I personally thought (and still do think) that the Ambassador program was probably the best idea that came out of the TalkBoard meeting. Apparently everone else also thought so at the time. On May 6th,
Spiff posted:
"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."
Since
Lucky9876Coins and I were given the task of putting together a proposal, that is was we did. I thought the original proposal was perfect, simple and workable. Unfortunately, a wonderful idea became a political football and that is really sad.
I think the new proposal, (sorry
koko, I know you gave this mess your best shot) is way too complicated, convoluted and fraught with snags. It will never go anywhere.
As
B747-437B writes:
Let me be one of the few moderators here to speak up in favour of this proposal, although I must admit that I preferred the original one that clearly placed the responsibility for selection of the Ambassadors with the ELECTED TalkBoard rather than with APPOINTED moderators.
It is obvious that some Moderators view the Ambassador program as a threat to their authority. Is it really right to have these people sitting in judgement over it in that case? It is neither fair to the Moderator nor the Ambassador applicant in question.
I wholeheartedly agree.
While the accusation has been levied that TalkBoard would suffer from cronyism, I can assure you all that that is not the way things work. We discuss things, we often disagree, learn from one another and then vote totally independently of one another.
Here are some of the truly wonderful things about TalkBoard making decisions. They are fair, honest and democratic, even if you disagree. If you have questions about their decisions, you can ask in public. If you don't like their decisions, you can complain in public, in private, or in a book if you would like with absolutely no fear of reprisal. And, here is the best part. If you really don't like them, you can vote them out of office. You can even campaign against them (or for them) if you please. Guess what, it's a democracy!
In the words of the immortal Sir Winston Churchill: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried."
Sorry,
nsx, but there was never any intent that the Ambassadors serve as mini-moderators, moderator assistants, or moderators in training. The goal was simply to make FlyerTalk a better place by encouraging more people to reach our and help other people.