RichMSN

I would love to use the "I'm on vacation and don't have time to respond" excuse, but this is FlyerTalk. Besides, my wife's in the shower, which gives me adequate time to write something up.

I think that as a member of TalkBoard, my role is much different than the role I've taken on in the past -- interested, vocal, opinionated outsider. I recognize that and embrace that.

We need to make people feel welcome and also need to recognize that not everyone who participates heavily (or less heavily or even just lurks) is interested or willing to come to the TalkBoard Topics forum and get into a spirited exchange over which forums to add or remove or how to help FlyerTalk continue forward.

When proposals are put forth by members in the TalkBoard Topics forum, I (as a TalkBoard Member) will probably not respond publicly or give my opinion right away -- I would prefer to let other FT members give their opinions while I listen and formulate my own opinion on the proposal. As an extension, I promise *not to vote* until the end of a voting period or until people stop giving their opinions. I also promise that I will always tell everyone, via the public forum, why I casted my vote a particular way without being prompted to ask and I will encourage feedback to my votes, as well.

Regardless of the "official" FlyerTalk mantra where TalkBoard member (or moderators, for that matter) are members first and foremost, the truth is that a TalkBoard member making an opinionated stand in the public forum early in the process can stifle discussion and that's the last thing (as an opinionated, vocal member myself) would want.

That said, I recognize that it would be far to easy to give inordinate weight to vocal minorities, so it seems like it would make sense to do a little "traveling" around some of the more popular miles/points forums and perhaps encourage some of those members to provide feedback (solicit feedback publicly, but take feedback either publicly or by private message). While I'm only active on 3-4 points/miles forums (I really believe in *loyalty* and only stay at SPG properties and fly NW/DL), I see a lot of active people there who never have gotten involved in any TB discussions. Sometimes I wonder if they're not interested or perhaps they are blissfully unaware -- someone should be asking that question.

That's what I would like to do that as one of my first tasks as a TB member -- go out and try to get some people who have ben active yet not providing feedback the chance to have their voices heard (or to tell me they're quite happy the way everything is).

lucky9876coins

First of all, sorry for the late response. I just got back from London last night, so am trying to catch up. I believe I actually asked this question last year, and it swayed my vote towards a candidate, actually.

My approach to feedback is similar to gleff’s. I don’t always have a strong opinion about a subject to start with, which is why the TalkBoard Topics forum is crucial. I don’t think there’s a single post I haven’t read in the TalkBoard Topics forum in the past two years, even if I didn’t make an actual post in a thread. The TalkBoard Topics forum is a great place to ask questions and try to understand what the majority is thinking, based both on the amount of passion regarding the subject along with the sheer number of people voicing their opinions. At the same time, I typically don’t engage in “debate” in the public forum, because frankly I’m not trying to convince members of my opinion, but instead am trying to represent their opinions. I think the function of the TalkBoard is to represent the best interests of the members, and often the most practical way to do that is to just observe.

CMK10

Great my first question and I feel like I'm back in French Class giving the 1,000 yard stare.

For the first question I think the answer comes back to the idea of followup. If a policy is implimented I'd like to return to the debate later and feel how people feel now. Or, if the policy is not enacted, I'd like to return to the issue later and see if a larger portion of people wanted a change.

The second question is hard to answer. The issue of privacy means that I wouldn't always be able to air what people tell me in confidence in a public forum. However, I'd be naive if I thought that the vocal ones were always the majority. I think the only way to be effective would be to let people know my ears and mind were always open and that all concerns would be given equal weight.

I'm sorry if these answers weren't as correct as what you were looking for.

worldwidedreamer

First off, I'm excited to share this opportunity to support community in a new way. Online communities like FT have a 90/10 rule with far more visitors than posters, and within the minority of visitors who post an even smaller fraction regularly engage the community. Consequently it is important to listen to the most passionate members of the community, while at the same time thinking about how changes affect everyone else. I feel that the role of TalkBoard is to synthesize feedback from the entire community to make decisions that support the entire community. Most of the time this means reading what other people have to say, sometimes it means sharing my own thoughts publicly or privately. At the end of the day: FT is a highly successful community and we should not fix what is not broken.

yyz-kin

What people post and what people write in private can vary dramatically. One needs to know when to take it off line and go directly to the source. Reading the comments of the membership does give a large indication of a members satisfaction level and, as we are all aware from the many forums, people do tend to point out their dislikes much easier than their likes and sometimes it is harder to elicit the positives - which opens the door for direct engagement.

The majority is represented by those who are most vocal but sometimes we have to take actions that the majority will not like. There is the here and now and then there is doing the unpopular to serve a greater need. Sometimes you have to go against the majority in order to get to a goal.

Radioman

Rolls the sleeves up and sites backs, has cold beer at my table...ready to go...

Well feedback in any group, company or organisation is very important be it from employees, members or customers. Without feedback you cannot really improve things and there is nothing worse that the silent folk who think things are wrong but never say anything about it.

Folk should be able to give feedback openly and privately (some folk dont like to post their views on the forums). As for the vocal folk, well there will also be folk that are vocal but its not a case the louder they shout the more you listen, it can put people off and also shouting will not get their message across.

So we do need folk to post openly and privately, we should encourage feedback all the time be it negative or positive or just well its OK type stuff.

Silence does not mean that your doing a good job at running things, I would be more concerned if I did not receive any feedback.

J