doc

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Thanks for demonstrating your fine sense of humor, deelmakur!

doc

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Any further word on this?

wharvey

Doc,

I have not heard about the elections being suspended... and I would have assumed we, as candidates, would have been informed.

I am all for delaying this to a more appropriate time... I hope that we can do that.

William

Dorian

Extended 4 days is what an email from Randy said...

Dorian

rpmkwpw

Just completed voting. It took a while, but I read through each candidate's "pitch" and was pleased with what I saw: an excellent group of candidates.

Best of luck to all!

doc

For those such as some lurkers who may not have received the letter:

"Dear Members of FlyerTalk:

We at FlyerTalk are deeply saddened and outraged by this week's acts of
terrorism on the American people and the world at large.

Our thoughts, prayers and sympathies go out to our fellow flyers and fellow
citizens of all countries who have been affected by this unthinkable
tragedy.

We are also most grateful to those courageous individuals who put themselves
in harm's way to help ensure the health, well being and safety of the
communities in which we all live and especially in those communities that
have been singled out for these cowardly acts.

Each of you, as concerned and valued members of FlyerTalk, should also have
confidence that, despite the enormity of this tragedy, FlyerTalk remains
open for your comment and continued support of the community. We do so with
constant remembrance of the event.

The events of this week have been a tragedy for all of us. Many are asking
what they can do to help. As a community of travelers and more, may I
suggest that you support our new FlyerTalkCares program. On FlyerTalk, we
have established a way for you to donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief
Fund. ALL donated money by members of FlyerTalk will go to the Red Cross to
help victims of this and other tragedies. WE have made it easy for you to
use your credit card to donate and all donations will be tax-deductible (as
well as earn miles if you are using the right credit card). Also, FlyerTalk
will assume any credit card fees and other expenses related to this process
to ensure that 100% of your support of this effort ends up at the Red Cross.
You will find this donation center on the front page of flyertalk.com and
promoted during the next few weeks on the Web site. As a community, this
will certainly show how far we've come and I for one look forward to your
support. I am making the first donation on behalf of FlyerTalk. I, like many
Americans recently received a tax refund for $300. That is my first, and not
likely last donation to the FlyerTalkCares program. Understand that
donations of $1 will mean the same. It says that we, as FlyerTalkers and
travelers, do care about the world in which we live in. Those passengers on
those four fatal flights deserve our respect, as do the citizens of many
nationalities that were in and around the buildings involved. We chose the
Red Cross because they serve tragedies like this around the globe, and we
are a global community.

Thank you for your time and for your care.

Sincerely,

Randy Petersen
President, FlyerTalk

https://www.secureflyer.com/ft/redcross.php

ELECTIONS: Because most of us as travelers have our minds elsewhere during this
time, we are extending the FlyerTalk TalkBoard elections for an additional 4
days, with the ballots being final as of 7 pm, Friday September 28th."

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Thanks Randy!

doc

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Do any of the present TB candidates have any specific comments regarding their personal feelings about adopting such a proposal? Agree or disagree? Is it relevant?

BlondeBomber

I think it should be considered. Just remember that there was a lot of good natured banter at the start of this board that might, in today's light, seem like attacks. Read in context, you will see otherwise. However, there are a few people who seem to enjoy going there (attacks).

We all get frustrated and say stupid things at times, but I think some moderate moderation and a willingness to apologize/pull back will keep the board on track. Things have much improved although we still have a few sore spots.

wharvey

I wholeheartedly agree with BlondeBomber. I believe voters need to take into account the context that comments were made. I believe most of us can recognize when it is goodhearted banter or constructive intervention or personal attacks. If the comments are seen as the first two, then I do not believe it should be held against the candidate. However, if it is felt that the comments are only made for personal attacks then I do believe that should be heavily weighted in the voter's decision.

I believe the question to be asked is a simple one "Do you believe this candidate represents the characteristics that you want the FT community to embody?"

Thanks


William

rpmkwpw

This is a great question, and I tend to agree with the previous two posters, blondebomber & wharvey. I think one thing to keep in mind is the forum in which we "operate" lends itself to a rather disjointed communication. It is disjointed in that each time a reader peruses the existing posts, he or she is not communicating, but reading. If he or she decides to post a reply, it is essentially a soliloquy, offered in the hope that the result of that post, the others before it, and those that come after, will form a conversation.

I've posted a couple of strong-worded (mind you, not personal) opinions and think that can contribute to a more significant conversation. I've also edited posts in cases wherein the message may have been too strong-worded. All this happens within the course of conversation, I believe. Sometimes a spirited debate requires an escalation (again, no personal attacks or slurs, etc.) in order to arrive at a better understanding of the various opinions or positions people have.

All in all, I think this community has grown stronger because of the many spirited debates, conversations and opinions that have surfaced in various threads, in various forums. I think it is weakened by those who aim to hurt, or denegrate other members, and I'm sure we all agree that is against the spirit of FT.

(Edited to spell soliloquy properly )

[This message has been edited by rpmkwpw (edited 09-17-2001).]

blairvanhorn

Great thread. Another excellent thread is the one started next door by Robb, The Hot Topics

I thought I'd keep my comments here and leave the Hot Topics thread just for the candidates.

Doc, I think your thread Strongest Attributes is very important. Would it be possible to combine that thread with this one? I imagine it's not tecnically possible, but it would sure make it easier on the candidates to be able to respond to your good questions in one place (and voters to read the responses).



[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 09-18-2001).]

blairvanhorn

Excellent points made above by BlondeBomber, wharvey and rpmkwpw in response to Doc's question.

A good example of misunderstandings that can arise from the particular form of communication here at FT (I like the "soliloquy" metaphor) can be found at the start of this thread.

I had some "interaction" in posts with dhammer and anim8r. We all posted within two hours of each other but I think the subsequent editing of posts was the result of cyber-misunderstanding.

My reference to campaigning in posts had absolutely NOTHING to do with dhammer's or anim8r's posts. I guess I should have used the word "endorsements" because I was actually referring to some posts I had seen elsewhere in which non-candidate FTers were signing their posts with endorsements for certain candidates (ID info to the left of the post had also been modified for the endorsement). THAT was what what reminded me of high school.

Cut to the chase: anim8r edited his post subsequent to my post though my post had nothing to do with his. This type of misunderstanding is inherent here and I am glad the candidates above seem to understand the particularities of communicating at FT (this definitely touches on the very hot topic of Moderators).

With regards to NJDavid's post above, I personally would hope that voters take the time to consider their choices and not elect a candidate who has engaged in personal attacks. But that's up to the responsibility of each individual voter, right?

Um ... starting to sound like a candidate myself, which I'm definitely not! I'll quiet down now and wish you all the best of luck.

(Edited to look up the meaning of the word "soliloquy" )

[This message has been edited by blairvanhorn (edited 09-18-2001).]

ChaseTheMiles

Have I missed something? Is there one place/one thread where I can review all the bios and their platform? Where do I vote?

One attribute I shall look for is the ability to have dual personality. While the personal ID is not afraid to express his/her individual opinion, the Moderator ID needs to be very fair and very balanced.

Dorian

http://www.flyertalk.com/talkboard

nologic

Why I am strongly on record against "aggressive moderation" -- in support of a more free market, self-policing, maximally-inclusive kind of site -- let me reiterate that I strongly support anything Moderators can do to minimize personal attacks and abusive/offensive actions on FT!