Dovster

If I don't feel free to publicize it then I can't do it through the back door by a process of elimination.

MSPeconomist

Sorry, I'm just being a curious cat and engaging in a bit of thinking aloud based on what I've heard about the early history of FT. I'm not trying to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

Now to change the subject, about that weather today.....

Moderator2

Let's not even dance around discussion of moderation. If TalkBoard members have an opinion on that subject (or any FT user), contact the Community Director by PM. It has been, and remains, outside of the TalkBoard's raison d'être.

Dovster

Do you agree with me that TB's raison d'être is restricted to establishing/removing forums and setting its own internal rules?

(Actually, even that is not correct -- a more precise statement would be to recommend those actions.)

That, in fact, is the entire point I have been trying to make throughout this thread. TB's purview is so limited that there is very little interest in it by the membership (hence the low voter turnout) and not even very many people willing to serve on it.

tcook052

TB's purview hasn't changed so shouldn't be cited as a reason for declining voter turnout or a low number of candidates as both have only become a trend in recent years. As FT has matured there is less housekeeping to be done and so less of a visible role for TB which is what I feel are behind the drop in interest and participation.

mia

No. TalkBoard can productively work on a huge range of other topics. Examples:

• Will program-based forums cope with consolidation in the travel industry, or do we need wholesale reorganization? The kernel of this question is broached HERE, but I think it's broader. One could characterize this as establishing/removing forums if done on a case-by-case basis, but I'm talking about devising a strategy to adapt to consolidation which won't require a repetitive series of individual decisions.
• How should Flyertalk promote low velocity forums? Internal promotion is an area in which FT is absurdly weak, and much should be done to make all members aware of our breadth of resources.
• How can the implementation of Wikiposts be improved? Are the criteria for being able to edit a Wikipost appropriate?
  

dchristiva

Totally agree with this. These are great examples of how TB can add value.

MSPeconomist

Other issues could potentially include the new hotel reviews format and the use of opt-in versus opt-out email mass mailings, just to name a few more specific issues that have arisen recently.

In the larger hotel fora, I've personally wondered from time to time whether it would be better to separate general policy discussions from the threads devoted to particular properties or small groups of hotels in the same location.

MSPeconomist

My sense is that we don't have any choice about the new homepage format and the corresponding de-emphasis of information contributed in the various fora discussions, including wikis.

mia

My sense is that Internet Brands is very receptive to member feedback, and it's part of TalkBoard's responsibility to provide it. I don't mean the TalkBoard members deciding among themselves what they prefer, but collecting and synthesizing information from the general membership.

nsx

I agree completely. As one example, jackal was a tireless advocate for Wikiposts when he was on TalkBoard several years ago. He led a discussion of what functions they should have. IB surprised us all by implementing this feature.

hhoope01

Outside of one (or possibly two) specific areas, just what would be "outside" of TB's purview?

I would think by default everything and anything would be within the ability of TB to provide recommendations (except those areas/topics specifically stated otherwise.)

There are a lot of possibilities that go beyond the normal forum creation/shuttering. Does everyone on the TB have a complete understanding of everything the current vBulletin software can or can't do? If not, maybe TB could ask for either a vBulletin white paper or maybe a demonstration or Q/A session on what is possible. There may well be functionality that FT isn't making full use of. Or maybe the TB might see something where IB could make some improvements or add functionality. What about how the forums are structured (i.e. Miles & Points, Airlines and Mileage Programs, etc.). Could a different structure be more beneficial? Some specific forums (i.e. IHG forum) has a sub-forum.

Would standardization among forums be of any benefit? Across the top of FT webpages there is is a set of menu options (News, Forums, Members, etc.). Are those configurable? Could there be updates (both in terms of the content within each of the menu items and with the very organization of those menu items? For example, is anything about the TB found from one of the menu items? I didn't see it (but it could be there.) If its not, would it be beneficial to add a "TB" sub-menu link? Are there other topics, information that could be helpful to have accessible from those links?

What about across the bottom of FT webpages where there is a set of links (Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Glossary, etc.). Could there be any recommendations around updating/changes/adding links or data to those? For example, the TB could look through the Glossary and possibly provide recommendations for new Glossary items or remove/change old items.

I do believe there is a periodic/monthly FT email containing references to hot topics, specific fourms, upcoming events, etc. Could the TB maybe look at that and provide some recommendations around improving it (i.e. changing the layout, frequency, delivery media, what topics, etc.)

I remember for Insideflyer, Randy used to get specific requests from readers with tough FF usage questions (i.e. they wanted to go to Europe in a year, and had FF points in a couple of accounts, hotel points in a couple of accounts, etc.). He would then give them some very specific suggestion on how to use or add to those existing balances, maybe suggestions on other programs to look at, etc. FT could create/appoint a group of "experts" to take and answer one or two of those each month (or maybe even the TB itself to do that.)

There are a lot of different areas TB could look at for possible improvements. It really depends on looking beyond just forum creation/shuttering. None of the above may pan out, but if we put on our thinking caps, I suspect we could come up with some areas where TB could provide beneficial recommendations.

MSPeconomist

I'm not sure whether this is what you're asking, but the TalkBoard Topics forum falls under the Community heading at the top of the page. You also see TBT additions appear in the listing of New Posts, but this doesn't happen very often as it's not an extremely active forum compared to some of the larger other (major hotel and airlines, for example) fora.

SkiAdcock

I don't think that's what he was asking. hhoope01 was a TB candidate & participates in the public forum, so I'm pretty sure he knows where TB appears. I think he was throwing some ideas out there for consideration as well as asking perhaps some status/if they had been considered previously.

Cheers.

hhoope01

I wasn't really talking about how to get to the TB forum specifically. But more along the lines of finding specific information about what TB is (i.e. a description) or who are the current TB members, what was their platform, etc. I'm sure it can be found, but where and how easy would a new (or old) member be able to find that info?

If I'm a new member, I might look at that "menu" item list at the top of FT to get a feel for what FT is, how it is structured, where/how information could be found. TB information might well be something that could be found there. But I'm not seeing it there at all. So how is a new member supposed to find out about the TB? Yes, I know there is a sticky thread in that forum, but is that the only place to find info about TB?

If we want more people to know about TB, be involved with it and so on, might it be a good idea to have a TB menu item maybe under Help or Extras, or even Members? TB itself could be looking at how information is accessed and shared and make recommendations around making it more easily accessible.