TalkBoard Topics - Motion Passed: Public Notice Procedures

Moved by bhatnasx and seconded by SkiAdcock:

D. Public Notice Procedures
i. Once a motion has been put before TalkBoard for a vote the Vice President/Secretary shall post a new thread in the public TalkBoard Topics forum announcing the vote along with the voting end date as quickly as feasible.

to a revised section 4.D.i.:

D. Public Notice Procedures
i. Once a motion has been put before TalkBoard for a vote the Vice President/Secretary shall post a new thread in the public TalkBoard Topics forum announcing the vote along with the voting end date as quickly as feasible. Once that thread is posted, the TalkBoard Vice President/Secretary will submit a request to the FlyerTalk Host or representative to create an site-wide announcment of the vote with a link to the discussion/voting thread in the TalkBoard Topics Forum. The Announcement will be available until either voting is completed and a decision is made or the voting period ends.

This vote will close on May 20, 11 at 6:52 am Pacific Time or after all TalkBoard members have registered their vote, whichever comes first.

Per the TalkBoard Guidelines:

A motion shall pass if two-thirds of TalkBoard members participating in that vote vote ‘yes.’

The purpose of posting voting topics in the public TalkBoard Topics forum is to solicit member feedback on any motions that are up for a vote and to allow for comments after a vote is made. It is at the sole discretion of the individual TalkBoard members whether they choose to post in the public discussion thread, there being no requirement to do so.

Please feel free to post questions, comments or any other sort of feedback about this specific motion in this thread.

I am glad to see this suggestion being taken up, and I hope it passes.

This approach could deepen the involvement of a wider FT membership base -- and that's a good thing in my opinion.

While I think it is a good idea to increase the exposure of TalkBoard and the activity of TalkBoard, I'm not in favour of this specific proposal. With the current software, each announcement uses prime real estate so I am uncomfortable with any proposal that diminishes the space given over to the daily discourse on each forum.

I don't know if it is possible to add an Announcements link to the blue header bar. This alternative would get my support.

I am glad to see this suggestion being taken up, and I hope it passes.

This approach could deepen the involvement of a wider FT membership base -- and that's a good thing in my opinion.

Well said and I agree. Involving the greater community in the TB process to me is a positive step. ^

I'm glad to see the Talk Board take this step towards better communication with the membership.

I support this even though I hate the idea of more announcements.

I would hope the Talkboard would also try to get regular space in the Talkmail newsletter. I know many do not even look at the announcements... so any other way to get out the "message" might be valuable.

I support this even though I hate the idea of more announcements.

I would hope the Talkboard would also try to get regular space in the Talkmail newsletter. I know many do not even look at the announcements... so any other way to get out the "message" might be valuable.

TB usually doesn't have many motions in a month, I doubt you will see more than one per month, and only for 2 weeks or as quickly as TB vote. The difficulty with TalkMail I think is getting TB to agree the article. It'd require a motion, and an announcement ;)

Markie, I was thinking the TB could more "advertise" their presence... marketing themselves in the newsletter... not necessarily the actual votes...

If the TB could not even agree on these articles, you are definitely in trouble... :)

I seriously doubt that having an occasional submission to Talkmail re: TB itself or activities would require a motion/vote. it's something we could assign one of the TB members to write & have the other TB members take a look at on the private TB forum before it gets submitted.

Cheers.

I support this even though I hate the idea of more announcements.

I would hope the Talkboard would also try to get regular space in the Talkmail newsletter. I know many do not even look at the announcements... so any other way to get out the "message" might be valuable.

Talkmail is almost as slow as the TalkBoard. ;)

I am on the fence because I also hate seeing announcements more than noce or twice. Too bad the software can't figure out that you've already seen an announcement and suppress it.

I predict that members will be upset with the loss of screen real estate more than they will appreciate knowing about our next minor tweak to FT. I still can't figure out how to vote on this.

Well we can't keep complaining about only a small amount of folk posting on TB to give us their input & then not do things to let more people know that TB exists and/or votes in forums that might affect them.

I'm supportive of something that will foster better communication with the members, even if there's an occasional loss of space due to an announcement.

Cheers.

Well we can't keep complaining about only a small amount of folk posting on TB to give us their input & then not do things to let more people know that TB exists and/or votes in forums that might affect them.

I'm supportive of something that will foster better communication with the members, even if there's an occasional loss of space due to an announcement.

Cheers.

I'm convinced. Further evidence for your argument can be found in the thread about the change to OMNI access. It has 255 posts, of which only 38 were made before the vote ended. :(

I am on the fence because I also hate seeing announcements more than noce or twice. Too bad the software can't figure out that you've already seen an announcement and suppress it.

I predict that members will be upset with the loss of screen real estate more than they will appreciate knowing about our next minor tweak to FT. I still can't figure out how to vote on this.
I would think broadened communication and loss of screen real estate are two separate issues.

Any move to bring more awareness of TB to general memberships is positive.

How to implement and broadcasting communication from TB is more of a technical implementation. I would think that's for the tech dept and/or IB to embark on. The techie in the house should be able to take into consideration how to "emit" announcement effectively but not to sacrifice screen real estate.

I'm convinced. Further evidence for your argument can be found in the thread about the change to OMNI access. It has 255 posts, of which only 38 were made before the vote ended. :(

And we've probably run into a similar situation w/ Coupon Connection. I expect that thread to get a lot of posts once the restriction is implemented. Timing was such that that came up for a vote before this one did. Not intentional; just the way it happened.

But hopefully having public notices will help increase visiblity of TB as well as decisions that are being considered/voted on so more people can weigh in. Well, that's the game plan anyway!

Cheers.

Any consideration to just sending a blast PM / email out when votes have been posted?

We are only talking about one message every few weeks on average.... pretty tough for people to not see those messages.

Any consideration to just sending a blast PM / email out when votes have been posted?

We are only talking about one message every few weeks on average.... pretty tough for people to not see those messages.

My guess is some would consider that spam. The current proposal is for an announcement. As you said, there aren't that many votes so it's not like it will take up real estate all the time.

Cheers.

Any consideration to just sending a blast PM / email out when votes have been posted?

We are only talking about one message every few weeks on average.... pretty tough for people to not see those messages.

:eek: No spam, please! :D

My guess is some would consider that spam. The current proposal is for an announcement. As you said, there aren't that many votes so it's not like it will take up real estate all the time.

Cheers.Some might consider a global announcement as spam ;)

This motion is live, voting is underway. Why not use this motion as a trial run. Just send a request for a global announcement through to our Community Director.

When the announcement goes up, you'll get all the feedback you need, and perhaps more :)

Any consideration to just sending a blast PM / email out when votes have been posted?

We are only talking about one message every few weeks on average.... pretty tough for people to not see those messages.

Emails may be hit or miss, ending up in spam folders, or people just ignoring them, etc.

I think that regardless of what happens, some people are going to complain. Post an announcement, people will complain they didn't see it, or it's taking up screen space. Send an email, people will complain that it's spam, or that they didn't receive it. Send a PM, and people will complain that they didn't see the happy little green "new notifications" message or that they don't want to receive PM's.

I think though that the announcement option is probably the best option. Yes, for 2 weeks, people will have to see it at the top of the screen, but I think that is the easiest way to ensure that everyone sees it and has the option to read it.

I also think it will minimize the concerns about those who would be affected by a motion not being aware of a motion. If someone opts not to open the announcement, then that is their decision, but the information was presented to them, most likely multiple times.

Emails may be hit or miss, ending up in spam folders, or people just ignoring them, etc.

I think that regardless of what happens, some people are going to complain. Post an announcement, people will complain they didn't see it, or it's taking up screen space. Send an email, people will complain that it's spam, or that they didn't receive it. Send a PM, and people will complain that they didn't see the happy little green "new notifications" message or that they don't want to receive PM's.

I think though that the announcement option is probably the best option. Yes, for 2 weeks, people will have to see it at the top of the screen, but I think that is the easiest way to ensure that everyone sees it and has the option to read it.

I also think it will minimize the concerns about those who would be affected by a motion not being aware of a motion. If someone opts not to open the announcement, then that is their decision, but the information was presented to them, most likely multiple times.

Again, well said.

Also to clarify, 2 weeks is the longest the announcement would be there. If voting is completed sooner than 2 weeks, then it would be taken down.

Cheers.

Some might consider a global announcement as spam ;)

This motion is live, voting is underway. Why not use this motion as a trial run. Just send a request for a global announcement through to our Community Director.

When the announcement goes up, you'll get all the feedback you need, and perhaps more :)

That is an excellent suggestion, and I certainly would welcome the results of such a trial.

I am all for the announcement. I also get tired of all the stickies taking up space on some forums. However, I would rather see a message that something is up for vote rather than miss it entirely. Like I missed the OMNI vote. Thankfully, I happened to catch the Coupon Connection and got my vote in for that.

However, I would rather see a message that something is up for vote rather than miss it entirely.

That's why we're considering this.

Cheers.

I would rather see a message that something is up for vote rather than miss it entirely. Like I missed the OMNI vote. Thankfully, I happened to catch the Coupon Connection and got my vote in for that.
No, your vote was not in, no matter you missed the announcement or not because you can't vote on TB motions.

I think you are confused about the process and how TB works. Only TBers vote and there are only 9 (valid) votes.

Being FTers, we speak up so TBers can listen, or choose not to. :D

Oh, the only thing we FTers get to vote on is the TB elections in every November. Don't forget to cast your votes for TB candidates later this year. :)

On 16 May 2011, the TalkBoard passed 9-0:

Moved by bhatnasx and seconded by SkiAdcock:

D. Public Notice Procedures
i. Once a motion has been put before TalkBoard for a vote the Vice President/Secretary shall post a new thread in the public TalkBoard Topics forum announcing the vote along with the voting end date as quickly as feasible.

to a revised section 4.D.i.:

D. Public Notice Procedures
i. Once a motion has been put before TalkBoard for a vote the Vice President/Secretary shall post a new thread in the public TalkBoard Topics forum announcing the vote along with the voting end date as quickly as feasible. Once that thread is posted, the TalkBoard Vice President/Secretary will submit a request to the FlyerTalk Host or representative to create an site-wide announcment of the vote with a link to the discussion/voting thread in the TalkBoard Topics Forum. The Announcement will be available until either voting is completed and a decision is made or the voting period ends.

Voting yes: bhatnasx, Cholula, jackal, lucky9876coins, Markie, nsx, SkiAdcock, Spiff, UA_Flyer

On 16 May 2011, the TalkBoard passed 9-0

^ Good news and thanks for the update! :)

+1. ^

+1. ^Redux ^

So, when does this take effect?

I see a vote was posted yesterday... but no announcement.

So, when does this take effect?

I see a vote was posted yesterday... but no announcement.

My understanding is IB's been notified, so hope/expect it to be up shortly.

Cheers.

May this be the start of more and more inclusion.

If IB delivers on putting up the notice long before the vote on allowing images in the OMNI forums is concluded, the irony will be that it will be providing notice to FTers about a forum which excludes the great majority of FTers.

Gotta say...I'm a little disappointed in "management's" inability to get an announcement on the pending OMNI vote out there. If they don't want to accept the recommendation, then that's fine. But something should be said either way, IMHO. :td:

Gotta say...I'm a little disappointed in "management's" inability to get an announcement on the pending OMNI vote out there. If they don't want to accept the recommendation, then that's fine. But something should be said either way, IMHO. :td:

Wow - a bit surprised you'd say that. We've had other instances where things need to be posted & it's taken 24 hours or more to get it done. We still have 13 days left.

And from what I can tell IB isn't trying to 'prevent' something like this from happening. If they were, they could have said point blank no & then the vote on public notice happening wouldn't have occurred at all. So a bit of :td: to you as well. Just sayin...

Cheers.

Seems IB didn't get a heads up re: the vote & notice, so it will be taken care of shortly, presumably during working hours tomorrow.

Cheers.

It is what it is...If Spiff or nsx had time to post a vote & start the public notification thread, I would have imagined that they would have had time to send a note to have an announcement made. In your post earlier in this thread, you stated that it was your understanding that notification was made - if it was made during the business day, which it seemed it was in your earlier post, I would imagine that someone with the authority to make a site-wide announcement would have made it. I realize it's a new process, and maybe my expectations are too high, but my thought is that if we, as the TB, say we're going to do something, that the leadership of the TB do it in a timely manner. I'll lower my expecatations next time I guess.

I realize it's a new process, and maybe my expectations are too high, but my thought is that if we, as the TB, say we're going to do something, that the leadership of the TB do it in a timely manner. I'll lower my expecatations next time I guess.

I move that Spiff and nsx's salaries be cut in half! :p

Not only are we all only human, we're also all only unpaid volunteers dealing with a new process that's never been done before. It's not unreasonable to not expect perfection. :wink:

So a bit of :td: to you as well. Just sayin...

Cheers.

Is such personalization necessary? I can understand not agreeing with the content of someone's post or an action but to :td: an individual seems a bit gratuitous to say the least.

From the rest of your post, interesting content. So if a TB proposal is diapproved by IB, then the TB proposal won't get a vote?