The growing magnitude and cross-over in ID Forum never ceases to amaze me, which, let me be clear, is not a pleasant surprise at all.
I think the million dollar questions ought to be:
1. What is Information Desk Forum?
2. What should be Information Desk Forum like on FT?
3. How can Information Desk Forum carry a more distinctive, instead of overlapping, role from all the other fora on FT?
Some of my opinions haven't change after observing the existing ID Forum for more than a year:
Originally Posted by
lin821
I totally get it that our Information Desk Forum is still in a work-in-progress stage. That makes it more important to lay out solid foundation to shape any future development. Otherwise, new comers would only model the "discouraging" behavior, such as cross-posting, inquiring specific airline or hotel loyalty programs, asking airport-specific questions,...etc.
Having said that, librarians direct readers to the proper floors and/or shelves when readers don't know where and how to find the books/info they need. No reader gets to stay & sit at Help Desk in the libraries when seeking help.
Originally Posted by
lin821
My idea for an Award Planning Forum is different from a Q&A Forum. A general Q&A Forum is certainly not milesbuzzing but would do good for those who:
1. are clueless newbies;
2. want to travel (for free) but don't have miles/points at bay;
3. need basic FT education;
4. don't know how and/or where to start their research for FFPs;
5. don't know where to ask their questions or which forum their questions belong;
6. have questions that involve multi-FFP or alliance;
7. have many more general Qs.
I do think separating award planning from general Qs will be a more clean-cut restructuring for FT. Award Planning Forum would still belong to Miles&Points Section but a general catchall Q&A Forum shall be less fitting.
The current state of ID Forum is almost like forcing the advanced skiers and the beginner in the same "playground", but the end result is neither group is happy. I don't think anyone would like to see a say medal worthy swimmers practice skills in kiddy's pool either.
I also understand there is a need for a "no man's land" (or an orphanage so to speak) on FT to house threads that don't appear to have a distinctive home forum. But we also have to draw a line so there's no confusion between the TravelBuzz Forum and this catch-all new corner. When
a thread like this about lounge access can belong to either TravelBuzz or current ID Forum, that's not a good news as far as FT structure is concerned. When MODs dump threads (like
this) that don't belong to ID Forum, "Houston, we have a problem!"
What's the downside to have a "Newbie Corner", where everyone who's not familiar with FT can come and ask whatever questions they have in mind w/r/t FT? We all were a newbie once and gradually find our way on FT. A couple of years back Slickdeals initiated a forum for newbies (in early 2000). I contributed my ideas of a sandbox area for newcomers to get their feet wet and that setup was quite useful and successful during that time. I lost track of SD after relocating back to Asia a few years ago so I don't know how they handle newbies nowadays. BUT FT is quite huge and new faces do need assistance finding the right paths. I think it took me a year or 2 before I found
TB Topics Forum and
made my 1st post. Some, or the majority, still don't know there's even a TB Topics Forum on board after so many years. Newbie are not judged by their FT age. Everybody can be a newbie if they learn something new from FT.
A cross-program discussion and award planning forum can only enhance FT. More and more savvy FTers gain status with more than one alliance and fly with multiple carriers globally. With clear forum rules, we can cut down those airline-specific threads and deter those get-me-free-mile-or-tix kind of threads.
An Information Desk Forum can easily be mistakenly identified as a place to ask
anything, even it's a program-specific inquiry. So we've seen newbies asking how-to-start-my-own-non-travel-related business, marketing their status, and finding-me-cheap-fares. IMHO, none of those fits in the mission of the intended ID Forum. With a more descriptive forum name, such as
Newbies and General FT Q&A, and some effective forum descriptor like "
questions about using FT and non-airline/hotel specific threads", people will learn how to navigate FT with less time. And we don't have to corner those who can easily find their right way on Day One to ask their say CX questions in
Cathay Pacific | Asia Miles Forum. After all, there are newbies and there are newbies.
I am not saying a forum restructuring, let it be renaming and/or splitting forum, will completely eliminate flying-blind or random shooting threads, but at least we provide a better road map to guide folks to become an asset on FT. Eventually, I hope.
OTA:
I hate to say it, but I am aware some of my random thoughts are overlapping with the concurrent TB Discussion thread. Rather than cross-posting, I'll simply link it since both threads are relevant to current ID Forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...als-forum.html