Originally Posted by
LIH Prem
They already are, look at all the self-congratulatory posts by KVS, for example, and I think we're pretty much stuck with it.
I emailed Carol about this, and she mentioned the suggestion of a Travel Tools forum so at least we can sweep all those posts about a tool (informational or otherwise) into one forum (or even a travel tools forum with sub forums for kvs, expert flyer, etc). I think it's a great idea, and a reasonable trade off to the issues many of you have raised and responded to.
Those that are interested in the travel tools, such as KVS, Expert Flyer and any other related or unrelated travel tools can go spend time in that forum and find their answers. Those that are not, won't have to even see the thread titles or read about that stuff in other forums. And the moderators in the other forums can refer those discussions to the appropriate travel tools forum or sub-forums.
I think it's a reasonable tradeoff. Is there a downside? Given that we already allow the topics to infect other forums, I don't see any.
I hope that our TB members will support the creation of a Travel Tools forum and make it happen as soon as possible.
-David
As Carol apparently indicated to you, we've been tossing this idea around in the private TB topics forum.
Here is an expanded-upon version of my most recent post on the issue from that forum for public poster consideration:
In re: a 'Travel Tools' forum, the devil is in the definition.
Are blogs travel tools? Travel agencies and/or things like award booking service? And leaving the exclusively digital realm, are books? Magazines?
Basically: what exactly is a 'travel tool/service?' And who decides where that line is?
The way Concourse Z is structured on MP, the concourse is a 'forum' and each product gets a sub-forum. That makes it the 'longest' forum on
MP's main forum page.
I always thought that looked kind of gaudy.
So structure is another key question.
Moving from asking questions to providing suggestions, my first thought is that it makes the most sense at the outset to create a forum for travel tools & services but rather than having a formal sub-forum or even a thread for each product, allow the forum to evolve naturally.
Allow any tool or service that is travel related to be talked about, and linked to by any flyertalker. But no direct sales on FT. Sort of like a trade show rather than a marketplace. Let the posters decide what they want to talk about and see what evolves. If the owners of the products and services want to participate in the discussions, great. If not, let the posters talk about their product in their absence. Obviously online booking/bidding threads and posts posted in the new travel tools forum would be moved to online booking/bidding forum that already exists. Technology posts/threads would be move to the existing Travel Tech, etc. What will be left will be the threads and posts about tools and services that Flyertalkers want to talk about and use.
Maybe require 180 days 180 posts for entry to keep out both robo-spam as well as human spammers....?
See how that goes.
And a sticky at the top: CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!!
As for hybrid commercial/Dos like the seminars and the megados, to me those are tools or products and belong in a travel tool/service forum. Whether they are for-profit or non-profit. The ROI is in knowledge and/or comped statuses with the community-aspect as a side benefit rather than the core reason for attending. Just like it would be if you bought a book or subscribed to a magazine about frequent travel tricks and tips. But I wouldn't want my personal opinion on that matter to screw up the creation of a travel tools forum.
Anyway, that's just a rough draft to prove that I'm not just asking questions but trying to put pen to paper for an actual proposal.
