are all paying our own way to get to YUL, since it's a Wed, we either pay full fare or 25K points.

Not a chance.

To echo the sentiments expressed by Dogstar, while I feel the people selected can very well represent the interests of our group, I think the membership should be allowed to be more actively involved than they are now. As is stands now, most people aren't given a chance of expressing their opinions nor given any assurances that their concerns will be addressed. E-mailing one or few people who will be attending the meeting is not a productive nor accountable way of accomplishing that goal. There needs to be some debates as to what are the issues that are going to be raised in that one hour meeting. This would also assure that the people who will be going won't be sent to defend their personal interests at the expense of the benefits of our entire membership. After all, AC did not initiate this talk for the purpose of knowing what a few people desired but what their flyers wanted unless of course, this one-hour meeting is merely for PR.

Secondly, while I think the people chosen by Empress are very competent individuals capable of accurately representing us, I do not like the closed-door nature or the secrecy of this process. The current proposed meeting with few people selected at one single individual's discretion without the memebership having an opportunity to discuss who would like to volunteer and why they should be given the chance of going is ignoring the importance of collectivity of this community. There are obviously more people qualified than the number that could be sent. However, I strongly believe the people to be sent should also have some kind of support from the members of this forum. It doesn't have to come down to a voting process but I think this process should or could have been more open and let everyone has a say before making a final list. I won't be surprised the membership ended up backing the exact same people as Empress has appointed. Nevertheless, it would give the team much more confidence and authority to speak on behalf of all of us, not just a few people.

I urge some considerate changes to be added to this process either that be the questions to be asked and/or the people to be sent. I even think that if those people are going to represent our community, their travelling cost should at least be partially sponsored by those who cannot go provided that they are willing and committed to represent our collective interests, not their personal agendas. This has to be accountable and done in an open manner. The way I see it, there are many Westerners (if not all) on this team. Since it's a Wednesday, people got to fly on points or pay full-fare unless someone want to vacation in Montreal till weekend.

I am looking forward to hear the opinions of other Flyertalkers and sincerely suggest the person(people) concerned to pay attention to the suggestions raised by other Flyertalkers here.

Thanks Empress for sharing your news with us..

When you attend this meeting with Rupert, will you be putting forward the concerns of all levels of FF's or is this mtg just to express the concerns of the Super Elite?

nobody-elite: The meeting is not about SuperElite, it's about Aeroplan so everything will be addressed. The meeting is scheduled to be one hour long so we'll have to figure out the priority of the items and what will be discussed with Rupert.

There's nothing secret about this whole thing, my original suggestion of emailing me suggestions is just so we won't give Rupert a head start on how to address our questions.

Huh? I don't follow. You have issues to be addressed, but you want to keep them secret?

Empress, My industry pays a lot of money to get our top customers together for meetings. These meetings range from one on one's to focus groups to large scale educational events that span weekends in nice places, like Chateau Montebello or Banff. In every case we cover travel and accomodation expenses. For focus groups, we go one step futher and provide an honorarium to compensate our customers for their time.

The fact the Aeroplan and AC will not cover the minimum of transportation costs for a meeting with their top customers is ludicrous (I'm guessing everyone going is a active FT'er). When you consider that they are in the transportation business it becomes insulting.

With all due respect, I'd tell him to forget it. From the looks of how the meeting is being set up, two things are occuring. First, they aren't taking you all seriously (this is evidenced by making you pay to meet with them). Second, you're dealing with a bunch of amateurs (see the first point).

In either case, it is pure AC style. Nothing is going to come from this meeting. It is all window dressing.


[This message has been edited by skofarrell (edited 03-02-2002).]

Why would you want to keep the issues a secret ?

If Mr. RD reads the FT board and knows the issues and questions beforehand and comes prepared with answers to all the issues at hand, that's a problem !!!???

Would that not be a better usage of the limited time available ?

Or is the goal to bombard him with questions and issues of which he knows nothing about and have him stammer and hesitate and waste 15 minutes of the hour saying, "ummm ... I don't know, uh, ummm ... I'll get back to you on that question ..." ?

Who cares if he knows.

------------------
Got points ? Got smiles !

EMPRESS... you have mail..

Guava,

Let's not rip the process apart. Empress is trying to put together a meeting with less than three weeks notice, taking place on a Wednesday, and on our own dimes. Hardly ideal circumstances.

For my own part, I have no personal axe to grind. The cut in upgrades really doesn't affect me much. I see Elite and Basic members as the ones whose interests most need to be presented.

I agree with AC-SE... anything is better than nothing and let's face it... how many of us are willing or able to pay for a trip back to Montreal out of our own pockets..for a one hour mtg. Personally I do believe that AC should be paying for the trip, but like was mentioned in earlier posts, it was us that REQUESTED this mtg.

I think Empress should be thanked by all of us... just my 2 cents worth.. smile