Originally Posted by
Prospero
I have been following the proposals for an Ambassador programme with great interest. I believe there is plenty good intent but unfortunately none of the proposals pitched for discussion thus far appear to me as if they can be implemented as workable solutions.
On the forum which I volunteer time to moderate, we have many, many helpful individuals who share the task of welcoming and providing assistance to new members. These members do this not because they have been appointed to undertake this task, rather because they are good hearted people and want to make a positive contribution to our community. This part of the knowledge transfer is key to the spirit of Flyertalk. So, as I read these proposals, I look for signs which may bring benefits to our community and thus far, I cannot say with any conviction that the appointment of ambassadors actually adds to what we have at the moment, certainly not on the BA forum. To me, it would be a fruitless introduction of unnecessary bureaucracy that serves little to further promote good behaviour, civility and community helpfulness, which I understand are the key aims behind this. The part about attracting new members, I confess is more than a little lost on me.
I accept this may be your humble opinion now, but to be fair, it does differ fundamentally from the original proposal as it was drafted.
IMHO, the entire purpose of the entire initiative was to take the sort of posters you describe above and give them a shiny gold star, thereby hopefully holding them up as an example for others to emulate.
How such a simple concept drew so much fear, anger and concern from so many is beyond me.
As far as I am concerned this fantastic idea blew up on the launch pad because, in my humble opinion only, it hit too closely to the third rail of moderator powers. Or at least that was the perception of many with the 'm' word under their handle. Not a criticism, just an observation from my own personal perspective. And yes, I realize that not ALL moderators felt the same way about it, but from what I have heard (admittedly 100% hearsay) about private moderator discussions of this concept the perception was prevalent.
And now it's a real tar pit: the more I try to clean it up the dirtier I seem to get.
So I'm through with this idea for a while. If others want to try to wrestle with this alligator then have at it, and Godspeed.