I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand, I thought the pushing of the voting by airline and hotel companies tended to cheapen the awards. I sort of felt that a number of people voting might not be real frequent flyers or hotel stayers, and might instead be hotel employees and vendors.

On the other hand, I sort of found the publicity about the awards offered and the airlines advertising it offered represented some good publicity for frequent flyers, validated the sometimes crazy things I do for miles and finally held airlines and hotel companies feet to the fire when they weakened their loyalty programs.

I'm a bit worried that while there are good effects of this for Randy's employees, airlines and hotel companies will be less worried now about the impact of weakening their programs.

I respect the decision, and especially the thought process concerning the ongoing careers of the employees (digression - the best boss/company owner I ever had (lamentably deceased) had the same type of concerns when she sold her company, and in fact she took less money in order to protect her employees).

It is a shame that the Freddie Awards could not have found a new sponsor / home (certainly Randy's knowledge of the industry should have given him some ideas as to a suitable new home).

Under that scenario, 2010 could have served as a year of transition, in which Randy's staff worked with the new sponsor in order to facilitate a smooth handover for 2011 and beyond.

Will Freddie Jr. Be forced into retirement as well?

Banish the thought! In fact FJr is on another trip at the moment, and Randy was presented w/ a map of where FJr has traveled to around the world at the recent Mod Do in MUC. IIRC FJr has traveled over 800,000 miles.

Cheers.

+1

Wow - you got any openings in your company? ^

Today is the first I knew about it, as I didn't get any email about it, I don't visit ORP much anymore, and I just happened upon it today by chance.

Reflects my sentiments.

The real thing that concerns me is that SOMEBODY will fill the void. There may be multiple entities that see money to be made from having a way to promote this or that airline as #1. Let's face it, that status means a lot to the airlines and hotels as we can see from thier advertising.

Turning it over to nobody, means somebody will do it.

Glenn

I only found out about the cancellation by looking through the tabs on the home page. I will probably either be shot or exiled from FT for this, as a retiree I would be willing to donate my time to support the Freddies if they are held in 2010. Yes, I did volunteer to help with the next DL DO also in 2010 around the same time.

Did I miss something? The Freddies were an award program successfully run by Randy for many years to honor those companies in the industry who had good programs/promos, etc, and due to the reasons he indicated have come to an end, regretful as that might be (and I will certainly miss them). Is there a reason he's supposed to keep them going for FTers? He was gracious enough to invite FTers to the Freddies, but it was never about us - other than we, like other frequent travelers of the various programs, voted (& got a free meal/drinks when he invited us to the awards). So I truly don't understand the stifling the voice, yada yada stuff.

BTW - if someone wants to create their own version of the Freddies & has the $$/time/staff/industry connections to pull it off, good on ya as the saying goes. No one is stopping you.

Cheers.

Here is your big chance. You too can be a "somebody"!

Agree 100% with SkiAdcock.

None of our business, and if it means so much and is so obviously lucrative in the eyes of some .. give it your best shot.

I've gotten a lot more out of FT than a few free drinks and a meal, and good to see the FT core still remains, much as it has done for 10 years.

That is what FT does better than anyone, and the less fragmention the better. @:-)

Glen
.

Could be. I just went looking for details on this year's awards and this thread is the first definitive comment I found. The web site has nothing in its FAQ about the end. It says 2009 was the final one, but also has the end of the 21st saying "... we'll see you next year for the 22nd Annual Freddie Awards!"

I'm saddened. If there had been an announcement prior to the final awards, that would have been much better for everyone. For those who've seldom or never been to the Freddies, that would have given one last chance. It would have also provided time for any organisation which might like to take them over to investigate and come up to speed on what's involved, giving a much greater chance for the future.

I have mixed feelings over the Freddies cancellation. It was a great opportunity to meet the industry people. However I think the awards were becoming a matter of the marketing of the hotels and airlines. The industry was sending out "Vote 10" emails and I am suspect that was making the results not that meaningful.

Thanks Randy, it was real great of you to invite us over the years.

Just learned about the cancellation as I seached in order to block a few days on my calendar. It's very sad to learn that the end hads come, but I fully understand. Thanks Randy for letting me visit last year in Ft Lauderdale, the event was fantastic for this FF, it was great to meet you as well. Always all the best to you. Thanks for bringing us all together too.
^