I would also like to propose the following forum changes to make navigating the boards a little more clear:

Move Community to Travel
Having forums like this on Miles muddies the message that FT is trying to send about staying on topic. Now, I know it's not travel, either, but it seems more natural to group community forums together over there (see below).

Move Trip Reports to Travel
Along the same lines, trip reports rarely have anything to do with miles and points, but are much more focused on the experience of travel in general. This would also replace and absorb the existing Road Trip reports

Eliminate FlyerTalk Itineraries altogether
There is a tool already in place for posting itineraries under the Events tab above, and I'm not sure why people don't use it. Barring this elimination, it should at least be moved to FT Travel as a community forum (see below).

Eliminate In The News altogether
I'm not sure of the reason for this forum in the first place. News is posted across flyertalk, and someone searching for threads in the future are more likely to search in topical forums versus a generic forum like this. Perhaps this was created to provide a place for the illustrious doc, but even he spent most of his time posting in specific topics.

Eliminate the multiple Suggestions, Techincal Support, and Announcements forums
Now, I long suspected that the original purpose behind the multiple boards was to leverage the FT brand into multiple boards with distinct constituencies, but this doesn't seem to be happening, and I don't think that the forums on travel, dining, and airports are getting read very often. You see lots of 0 reply threads over there.

Reorganize Travel Hierarchy
The top section of travel includes a hodgepodge of forums, not very related to each other. What if there was a section for Traveler Communities (for Children, Women, GLBT, Trip Reports, Community, OMNI), Types of Travel (Bed and Breakfast, Adventure Travel, Cruises, Timeshares, Rails, Luxury Hotels), and Travel (TravelBuzz!, Online Booking, Tourist Traps, Travel Technology, Travel Discounts, Travel Safety/Security)?

Consolidate FT Dining and FT Airports into FT Travel
It is likely that a browser or future searcher will be interested in multiple aspects of a favorite destination, and it would be natural to discuss the airports, the restaurants, along with the sights, loding etc. in a consolidated forum for a given destination.

In general, the request is for fewer forums as they will make for less work for the moderators and an easier to understand system for the posters.

OK, so it's a lot to throw out there, but it seems like people are in a mood to roll up their sleeves and tackle some things, so I wanted to get these out there.

Thanks

ETA: I forgot one!

Move TalkBoard Issues to the Support section
Talkboard issues has nothing to do with miles, and is meta-discussion. Meta-discussion belongs at the bottom with the other forums like it. I'm not sure if this should be on Miles or not, but it probably doesn't matter.

[This message has been edited by robb (edited 01-29-2003).]