I would hope Randy knows he’ll never make everyone happy no matter what. Randy, be a Duck and let it roll off, the majority of us appreciate what you are doing. My thanks to Randy.

RE: people flamming Randy while he was still logged on.

Maybe they were trying to get his attention. After so many of us took time to submit questions ahead of time, and then they SLOWLY used insane questions like "When do my miles expire?" and "Why cann't I combine miles from another airline?" to get through. Then they fill up the text with notices of the transcript being posted later if you were unable to attend (duh, we were online), and telling us to limit our questions and spending almost as much time on trivia questions.

By the way, even after telling us over and over they would post the transcript, the one posted is missing part of the first session, and the second session is not posted at all.

NoStress, I was there. In fact I stayed up until 2.20 am local time to be there throughout. I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the speed of the chat, the numer of questions answered, the lameness of several of the questions and the facile, insuting nature of Delta's answers. Of those problems, probably three of four were due to the Delta personnel. I would also say that FlyerTalk did not put many of the questions most of the audience present wanted to see answered and Delta dodged the two that were asked.

However, being rude to our host (and the organiser of the chat) is not the same as 'trying to get his attention' and is not the answer. There was no excuse for some of the flames that were flying around. I don't see any reason why unhappy people can't be rational or constructive. Why on Earth would Randy respond postively to crude insults being hurled at him? I know I wouldn't, and I bet you wouldn't.


[This message has been edited by james (edited 01-20-2001).]

Thanks for the feedback. I gave up a few minutes after the first hour. Did not see the flames, but did notice some posts asking Randy to help and to do something. Maybe it got hotter as time went on.

I must say I tend to let things slide and it is rare that I get upset. In fact, I get upset at myself for getting upset. <grin>

But, the evening was a waste, at least the hour or so I was on. It was one of those "I cann't believe what just happened" experiences.

I do feel for Randy. I think he did try to do something. It just did not work out. At the same time, if Randy and his staff does think it worked, then I am at a loss for words.

Sure would be interesting to know how THEY think it went.

There's a button that says, "OH NO! Not Another Learning Experience!" I know I've worn one often enough - maybe Randy could use one of those right now.

Am I right in thinking that a good deal of the anger vented about the chat was a result of unrealistically high expectations? That's flattering in its own way, which Randy undoubtedly doesn't need telling, but it can't hurt to mention it.

I had no idea what to expect from a technical point of view, but found the pace excruciating. That only emphasized the puerility of most of the questions.

Certainly I'd hoped for, but had very small expectation of, real answers from the Delta reps, but at least the questions could have been more pertinent. Perhaps Randy or his staff were trying to cover too many bases? Perhaps Ms. Pierce and Mr. Pinto insisted on selecting the questions they would answer?

I posted on hnechets' and BizJet's topics during the chat. If that was rude, I do apologize, but it was driving me nuts. I don't think my posts "flamed Randy" - I don't in fact understand what precisely djlawman et al are referring to. Sorry if I sound ignorant - I'm still pretty new here.

It was a fine idea. The execution left a lot to be desired. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the idea and the effort that went into it - I do! The real trick is building on the learning experience.

I have paid for Randy's magazine in the past and in the beginning I thought he served a very useful purpose. But now that he's made his millions, I think he is too entrenched with the establishment.

So, at the risk of being "rude" to Randy, I still think the chat was a total failure and that he collaborated with the guests from Delta in advance and structured the whole thing to provide a worthless namby-pamby interaction. In other words, I think he is in bed with them.

He certainly could have had control over the questions answered and he certainly could have asked follow-up questions that pressed the few pertinent issues that were so rarely on the table. Please don't try to convince me that this guy is so innocent and hands-off with regard to this chat.

When this whole Delta mess started, Randy made a remark (maybe in a chat) that Delta flyers were much more passive than the United, American, Continental, etc. groups.

Ever since then, the Delta group has gone militant, and in some cases, acted rudely toward Randy -- behavior that was unjustified and pointless, IMHO.

But I do wonder if Randy's opinion of the Delta group has changed any?

GG - my comments about flaming etc. don't refer to the board. They refer to the period after the DL execs left when the chat went live (unmoderated) again and Randy was still logged in.

Nostress - yes it got hotter.

There was no need to flame Randy personally. At least in my opinion. I think, though, that people (including myself) probably had too high expectations. I also think DL's is bigger trouble now than they were before--that may be silver lining here.