While I too have been an active member, and also have a strong desire to give back, I'm going to have to disagree with the above posters.
While it is important to have a familiarity with what it is like to be a member, and to be familier with subject of travel in order to make good decisions - you are going to need a lot more to be effective.
I'm going to quore from the post that convinced me to run:
Originally Posted by dhammer53
If you're running for Talk Board...
1. Your heart must be in the right place if you are to succeed.
2. You must believe in your convictions when you're discussing the issues.
3. You must be willing to 'listen' to other opinions.
4. You must be willing to accept defeat on an issue when you're not able to convince the others.
5. You must be willing to accept the 'frustration' factor when others don't see your point of view.
6. You must be able to accept the frustration factor with 'the system.'
7. You must remember that Rome wasn't built in a day.
8. You must recognize that the wheels of government turn very slowly (in spite of everyones good intentions).
9. You must remember that Flyertalk is an online bulletin board (so don't lose any sleep over the 'serious discussions' that may not go as planned).
10. You must remember that in spite of some of the mocking you may receive from a small number of posters; that Randy and the other 99% of us DO care, and appreciate what you're tying to accomplish!
What finally convinced me that I would be an effective candidate is that 1-9 (with minor adjustments) sound exactly like my day job. And I am quite good at my day job (more about that below).
Having the desire to be on the Talkboard isn't enough. You need to have to have experience building concensus. You need to be able to think critically. You need to know how to communitcate ideas effictively using only text. You need to be able to examine someone else's point and understand what they are trying to achieve (even if you disagree - correction:especially if you disagree) and see if you can find a way to bridge the gaps between different parties. You have to know when to dig deeper for a novel solution that everyone will accept, and you need to know how to let go. And you need to know when to switch from digging to letting go.
I have all of these qualities, and practice most of them in my daily job: I am a Development Manager at a large software company. My division is one of the worlds largest producers of enterprise software - the software that large businesses use to run themselves. I manage a small team of people that are responsible for some areas of functionality that benefits most every other team in my division.
There are many projects that need doing (and more that I'd like to do as it would benefit the division), but I am given a very limited number of resources.
To complicate matters, my area of functionality requires buy-in from other groups, either via some set of tasks that they need to do to work with my area, or some enhancement I need in their areas. They of course are also limited in their resources.
I am forced therefore to find ways to convince other managers of my vision and find ways to make life easier for them when asking them to do something. I also need to be receptive to the requirements that they have for me. Finally I have to protect my own team from being overworked. It is a delicate balancing act and I have learned a lot about diplomacy, negotiation, and finding novel solutions in the years that I have been doing it.
Beyond all that, I think it is important for a board member to have a vision. I have one. I have articulated it a number of times in my platform as well as other threads, so I'm not going to repeat it again here - besides the important thing with respect to this question is that I have a vision for FT, not the particulars of it.
Finally I have the drive to use my skills to move FT in the direction of my vision. I can't promise that I will be successful, but I can promise that I will try.