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Travel News Forum: close, re-purpose or merge with TravelBuzz?

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Old Feb 3, 2016, 1:55 pm
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Should the Travel News forum remain open as its own standalone forum?

Here is the Travel News forum. Should it remain open; or should it be closed? Please post objective reasons for either position below.

Keep the Travel News Forum Open

It provides a place where only news linked to other sources can be posted.

Travel News serves a different function than other forums. It is for news articles that can be quickly perused & not buried in other forums. TravelBuzz, for example, has topics such as 'should the spouse get the upgrade' & discussions re: that. Travel News has links to articles of interest that may or may not get commentary, but does get a lot of views so obviously of interest to FTers. Just as some will read articles in the NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, USAToday because the articles are of interest but not comment. That doesn't mean the articles have no value. They're easier to find in Travel News.

Close/Merge the Travel News Forum

It is redundant; and discussions posted in it are best served when residing in other forums on FlyerTalk — such as TravelBuzz, for example.

It is obsolete due to improved technology which has emerged over the years, allowing news pertaining to travel to be easily obtained elsewhere.

It is not at all clear what types of posts belong in it.

Travel News made a lot more sense before FT had a forum for any and every thing travel related. But now FT does and Travel News is out of step with how FlyerTalk is currently organized.
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Travel News Forum: close, re-purpose or merge with TravelBuzz?

 
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Old May 15, 2015, 9:02 am
  #46  
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Originally Posted by kipper
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...line-fora.html

Is there not consensus there? If there is, where is the motion? If not, where is the opposition to post their reasons for opposing it?
I questioned whether all four of the Other and Budget fora should be combined when the problem seems to be the Mideast/Africa ones (whatever they're called officially). In some regions, such as Asia (or Asia/Pacific?), having one forum for budget airlines and a different one for other airlines seems to be working.
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Old May 15, 2015, 9:14 am
  #47  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
I questioned whether all four of the Other and Budget fora should be combined when the problem seems to be the Mideast/Africa ones (whatever they're called officially). In some regions, such as Asia (or Asia/Pacific?), having one forum for budget airlines and a different one for other airlines seems to be working.
The Budget Asia/Pacific traffic volume is very low but looks high only when compared to the comatose Budget MidEast/Africa forum.
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Old May 15, 2015, 10:05 am
  #48  
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Originally Posted by kipper
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...line-fora.html

Is there not consensus there? If there is, where is the motion? If not, where is the opposition to post their reasons for opposing it?
Including mine, there were six responses to that proposal.

Speaking for myself, I prefer to hear additional thoughts from fellow FlyerTalk members to ensure that I am responsibly representing them; but as I posted:
Originally Posted by Canarsie
As of now, I am in favor of this proposal as well.

I would like to first see if fellow FlyerTalk members have any ideas which they would like to share pertaining to a possible better solution than simply reverting those four forums back into the original forum from whence they came.

I do agree in general that forums which do not have enough traffic to support them should either be closed or consolidated into another forum.
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Old May 15, 2015, 10:33 am
  #49  
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Originally Posted by cblaisd
One has to think there is something else at play.
That's three times.

If you want to accuse me of an ulterior motive, be specific and allow me to respond to your accusation. There is nothing more tiresome than passive-aggression.

Hmmm.... Thanks for thinking about this. On first blush, I'm not sure a policy of moving such threads would be best. I will already say that the Travel Buzz mods do an excellent job in general (but we knew that!) but also are good about moving threads whose chief import seems to be discussion of a travel news article itself, rather than the topic of the news article. Some threads start out, it appears to me, in Travel Buzz and gain news story links along the way, but the topic is the center of discussion. Other threads seem more to be discussion of an article itself (is it fair, accurate, etc.). The TB mods are good about sending the latter to Travel News.

Of course, there can be no bright-line distinction here, but that's the way most of life is
Thank you for conceding this point. There is no bright-line distinction between Travel News and Travel Buzz. Because they are basically redundant.

A better allocation of resources and more logical format would be to eliminate Travel News and have whatever time is spent moderating the 18 threads per month in that forum spent on the Travel Buzz forum.

But it's apparent that many have an emotional attachment to mini Travel Buzz that trumps logic. <shrug>
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Old May 15, 2015, 12:21 pm
  #50  
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Originally Posted by kokonutz
...There is nothing more tiresome than passive-aggression.
Oh, I can think of many things

Thank you for conceding this point. There is no bright-line distinction between Travel News and Travel Buzz.
I will say that I have always been intrigued by your ability to spin a conversation partner's words to mean something utterly different than what was said or meant.

But it's apparent that many have an emotional attachment to mini Travel Buzz that trumps logic. <shrug>
Without conceding the several assumptions underlying that statement, I would simply note: tu quoque.
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Old May 15, 2015, 1:24 pm
  #51  
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Originally Posted by cblaisd
Oh, I can think of many things



I will say that I have always been intrigued by your ability to spin a conversation partner's words to mean something utterly different than what was said or meant.



Without conceding the several assumptions underlying that statement, I would simply note: tu quoque.
You seem to be taking this matter rather personally. I assure you: it's business, not personal.
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Old May 15, 2015, 2:15 pm
  #52  
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Originally Posted by kokonutz
...it's business, not personal.
On that part of your statement, we agree.
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Old May 15, 2015, 5:32 pm
  #53  
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Originally Posted by kipper
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/talkb...line-fora.html

Is there not consensus there? If there is, where is the motion? If not, where is the opposition to post their reasons for opposing it?
That thread was opened five days ago, that's hardly enough time to determine a consensus. And I might add that I posted in response:

I actually think it's a good idea too, especially as the "Other" forums and the "Budget" Forums are lightly trafficked. Plus in a lot of cases, the lines between the two are getting blurred. I'm in favor of this.
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Old May 15, 2015, 10:35 pm
  #54  
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Originally Posted by CMK10
That thread was opened five days ago, that's hardly enough time to determine a consensus. And I might add that I posted in response:
Very few people have posted in it... Perhaps that should serve as the indication that no one really cares if the forum is closed?

Yes, you did chime in, as did a few other TB members, but has there been any discussion in the private forum about closing that one? Or, is this just a "A few of us will post replies and hope people forget about it"?
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Old May 16, 2015, 5:37 am
  #55  
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Originally Posted by kipper
Very few people have posted in it... Perhaps that should serve as the indication that no one really cares if the forum is closed?

Yes, you did chime in, as did a few other TB members, but has there been any discussion in the private forum about closing that one? Or, is this just a "A few of us will post replies and hope people forget about it"?
We've been operating recently by moving more and more conversation to the public forum so we can have greater transparency. What I've been doing is when a thread gathers real momentum, I'll also start a thread in the private forum as the second step towards a motion. I think that's been working well so far but if you think there's a better method, please let me know.
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Old May 16, 2015, 11:00 am
  #56  
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Originally Posted by CMK10
We've been operating recently by moving more and more conversation to the public forum so we can have greater transparency. What I've been doing is when a thread gathers real momentum, I'll also start a thread in the private forum as the second step towards a motion. I think that's been working well so far but if you think there's a better method, please let me know.
So, because no one cares enough to post if the forum that the forum should stay open or be closed, indicating that it can easily be closed, the thread hasn't gathered "real momentum"? And as such, TB just won't do anything about it?
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Old May 16, 2015, 9:51 pm
  #57  
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Originally Posted by kipper
So, because no one cares enough to post if the forum that the forum should stay open or be closed, indicating that it can easily be closed, the thread hasn't gathered "real momentum"? And as such, TB just won't do anything about it?
It's been six days, I think it's far too early to claim we're not going to do anything about it.
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Old May 16, 2015, 11:13 pm
  #58  
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Originally Posted by kokonutz
Originally Posted by goalie
I can't speak to kokonutz having a history of wanting to shut down forums but there is (imho) a history of pushing things based on what could be (n.b. could be) a personal agenda and for the record...
You're the second person to make this claim. I ask you both again: what possible personal 'agenda'/'there is more to this proposal than it appears' could there possibly be around this proposal? ...
The way you titled this thread should give you the answer
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Old May 17, 2015, 11:11 am
  #59  
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Originally Posted by goalie
The way you titled this thread should give you the answer
Goalie, as an "outsider" and not knowing what unspoken dynamic is going on here (and it is pretty clear that something is going on), and as he who started a post on getting rid or changing TN a while back, I must be missing something on "the thread title should give you the answer."

TN, overall, is just a receptacle for re-directs and padlocks. It did get a bit better after my earlier inquiry/suggestion, but now it (without running bundles of stat diagnostics) appears near back to where it was.

As a user (without any hidden TB personal agenda), TN is a waste of time. I keep it on "My FT" for the once in a blue eclipsed moon story I may find of interest, but I'd prefer it to be in Travel Buzz.

Has anyone posting to this thread besides yours truly not been a FT "insider," i.e., never on the TB, never a moderator, never a SFOR (special friend of Randy)?

Listen to a loyal user of FT without an agenda. Frankly, most of the users (remember what you're here for) are using TN only to have their threads redirected or locked.

Actually, I do have an agenda. It is to save myself a couple of clicks a day.
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Old May 17, 2015, 2:17 pm
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Originally Posted by Eastbay1K
Goalie, as an "outsider" and not knowing what unspoken dynamic is going on here (and it is pretty clear that something is going on), and as he who started a post on getting rid or changing TN a while back, I must be missing something on "the thread title should give you the answer."

TN, overall, is just a receptacle for re-directs and padlocks. It did get a bit better after my earlier inquiry/suggestion, but now it (without running bundles of stat diagnostics) appears near back to where it was.

As a user (without any hidden TB personal agenda), TN is a waste of time. I keep it on "My FT" for the once in a blue eclipsed moon story I may find of interest, but I'd prefer it to be in Travel Buzz.

Has anyone posting to this thread besides yours truly not been a FT "insider," i.e., never on the TB, never a moderator, never a SFOR (special friend of Randy)?

Listen to a loyal user of FT without an agenda. Frankly, most of the users (remember what you're here for) are using TN only to have their threads redirected or locked.

Actually, I do have an agenda. It is to save myself a couple of clicks a day.
Me! I am none of those things. Not that my contribution was over helpful. Soooo...

Travel news doesn't seem to be all that useful in that most of the threads started there get locked or redirected. But if it was closed most of the threads that start/exist within it would start/exist within Travelbuzz instead.
Travelbuzz already has a lot of active threads and a lot of stuff getting re-directed and it would be very untidy if the stuff from Travel news was added. Therefore I am inclined to the view that Travel news should continue, if only to keep the rest of FT, and most especially Travelbuzz, tidier.

I also think that if any forums are going to be closed it should be the budget airline forums.
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