thezipper

Today FlyerTalk is providing lunch and dinner for the Chisholm Elite agents thanks to the generous contributions of our members... Here's the info, in case you want to give a call and say Happy Holidays

Mrp Alert

Well... how did it go? Where are the pictures

Got to make sure my donation was put to good use

hnewman

Sorry I did not post too many parties this weekend. There were about 30 people Scoop-I and III and Perry and Bob along with people from the Chisholm, SEA, and MSP. We had lunch which was very nice and a take from Perry and Bob. We had some frank discussions about DL merger and some things that are problems like the MQM giveaways etc. My wife took pictures as did Scoop-III and they are going to exchange them and post them. We need to do some picture processing with Photoshop first as some might get published. Scoop-III was going to post. Thezipper and itsaboutthejourney might have other comments.

Henry

thezipper

Here's a post from the DL Forum from a FT'er who attended the event... great to meet you as well mersk862!

Link to post

It was a great event to put names to some faces. I took several photos and will have them posted later tonight.

itsaboutthejourney

It really was a great afternoon. Good to finally meet hnewman and many others. As I said at the lunch, we could have gone all night sharing stories and talking NW.

(Once again, thezipper's clout within NWA ensured we had a good turnout of NWA execs to mingle with too.)

Thanks to Scoop 1 & 3, Bob, Perry & the WorldPerks Program for inviting/hosting the organizers, donors and selected elite agents to come together and meet each other over a really great lunch.

To summarize the events that the FlyerTalk donors made possible:

- Chisholm: Chinese Buffet for lunch & dinner shifts + some drawings
- MSP Elite Reservations team: Lemon Cake with FlyerTalk logo + Starbucks gift card for each agent
- Seattle: cookies & a Target gift card for each Elite agent.
- 4' x 8' banner with your greetings & messages will go to either Seattle or Chisholm for semi-permanent display.

The Minneapolis & Chisholm team also made cards for us (FlyerTalk), and if they are not in thezipper or hnewman's pix, I'll scan and post.

Jaimito Cartero

I wish I could have gone, but I was in Peru. Sounds like everyone had a good time!

DanTravels

What he said, except not Peru for me but Poland (Poznań).

I was happy to be able to contribute again, though!

zsmith2

"Members of FlyerTalk.com, the airline customer online site, sponsored employee appreciation events last week for Elite Line agents in the three NWA Reservations offices where the calls are handled: Chisholm, Minn, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Seattle. A group of 55 customers donated more than $2,000 to supply food, refreshments and cake at all three Res Sales offices.

"For customers to take the initiative to recognize employees like this is absolutely amazing," said Perry Cantarutti, v.p.-Reservations Sales and Customer Care. "It's a powerful testimony to the level of service that our Elite Line agents provide for our best customers. This type of reaction from customers is an example of how the can-do spirit of our people comes right back to employees with dividends."

During the event, agents also presented customers with personal thank-you messages from their offices and gave each customer some small holiday gifts.

Then on Saturday a select group of agents from Chisholm, Minneapolis and Seattle along with Perry and Bob Soukup, managing director, SkyMiles Domestic Programs, had lunch with a dozen FlyerTalk members at the MSP airport as an additional thank you for their outstanding efforts with Elite customers."

DanTravels

Since you've put this in quotes... where are you quoting this from? Oh, and I am glad to see Bob's new title. Especially because 3 months ago when Jeff was made VP and everyone was upset, I told you all they'd need a Managing Director under Jeff to actually run things while Jeff did VP-worthy stuff, and said Bob would be that person.

Nobody believed me, but it has come to pass, according to the prophecy!

zsmith2

Sorry it came from DL's internal site.

DanTravels

Ah, okay. I figured it had to be somewhere internal 'cos GooNews didn't find it.

(Oh, and my prophetic abilities are limited, as Bob's only in charge of domestic stuff. (Read: All your free domestic upgrades come from Bob-n-Scoop

MikeMpls

I would read this as Bob is the managing dir. for flyers resident in the U.S., not necessarily for domestic aspects of the SkyMiles program. Jeff Robertson still runs the show.

Now if only UA would make Jeff an offer he can't refuse.

DanTravels

Ah... that could make sense too. I'm not sure how to interpret it... and I doubt Bob (or Scoop3) will read this thread AND read the WC meetup thread AND catch me during my brief stop at the F/G club tomorrow morning to explain it...

I agree that Jeff is above Bob in the org chart. But which level of management "runs the show" is something we're going to have to agree to disagree on. IMHO, VPs are (or should be) about strategy and big-picture thinking and calling the shots, while Managing Directors are about actually getting stuff done.

I think I made it clear in the other thread that making Jeff VP and Bob (I figured) MD basically put Jeff a little further from actually dealing with customers, and gave us all Bob instead. Given how NW forum members feel about Bob, and how DL forum members feel about Jeff, this sort of move would be pure genius.

MikeMpls

In a company that has been consistently screwing its elites for 10+ years, it's the "strategy and big-picture thinking and calling the shots" that are far more dangerous. You're seeing Bob's name in the org chart & thinking all will be well. My guess is that either Bob will toe the line & continue the systematic devaluation of SkyMiles (with somewhat of a respite in 2009 while the NW elites are suckered integrated into the program) or Bob will be gone.

thezipper

The event also made it on the Delta Blog today and I've added a number of pictures from the event to my flickr album....

Thanks to all who participated... enjoy!