ediemac1

If there going to be one or are we dismantling Talk Board?

Smaug

Was wondering the same thing.

JDiver

The Community Director is away on FT business at the moment. She will be able to respond appropriately upon her return. Until then, we will close this thread.

Thank you,

TalkBoard Forum Moderation Team (Moderator2, JDiver)

SanDiego1K

Talkboard will be disbanded at the end of November. Many people have faithfully served as Talkboard members. Many good decisions have come from it, and FlyerTalk has been strengthened as a result. However, FlyerTalk is now a mature board with little activity where Talkboard can engage. It's been increasingly difficult to get members to vote in the Talkboard election. I think that readers are happy to engage in conversations about miles and points but have little interest in the mechanics of the board. I deeply appreciate all that Talkboard has done over the years. We are a better site thanks to their efforts.

Carol
Community Director

lin821

After TalkBoard disbands, what would happen to TalkBoard Topics Forum, starting December 1st, 2016?

Smaug

I would hope some sort of public forum would continue to exist to facilitate open communication to/from those in FT leadership roles.

kipper

I would hope so as well. I think there have been some good suggestions for how to improve FT, even in recent years.

Dovster

Carol, I believe that despite its very large membership, most posts are made by roughly 3000 people. The rest have either stopped coming here for various reasons or prefer just to read what those 3000 are saying.

Those 3000, who supply the editorial content of the board, without which FT would cease to exist, are interested in the board's mechanics. Earlier TB election numbers showed that.

However, they realize that TB has been effectively neutered. It has no authority beyond recommending to you that new forums be established. The real authority on FT (besides, of course, yourself) is in the hands of the moderators and, like all other members, TB is not allowed to discuss moderation much less take any action concerning it.

That is why members no longer bother to vote in TB elections and, indeed, very few are interested in serving on TB. This is a pity as you have these three thousand or so members who are very dedicated to FlyerTalk, tend to be more highly educated and professionally successful than posters on other boards, and could have made substantial contributions to how FT operates if only they were allowed to do so.

SkiAdcock

Disagree.

I said this before I served on TB & while I served on TB. Most FTers could give two patooties about the admin of FT & come to it for miles/points info only. FWIW & speaking only for myself, I feel the same way re: admin of other BBs I frequent that are not travel-related.

TB's remit hasn't changed over 15 years, so the idea that it's suddenly neutered due to mods is just silly. When I was first elected voting #s were high. TB's remit was the same then as it is several years later. Heck, it was the same really many years ago when you served. The remit hasn't changed. IMO decrease in voting #s and also in topics raised has more to do w/ FT being a mature BB.

Carol's done a great job of promoting TB, elections, etc, but for those who now come to FT or check out elections or TB, they realize that not much is being discussed/considered, primarily because over the last 15 years TB has sorted out a lot of items, re: new forums, post counting, etc.

In the 6 years since I was elected to TB (w/ a mandatory 1 year gap involved, which I voted for btw), the amount of items discussed/voted on has decreased. That's not because FTers or TB don't care; it goes along w/ being a mature bulletin board.

I have faith in the CommunityDirector that she'll sort out a way for FTers to suggest ideas, just as I expect TB forum to date to be available even if in an archive format. I've had no conversations w/ the CD re: this, but I have respect for her & her decisions re: making FT a great BB.

Cheers.

Moderator2

Let's nip it in the bud now. There will be no further discussion of moderation. Please contact the Community Director via private message if you have comments on that subject.

Thanks

nsx

Here's what I posted on the private TalkBoard forum:

I reluctantly agree with Carol's decision. FT is running so smoothly that TalkBoard no longer provides value commensurate with the effort needed to continue it. TalkBoard was part of the reason for FT's continued success in meeting the challenge of the growing popularity of sharing travel tips and of collecting and using miles and points. It's no small feat to maintain the value proposition for users as website traffic grows 10-fold or more.

If any website ever feels the need for a member-elected advisory committee, I doubt they could write a better set of operating rules than we have constructed for TalkBoard and refined over many years. I do hope that sees some re-use somewhere.

I'm glad to have had the opportunity to participate on TalkBoard and I hope to continue to help out wherever I can add value. FlyerTalk has given my family and me some incomparable experiences and I enjoy helping others achieve similar results.

One final observation: There is one fundamental reason TalkBoard is no longer needed. That reason is named Carol. We are blessed to have a leader of unparalleled dedication, wisdom, and kindness. TalkBoard was, in essence, a patch to make up for our founder's shortage of time to spend on FT. Carol's diligence has made that patch unnecessary. We are retiring because our job is done.

RichMSN

I will not comment on moderation.

But it was clear, even when I served on TalkBoard, that the TalkBoard was a group with no teeth, despite being elected by the membership.

The TalkBoard was a place where ANYONE could serve. There are many of us who wish to be involved with the TalkTeam, but for whatever reason aren't deemed worthy.

Apparently now there's no place for we "deplorables" to go now.

C'est la vie. RIP.

SkiAdcock

Agree

dchristiva

This is all pretty spot on. Well-written.

kokonutz

As a TB veteran, I tend to agree with this decision.

In recent years the cumbersome TB Guidelines (that, in fairness, I led the drafting of back in the day) have retarded nimble reactions to the marketplace, and so the process was doing more harm than good.

That said, TB has always served a vital role as a sounding board for FlyerTalk Management. As such, I do hope and expect that Carol will continue to reach out to non-moderator FlyerTalkers for focus groups and sounding boards.