holtju2

I thought that the organizers of commercial DO's are not allowed to advertise on FT. The current OW Mega Do i$ entirely a commercial in nature.

tom911

Haven't we already discussed this topic here? I see one of the Community forum moderators expressed her point of view in the first thread below, and the thread you're concerned about is in her forum. Have you messaged her?


What is a 'Do?' When does a 'Do' become a commercial venture?

Proposal: Should a Commercial For-Profit Forum Be Created on FlyerTalk?

SkiAdcock

In your opinion. Having attended 2 out of 3 I don't agree.

But as tom911 pointed out, if you've got a problem then PM the mod of the forum.

Cheers.

GUWonder

You don't agree that there is a commercial aspect to any of them?

SkiAdcock

Having attended 2 of 3 StarMegaDos, I disagree with the OP's premise that the MegaDos are 'entirely commercial in nature' (his words). It should be noted that the OP has never attended a *Megado, so he really wouldn't know/have first-hand experience & thus it's just his opinion or projection.

Re: the StarMegaDos, they were some of the best experiences of my life & that sentiment is echoed by others. I'd recommend them to someone who's interested. If someone wishes to attend & has the $$/time they can do so. If they don't want to, they don't have to do so.

Speaking only for myself and as a FTer (not as a TB member) I'm getting a bit tired of the anything MP or its founders do is evil & only FT is pure, how dare they, blah, blah (since the OP seems to be focused only on their activities & not other possible commercial ventures).

There's room in the world for both BBs, and while I'm rarely on MP I doubt the doors to hades is open waiting for them. People can frequent FT, they can frequent MP, they can frequent both or even 3rd & 4th & 5th sites - whichever provides them with a venue to garner information they need for their travels & programs or have relationships they wish to foster.

And as tom911 pointed out in post # 2, the commercial topic was widely discussed previously in the links he provided. The OP is welcome to peruse those.

Cheers.

Kagehitokiri

CommunityBuzz! mods
Jenbel
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16050656-post20.html includes "our decision"
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/14055791-post2.html
chrissxb
Cholula
Sweet Willie

bhatnasx

Thanks, Kagehitokiri!

Markie

Indeed, reminded me of what I said last time this came up. And for once I agree with myself!

oliver2002

Having been financially responsible for SMD 1 & 2, I can vouch for and disclose the figures to whoever is interested: SMD1 made maybe 1% surplus, SMD2 2-3%. We were very lucky with SMD1 not to make a loss as unforeseen charges kept piling up towards the end. In SMD2 the lesson was learnt and pricing was set at a point to account for a ~ 8% surplus which quickly evaporated as expected in the course of the event.

SMD 1 & 2 were certainly not setup to be 'for profit' ventures, we were pretty fortunate not to be stuck with some of the tab as every virgin Do organiser usually is. SMD 1 was (financially) managed entirely over my personal German checking account, SMD2 was done via a LLC (to comply with DOT consumer protection regulations and limit the personal liability of the organisers) which is being wound up as we speak.

Cannot comment on SMD3 and OWMD2012 as I have absolutely no involvement with any of it.

GUWonder

Is that (i.e. "anything MP or its founders do is evil & only FT is pure") really the matter? News to me, if so.

It costs something to run the travel-related events, so presumably that has nothing to do with "evil" unless that be "Mammon".

Jenbel

Given the links already provided on the topic, I thought I'd include one not posted so far, which was a discussion the Communitybuzz! mods asked for with the Communitybuzz! forum users to garner their opinions on the matter:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...-type-dos.html

itsaboutthejourney

I see lots of links here, but i'm not aware of any clear answer to the OP's question or the question jenbel raised.

And let's be clear, the OP is referring to members that appear to have a financial stake in many events near & dear to FT'ers, yet are run outside of FT.

I think it's a legit question and until there is some clarification there will be some here who say their posts are advertising or even thumbing their nose at FT's lack of clear guidelines; and of course there will be some who say it's legit courtesy of cross-posting of events from the site they own and profit from; and then you will have some (like me) who think it's a bit of both and maybe some disclosure will keep everyone 'above board'.

itsaboutthejourney

hopefully saying "hahahahaha and " to that isn't discussing moderation?

Markie

You seem to confuse having a "financial stake" with "making a profit". They are not the same thing.

itsaboutthejourney

I beg to differ: even at a loss, offering access to travel providers to their fanatic customers has lots of potential in terms of building the MP brand, consulting services, conferences, award shows and other projects @:-)@:-)

[disclosure: i'm cool with the guys makin' a buck or two - they should just disclose all the intertwined ventures]