TalkBoard Meeting 2008
April 25, 2008
2 pm to 6 pm
Arizona Biltmore Hotel, Hohokam Room (Valley Wing, fourth floor, north side)
Scottsdale, AZ

Present: techgirl, Spiff, bhatnasx, lucky9876coins, Punki, kokonutz, gleff, Randy Petersen
Absent: Jenbel, Cholula


Introductions were made. Ground rules for the meeting were laid out.

Randy prefaced the meeting by saying there were no off-limits topics. Randy updated the group with the status of Internet Brands and their servers. A test server has been created for the purpose of testing new plug-ins such as Ignore Thread, Search, and re-energizing new users. ETA on these three new plug-ins is mid-June 2008, or approximately 45 days. Plug-ins are selected by user input and research by FlyerTalk.

The TalkBoard has been asked to examine the process for users requesting handle changes. The TalkBoard was also asked to examine the entry requirements for Coupon Connection and Omni. Should a more subjective admission policy for these two fora be adopted?

Randy said that FlyerTalk Reviews can be deleted if the TalkBoard votes accordingly.

Randy declined to disband the TalkBoard.

Randy reaffirmed the decision that Omni posts counts will not be restored. There is still the possibility to amend the TOS so that they do count in the future, but they will remain uncounted in the meantime.

Moderators, and anyone else in good standing may run for TalkBoard. The TalkBoard forum will not be made read-only by the membership.

The proposed new TalkBoard guidelines were introduced. It was decided that they would be worked on section-by-section, rather than as a whole. The best time to hold annual TalkBoard elections was discussed. There will be no geographic requirement for a certain number of members to reside outside the United States. Other topics regarding the election were discussed: what is the minimum participation time for a new user to vote in the TalkBoard election? How can elections be promoted better? The possibility of election rigging was discussed and it was concluded that it is a very remote possibility. Legitimacy of representation was also discussed (what activity level makes a member a participant?) Bigger picture: who do we represent? What are acceptable electioneering guidelines? Acceptable electioneering parameters will be examined. The TalkBoard guidelines were discussed and amended. Amendments to motions, particularly motions on the floor were discussed. The role of the TalkBoard president was discussed as was moderation of the TalkBoard forum.

There was a short break.

Obtaining better information and feedback from the members was discussed. Could TalkMail be used to better communicate what the TalkBoard is doing? The TalkBoard liaison will work with the moderators of the public TalkBoard forum on the matter of maximizing user participation. The roles of the TalkBoard officers and TalkBoard members’ interaction with the public were discussed. Formal requests for input will be made by the TalkBoard liaison. Any discussion about these duties should be raised in the private TalkBoard forum. TalkBoard members should take great care not to appear to be speaking for the TalkBoard itself when interacting with members.

Increasing member participation was discussed. Some questions raised were: “What are we trying to accomplish?”, “How many new users do we get annually?” “Could the proposed Newbie Forum help?” “How can we increase users’ comfort levels?”, “Can a lot of new users be effectively supported?”, “Is activity down?” “Are too many people being told to ‘do a search’?”.

The idea to create Ambassadors for the forums was made and widely accepted. Ambassadors could be charged with welcoming people to a forum, directing their questions, and reducing the over-all “snarkiness” found in some forums. Randy stated that FT is looking at a plug-in that will track user activity and contact users who fit certain parameters like last visit/participation, and can better tailor the welcome process for new users. “Dead” users can be purged from the system if a list of parameters is used to determine if a user is no longer active. The possibility of using surveys was discussed. Engagement and re-engagement of users was discussed. The question of what makes one a participant was raised, vs someone who just uses Google to get the information he/she needs without otherwise participating. The possibility of more forum FAQs and pushing the Wiki concept was discussed. The question of restricting access to certain forums to newbies was raised. The possibility of having a TalkBoard chat was discussed.

The question was raised as to whether all official programs should have their own forums. Also, metrics for opening and closing forums were discussed. It was generally agreed that having quantitative metrics for forum opening/closing would not be a good idea. Randy mentioned that the new Virgin America, Qatar, and Turkish forums have had a positive impact on FT.

Civility in the forum was discussed with the hope that the tone of today’s meeting would be reflected in our interactions with each other online.

Action Items:

Discussion, Amendment, and Approval of Talk Board Guidelines
Election Issues/Parameters
Ambassadors
Coupon Connection access
Coupon Connection Guidelines

The meeting adjourned at 6pm.