Sadly, no I will not be attending this year's Freddies. I e-mailed Randy some weeks ago telling him of a committment I have at the Streaming Media West Conference in Los Angeles.

If it is a face at the Freddies that will help you, I'd refer you to the following link:

http://members.aol.com/flyerpics/FREDD2K.JPG

Where Catman, MileCrazy, Randy, Boomer and Myself posed with the 2000 Industry Impact award that Randy gave to Flyertalk, and the four of us accepted on everyone's behalf. (That picture sits in a silver frame in my Manhattan office.)

If it is a meeting and civil conversation you are suggesting, I'm absolutely happy to meet any and all Flyertalkers, and perhaps we can arrange something at EWR President's club, or if you'd be more comfortable in a group, Catman is long overdue to have a NY NJ Flyertalkers get together, and we can try that.

As far as my statement:
I suggest, as I did before, that Flyertalk is not an appropriate forum for a more detailed explanation of that statement, but I do stand by it with all my heart. It is not meant to insult any regular members participating there now I assure you. If you're unwilling to exchange e-mail with me regarding an explanation of that sentiment, you should feel free to e-mail almost any of the listed founders of that site and ask. Aside from any individual's biases, I'm sure you would get an explanation. Try SVP or Dgolds or Punki...I know they have more history than you could care to know.

And finally, I am quite far from running the show here. I've had my time out with all the others. I do not like the ocassional double standard of people who "get caught" facing sanctions, while others never get caught. But I have had a thorough dialog with Randy, and he made the following points very clear:

1)He is one person doing this job. He'll NEVER catch what he is not e-mailed about.

2)Any action he takes is his business.

3)I may have had good points to make, yet my actions (in the case of my suspension) hurt the community regardless of their intentions.

4)Only I will be responsible if I get a strike two, as I clearly know where he doesn't want me to go.

I assume he e-mailed you and any others that have had time-outs. My statement was and is simply that the "he started it" defense, for you and I and I'm sure many others is all used up. We are each now responsible for our own behavior. I appreciate that you have decided to ceace further references to me regarding the post above. That means, regardless of your opinion of me or my opinions, you are taking responsibility for your actions on FT that can be perceived as attacks. That's probably what Randy asked in the first place.

I very much appreciate the maturity you show in your last post. I will strive to match it.

[This message has been edited by NJDavid (edited 04-21-2002).]