gpapadop

>>>>>>kokonutz is the Thought Leader in Points and Miles Blogs, Seminars, Charters and Websites. To experience that Thought Leaderyness visit the FT External Resources forum!

Lol....especially "Thought Leaderyness"...

Meanwhile in Portland: http://mashable.com/2015/07/15/portland-dildo-epidemic/

84fiero

Have you actually read the Rolling Stone article and the discussion about it in the OMAAT thread? Yes the article discloses he purchased a condo for his parents in FL.

You've cherry picked two other oddball comments but ignored many others substantive and directly related to published statements.

FallenPlat

Ok, let's then not mince words here.

First, and I'm sorry I have to say this again, but just because it's in Rolling Stone absolutely, positively, affirmatively does not make it ok to repost or repeat on Flyer Talk. Saying that it somehow is ok -- and however often you say so in however many different ways -- simply doesn't change that. Not now, not ever.

Second, and more importantly, we've all somehow managed to degenerate here to the point of discussing whether a particular blogger did (or did not) get a particular kind of sexual service in a plane.

Think about that for a moment. Really. Please.

Defending any of this, any of it at all, on the grounds that legitimate criticism is liberally intermixed with the salacious, that the blogs in question are not exactly eleemosynary enterprises, and that anyone (including me) is free to stop reading this little corner of Flyer Talk is simply astonishing. That's the defense? Truly?

Some things, in the end, speak for themselves.

GUWonder

If an article mentions miles/points and has a miles-blog-related context, then how doesn't it fit into this forum? When some of the so called "salacious" elements are used by bloggers to try to market themselves, then it shouldn't be surprising that it ends up discussed in this part of FT.

I grew up knowing full well that speaking to the press to make a living is an invitation to have that press foster critical -- even negative -- attention thereafter. If people don't want to become public figures, then they should consider trying not to become bigger public figures, right?

FallenPlat

Evidently I still haven't been clear enough.

Flyer Talk is not a tabloid. Wishing it were so, and pointing to publications that are, doesn't change that. Not now or ever.

The fact that some prominent self-promoting bloggers might indeed be "public figures" doesn't somehow magically change the Flyer Talk rules and open the door to anything-goes discussion, however personal or nasty.

Saying that the opposite is the case doesn't make it so.

nsx

Yes, but those are Internal Resources.

eponymous_coward

Yes, I did. Haven't commented on it here before because... well... FallenPlat is right. (Plus I think there's potential fallout from the RS interview, given what I'm about to say).

You're missing the point. FTers are deciding based on that RS article, let's fire up the ol' Google and do some public records searches, because.... um, reasons.

How absolutely creepy. Apparently there are people here I shouldn't meet in a dark alley.

I'm surprised he isn't being doxxed or swatted by someone here, given that it's happened before (well before this forum was a gleam in the Snark Leader's eye), and given the attitude I've seen here on Team Flyertalk from some people regarding Team Blogger (as if Internet Brands isn't fully invested in making money from pushing credit cards). There are people here on FT who are surprisingly mad at the bloggers for the #firstworldproblem of some stuff being public knowledge that they think maybe shouldn't be. And Internet forums are the favorite place for people who get their kicks from this kind of stuff.

I've picked two relatively recent comments. This forum's been pretty bad at staying away from being "personal" for some time. How many more cherries would you like?

No, not everyone is guilty of being personal. It happens enough here and persistently enough over time that it's worthy of comment. And I suspect it's quite deliberate, in the "attractive nuisance" sense. Gotta get those posts and pageviews...

GUWonder

FlyerTalk is the popular online tabloid of the miles/points world. This is evident even in your complaints about what may have transpired in this part of FT too.

kokonutz

If Jeff Smisek admitted to Rolling Stone that he got a handjob on an airplane from an FA, you bet your booty that'd be discussed AT LENGTH () on FlyerTalk. @:-)

eponymous_coward

Assuming this happened on a UA plane, it would be a bit different for a CEO to be getting a handy from an employee than a private individual not employed by that airline getting one.

More like "the board of directors would like a few words with you", similar to what's happened at American Apparel. (No link. Ugh.)

And that's fine, I suppose (if kind of slimy and creepy). I'd just like people to admit it if that's the case, rather than have supposed forum guidelines that say otherwise. Embrace your inner National Enquirer.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exter...mpr-forum.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/exter...uidelines.html

kokonutz

Ok.

But point being: Smisek runs a company in the points and miles space. So do Gary and Ben.

Gary's on TV and in print media quite a bit these days. You seem to be saying that we should only talk about what Gary says on TV and in print media that relates to points and miles because that's what FlyerTalk is all about.

But that's not how it works with others in the points and miles space. And I don't see why we should treat these points and miles service providers differently than we should treat, for example, the Korean Airlines Executive who had 'nut rage.' That had nothing to do with points and miles. But we flyertalkers have discussed it at length in several threads on flyertalk.

<shrug>

eponymous_coward

Not exactly.

More like "discuss the ideas, not the person", with a dash of "don't be creepy".

There's plenty to critique the blogosphere on without getting into who they're having sex with and where, where they own condos, whether the condos have granite countertops, and so on. I think a lot of it quite valid in the M&P space (derivative, pushing credit cards, etc.) too. Of course, a lot of the same criticism could get made about FlyerTalk, too (HOW many trip reports on CX F? HOW many bottles of champagne?).

That being said, I imagine the Ambassador of Snark Leadership knows that snark does get you page views. Sex sells, too. So I get where you're coming from, too.

kokonutz

Ah, but the Thought Leader in Points and Miles Blogs, etc. does it for the love of the blogs. Not to make money.

To me this is still a hobby, not The Hobby®. @:-)

eponymous_coward

Being the Thought Leader in Points and Miles Blogs seems to make one talk in the third person, unlike other thought leaders. Is that part of being a thought leader that the other thought leader you're criticizing hasn't got the hang of yet (kind of like grammar and spellchecking posts)?

And I think that's also a legitimate criticism of Mr. Leff. If you're talking up a pretentious title, you'd better be on your A game when you're writing. Poor writing and shoddy errors in what you write hurts your (shudder, I hate using trendy terms like this and "thought leader") "brand".

nsx

Good catch. We are supposed to use the first person plural!