Radioman

Hi Folks,

Well I thought I would try and answer some of the questions:

Q. What one member who chose not to run do you most wish you could vote for?

A. My mate Bounty

Q. Outside of yourself, who do you believe is the best candidate running?

A. Well at the moment its John C.

Q. What question that hasn't been asked yet would you ask your fellow candidates? (Bonus points if your answer is, "What question that hasn't been asked yet would you ask your fellow candidates?")

A. At an FT meeting as a FT board member would you be the first one to buy a round of drinks?


Q. What have you done for the benefit of the community of Flyertalk (as opposed to the understanding of miles and points)?

A. I have tried to point people in the right direction with regards hotel stays and flights etc. As well as that I think its what benifits can I give to the board if elected, for starters that would be my precise time that I am willing to give up to support the board as I think its a worth while cause.

Q. How have you personally benefited from Flyertalk?

A. 1. 16 nights free holtel accomodation in Europe for this years summer
holidays.
2. Now British airways Silver.
3. Over 100k of BA Airmiles and climbing
4. Earned over 270k of Priority Club points this year from Priority Club
with the help of FlyerTalk.
5. Advice on what hotels to stay at in Europe whilst planning holidays.
6. A good social board that has made me laugh at times when stuck in
in some hotel on business.

I do have one question for everyone. What does your family think of your addiction to Flytalk and points collecting if your into that?

regards
RadioMan

bhatnasx

I don't believe that the TalkBoard meets in person regularly, if ever. I believe that the TB meetings are all online meetings via posting in a private TalkBoard forum - maybe a current TB member can answer that? As a moderator, in the time that I've been a moderator, there have been 2 moderator meetings - on in LAS which I was unable to attend due to prior commitments & one in ORD (last weekend actually). I went to the ORD one & Randy bought the drinks (Thank you, Randy!) - but if the TB were to all meet up, I'd happily buy a round!

As for the question of what my family thinks? Well, I'm single & unmarried - so the only family I have are my parents, who think its a little strange that I fly around the world for airline miles & my sisters who think the same way - yet none have them have ever complained when I've hooked them up with the awards that I have reaped from my travels & participation on FT. I do have a dog - and I'm sure she hates my addiction to frequent travel - however, I also have a fabulous roommate who is always willing to watch my dog when I'm gone - and in return, she gets to reap some of the awards that my FT addiction has gotten!

gleff

Well, I think koko is the candidate of free beer. But if it's 30 years old and single malt, you can put it on my tab.

civicmon

Thank you

But without my insistance, it may not have made it to your table..

Cholula

Mrs. Cholula used to look at me with the patented Evil Eye™ while I devoted so much time to maximizing points and miles. And over the last several years when I'm logged onto FT more often than not.
But it's surprising what several award trips to Europe in Air France First Class combined with free stays at Five-Star hotels can do to change her attitude.
Today she fully enables my addiction.

gleff

My life more or less is is rapidly approaching the singularity, I travel with lots of devices and stay incredibly connected on the road... usually.

I'm not trying to duck the debates, but I'll be offline from Wed 10/12 - Sunday 10/16.

This trip is for a death in the family so I'm unlikely to be checking in.

This still gives me a couple days worth of debate, and a couple days on the backend before voting begins. Please get your shots in now, so I can answer them in a timely fashion.

Thanks!

Cholula

Sorry to hear of this, gleff. Please know that you and your family are in our thoughts.

socrates

Sorry to hear it gleff, safe travels

thadocta

I will have to withdraw, I am afraid - due to an extremely dramatic turn in my life over the last few days I will not be able to devote the time necessary.

I have emailled in to advise of this, but seems not to have been actioned as yet.

Regards, and good luck to all.

Dave

~Matthew~

God bless!

bhatnasx

Our condolences, gleff. I doubt there will be too many shots while you're gone.

***

Dave, thanks for your interest & dedication - hopefully everything will work out fine.

VPescado

If I had to choose one, I would probably have to choose letiole. She is clear headed, smart, and thoughtful (in both senses). If elected, I will likely try to persuade her to run for office next year . . .I think I have just convinced her not to vote for me.

Dan Hammer would also rate highly for me.

Gleff. He has experience, and has obviously put some thought into what is involved. If you have to choose between him and I, vote for him.

EDIT: Since posting this, I have read further in the thread, and read of gleff's loss. Since a lot of you do not know me personally, I want to assure all of you that this is the answer I had written prior to reading his later post, and not an attempt to gain political currency from his tragedy. I had considered changing my answer to aviod the appearence of such a maneuver, but decided that it was how I honestly felt and it should stand as-is.

I've got several:

1) What is *your* vision for FT (if not already mentioned in your platform), and what will you do to make that vision reality.

2) What experience, education, and skillset do you have that will make you an effective Talkboard member? I'm looking for things like "City Council Member" and "Brokered peace talks in regional conflict" as opposed to how many miles you flew.

3) Do you think it is fair that the candidates are listed in alphabetical order so that VPescado's entry is on the bottom of the page?

I have been a great evangelist for FT. I have given out countless business cards of mine away with FT's website written on the back to seat opponents, folks in airline clubs, FA's, pilot's, friends, and even random folks on the bus who were talking about miles. In my conversations I always try to represent FT in a very positive manner, often offering some good travel advice along the way.

An excerpt from my application for the Talk Board (its a great read by the way - check it out):

I love the way it has changed my lifestyle. I now travel to places I would have never dreamed of going. I make trips that would have seemed insane to me a few years ago - like going to MEM for lunch and a quick pass through Graceland, or BOS for dinner. I go on Mileage Runs with other FT'ers and it turns into a 30 hour traveling party. And best of all, it is pretty darn affordable due to the tricks I have learned along the way.

VPescado

My condolences gleff. I really don't think you have much to worry about in the election, so please keep you mind focused on the important stuff while you are away.

Cholula

I think I covered that in my platform but it is to make FT as user-friendly as is technically and humanly possible. We're collecting a daunting amount of information at a dramatic rate on FT and it's critical that the information be structured so that it's easy to locate and use.
I envision a task force of volunteer members from FT...we have an unusually large number of very intelligent people in our member base...to suggest ways to structure FT so it best serves our growing membership.
Then we need to see what is technically and financially feasible and implement these changes over time.

I have 35+ years of experience in a variety of sales and marketing positions ranging from entry level all the way through National Sales Manager and Director of Marketing for a major US food company. My education consists of both a B.S. and an MBA degree.
I'm managed companies and brands with sales in excess of $100 million and have also managed many dozen employees.
The skill set I believe I bring to TalkBoard is my decades in the business world analyzing and solving problems, negotiating contracts, planning, budgeting and forecasting years in advance and working closely with hundreds of other employees for a common goal.



I hadn't thought of this but it's a good question. Makes me now wish my FT handle was aaaCholula .
There are definite advantages, in an election or the Yellow Pages, to being at the top of the list.
Perhaps a fairer way would have been to list the candidates in the order their application was received. Or via a random draw.
I'm not sure how the candidates will be listed on the actual ballot.

Radioman

Hi,
Well here are the answers to VPescado's questions.

VPescado] I've got several:

Q. What is *your* vision for FT (if not already mentioned in your platform), and what will you do to make that vision reality.

A. To continue to make FT the biggest and best travel forum in the world. Work dam hard to promote the forum where I can and act on the wishes of the membership.


Q. What experience, education, and skillset do you have that will make you an effective Talkboard member? I'm looking for things like "City Council Member" and "Brokered peace talks in regional conflict" as opposed to how many miles you flew.

A. Sorry but I am not a City Council member and for the record I have not won a Noble Peace Prize before you ask (yet). As for the part about how many miles you flew, well does that mean that if you flew NO miles and you Brokered a peace deal in a regional conflict then you would vote for them? I don’t think so.

For the record I am a member of two UK National Committees which deal with aspects of dare I say Radio Communications. We discuse and deal with issues regarding Radio Spectrum and Technical information, especially in new technologies.

I am also a Senior Engineer for a worldwide company and have to deal with customers at various meetings around the world as well as running the projects. This means dealing with various third party companies as well as other company gov agencies.

Q. Do you think it is fair that the candidates are listed in alphabetical order so that VPescado's entry is on the bottom of the page?

A. I don’t really care one way or another. But if it bothers you, you can always get a handle change to AAVpescado, at least you would be first on the list....


Sorry can’t find the other four questions in your list? You did say you had seven ;-)


regards
RadioMan