I'm running for TalkBoard to improve FT and to bring a new perspective to the elected leadership.

I've been a member of FT since 2002--right around this time of year. I had just run the NYC Marathon and while on what is commonly known as "runner's high" I came up with my nic and joined FT. I had been posting for a couple of years on another much smaller forum but it was suggested to me that the format and diversity of the much larger FlyerTalk would suit me very well.

Having 10+years in this forum doesn't make me better than anyone else, but it does give me experience that many may not have. I am no elitist and I try to leave my ego at the door, but sadly so many do not share those sentiments and I hope I can help change that attitude by example. But I joined this online community at a time when exhibiting just a bit more class, style and grace were some of the ingredients that enabled one to become accepted. It was also at a time when one could still afford to actually BUY an airline ticket. When having 25,000 miles meant one could actually use them to fly somewhere. When there were six majors not just three. And when everything wasn't always about fraud or "for security reasons" (we were certainly already on our way to being like that however).

The community of FT was such that people could ask and debate questions where real travelers would share or debate as well. It can be like that now in many areas, but to many people I talk to daily, a lot of this has eroded away. Sure, there were dweebs and trolls, but that's the internet. But most of the members had to have invested some time, energy and intelligence into this stuff to even bother to be on the forum and so one could more easily discern between reality and falseness. In other words, there was a bit more work, passion and learned knowledge that went into this and if someone outed a deal or made a huge blunder, the community let them know this was not cool. The poster could, however, show that he or she realized the mistake and learned from it and would be collectively welcomed back too. I mean, at least it seemed this way to me (having made my own many blunders over the years).

It's not always the job of the moderators to govern the community and those who just take the easier way through things never seem to get that. Not that simply signing up for a multitude of credit cards and then buying massive amounts of gift cards is a bad thing--I do the CC part quarterly and the GC part almost daily--but it takes a lot more wisdom and in-depth creativity to work through a collection of small promos, to put together trips, to read and understand mileage charts and to learn about and have a passion about the aircraft people fly. Having to do harder things to get award travel to work for a person makes that person more able to handle travel related issues and makes them appreciate it more.

From day one, my concentration was always about ways to earn miles I always dealt in issues like "How do you get your miles or points when promo X failed or didn't want to award them to you?" So I didn't get into things like mileage running, which often involved a job that forced one to travel a lot anyway, but it seemed to me that in my earlier years there were more flying enthusiasts with what appeared to be a long-time presence and reliability than onetime, one off posters that took jabs at one another and came and went each month on the forum. Things seemed to stick around a lot longer. Now things move quicker and deals change in a day sometimes. Now mileage running tricks and ideas are often over exposed and people don't respect the unspoken rules such as "do not call" and the like (there's a difference between calling a company about an über amount of lost miles in a botched promo, which could be okay to do, vs calling an airline about a mistake fare, which is not good to do, but some don't care).

FT is still a great community but things have changed and some seasoned members talk with me offline. We have met in person and some of us email or PM on a regular basis. One friend of mine who shares deals and miles promos with me saw that I was running for TalkBoard and said this: "I have all kinds of questions.....like, what plans do you have to bring the fun, humorous and more knowledgeable people back so that they replace many of the dumbos that we have now? Can we go back to code-speak that was more challenging than the circles and arrows currently in use? How do people feel about an IQ test as a membership requirement for FT?!"

On that note, I'd like to say that I am FULLY aware that all kinds of people share here and that there are many more opinions and styles than just my own. I know my stuff is not the best or the only way to do things, but for those who know me--and I am very easy to get to know and be friendly with--the goal is to work with real time stuff that works and gives good results. There's a way to accommodate many personalities if one works at it, and I am both well-suited and very willing to do that work! ...and to re-energize and revive some of the great FT stuff I saw when I first joined.

Again, I have made my mistakes, been shut down from this or been booted from that, and I have learned from these things. Now it's time for a guy like me to willingly give even more back to the community through TalkBoard.

That's why I'm doing this. Hope you like it.

MM