jackal

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding exactly what you're asking for. Perhaps it would help if you clarified what you wanted out of the TalkBoard.

During the last TalkBoard term, I worked pretty closely with a member from London. The fact that he was English and from London never once that I recall entered our discussions about our ideas to improve FlyerTalk. We bounced ideas back and forth and talked about them on their merits. Geographical perspective really didn't matter.

And as for the elections--I for one didn't look at anyone else's location before voting. A few of the candidates I recognized and knew where they were from, but when I read their platforms and positional statements, their geographical location pretty much went completely unnoticed by me. I'm pretty sure that was the case for most members voting.

If you could give me an example of what sort of a decision would clearly benefit from having a member from Australia over a member from Alaska voting on it, maybe I would be able to appreciate your position a bit more.

A few points of data:

• The last four decisions implemented by the TalkBoard were in regards to issues outside the U.S.
• The last six forums to be created by the TalkBoard were for airlines based outside the U.S.
• Aside from one vote (regarding Club Carlson), the entire first page of the voting decisions forum is comprised of either non-U.S. subjects or forum-wide (non-geographic) subjects

If anything, I would say that FlyerTalk has been broadening its international focus as of late.

And even though you weren't elected, you are always welcome to post here and/or contact TalkBoard members directly with your ideas of how FlyerTalk can be improved. If an idea is brought up that has merit, I can guarantee it will at least be discussed...and based on our current track record, there's a good chance it'll be implemented!

whlinder

If you need any help packing let me know! ^

Agreed, while I believe all the TB members who won will do a great job, I think geographic diversity of TB members is important.

RichMSN

I'm probably the only one who lives in Wisconsin.

nsx

Markie, you were always the guy with new ideas and strong opinions. Every TalkBoard needs such a person to spark action. koko will most definitely fill that role. His wit alone will engage and entertain you. I am looking forward to some great debates, during which I will see new perspectives on new issues.

whlinder

I am quite pleased we have a Wisconsin viewpoint represented on the TB ^

exbayern

(First let me apologise for continuing this conversation, as I believe that it may be diverting us away from what should be a congratulations thread, but I do believe that it may be a topic of interesting discussion, perhaps for another thread....)

That is a fair assessment of recent changes implemented as a result of TB. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I don't have an issue there.

Perhaps it is more a fear that what I see as more recent overall changes will now be impacting TB as well? The link posted on page 4 to an OMNI thread actually I thought supported the argument about the various voices here and how some are heard more than others. (And it isn't about majority, necessarily, as the OMNI thread references threads which become US/North America discussion within the first few posts)

I know that I specifically chose which posters not to vote for based on past posting manners; if someone is hijacking threads to talk about their own issue, or diverting conversation back to North American issues and away from the specific thread topic, it makes me wonder if they will do the same when it comes to TB issues ie make FT more North American focussed than it is at the moment.

I personally have always enjoyed the global nature of FT, and many of my most liked posters are from around the world, including North America. But there are many instances (such as the one I mentioned in an earlier post) where the specific, factual discussion is diverted to one where North American issues are discussed, making the original thread question quite useless.

I don't think that I expressed that very well at all, and apologise again for taking us off-topic again.

nerd

You can spin that either way -- the fact that several non-U.S. airlines did not have their own forums (major ones, like LAN, for example) could also simply mean that FT is catching up on its international focus.

missydarlin

I feel like at least one of those numbers is off. I distinctly remember the first year I was elected, Randy posted numbers and Gleff came in first with over 3000 votes. I believe I was 4th with 1300 votes

SanDiego1K

I have access to the admin panel for the Talkboard votes. The years in which I found votes for both you and gleff were 2003 and 2005.

2003
gleff 235
missydarlin 136

2005
gleff 480
missydarlin 329

I have absolutely no idea why this is inconsistent with what Randy posted here. I can only go by the software record.

RichMSN

Either they are off or they were not reported accurately.

The leading vote-getter in 2008 had 2905 votes and 7630 people cast ballots, which was (and still is) a record.

In 2006, the first-runner up had 2377 votes. The leading vote-getters got 3452, 3324, 2849, and 2743 votes, respectively with 7142 ballots cast. I received more votes that year than I did this year -- that year I finished 10th of 22 candidates.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...n-results.html

RichMSN

Carol,

You've got PM. Or you will as soon as I send it.

--Rich

lin821

Thank you guys for providing your numbers. So I didn't dream up those thousands of votes:

G_G

I can't believe that such stupid behavior could exist

missydarlin

It appears I remembered incorrectly as well... it was Starwood Lurker who took first place.

SanDiego1K

I'm glad to see that the vote discrepancy between what Randy posted and what I currently see for years lost in the mist of time bugs me more than anyone who has posted. I've spoken to Randy. The only thing we can figure out is that the 2003-5 votes were cast on a different platform and the migration to the current one hiccuped. The tech guys who were around then no longer work for House of Miles. Fortunately, we do know that this year's post count (as well as recent years) were recorded properly and posted properly.