hfly

Sorry for creating a second thread on this subject, but the first one was getting quite long and many of the answers were becoming repetitive. I felt therefore that I needed to make a seperation in order to make posts on this subject more readable and enjoyable for those who read these.

Also, yes what you are thinking is right, I want to somewhat seperate my message from everyone else's!

Before continuing, I have one announcement. I am not resident in North America, the one reference to New York in my election profile was referring to the fact that I am often there but have not lived in NY for about 15 years, had I realized that there would be a voting seperation between North American residents and other I would have been more specific. I have posted this explanation at the request of one or two Flyertalkers who asked for clarification.

I have worked in the entertainment industry on an international basis for several years and have lived in the US, France, Brazil, Australia, Hong Kong, the UK (both England and Scotland) and Turkey over the past 15 years or so. My expertise lies in conceiving, packaging and producing entertainment product around the World (mostly for television) and I have worked at times with all of the worlds major media companies.

The most recent product I worked on, I helped take from the drawing board to significant presence in over 150 countries worldwide (yes, even sub-saharan Africa).

For the last five years or so my work has had me on a plane about every 3 days, and about 93% of my flying is not done within the United States. I currently have top status on three airlines (and alliances) and fly about 250,000 miles a year.

In short, I believe that my international media experience would be a good addition to the Talk Board.

Now to answer the questions (after taking your time with the above, I will be short in my answers).

What would moderators be doing?

I believe that Moderators should pretty much be doing what they have been doing over the last month or two. While there was some initial consternation about threads being locked and moved, I believe that this has lessened lately as everyone has becopme more accustomed to the posting patterns on FT. I also think that they have been good at closing down some threads recently that denegrated into Flame Wars.

Would you impose limits?

I think that as the concept matures, and the Talk Board gains experience, the limits on what the Moderators will and will not do will be more concrete. Afterall, it has been somewhat of a Beta stage lately.

Would you impose standards or require consistency?

I believe that the standards will be reached by consensus and it will not be up to me alone to impose them. Without consistancy they would be inherently unfair.

How would you deal with complaints or accusations of abuse?

I think that by their very essence these would be dealt with on a case by case basis.


What do you think would the ideal format for FlyerTalk? (i.e. a Philosphy of how a community like this should be organized)

I believe that to a certain extent it is already in its ideal format. Saying that however, there are certain questions that have come up in recent months as to the morality of certain issues (exploiting pricing mistakes for example) and whether tips posted here are flagged by programs and then ended. These questions have to be discussed and addressed by the TalkBoard.

I would also think that in the future that the board must grow but never abandon its roots.

As far as growth management is concerned, I believe that as the distribution method of FT is the internet, and that FT does not advertise, the growth of the board is organic in nature often spreading through word of mouth, media articles and web searches. Unless there is a planned targetted method of attracting new members, I am not quite sure how this can be managed. I can say however that as the site grows we have to be much more careful about scammers, spammers and trouble-makers. We have seen more and more examples of this of late and need to actively combat them.

hfly

As we are entering a new week, I thought I'd move this to the top.

chexfan

I would lke to announce chexfan's Hot Topic #2...

If I am elected to the Talkboard, I will do my darndest to Bring Back the Old Smilies

Punki

OK, Sexy Chexy, I'll vote for that.

brattdisp074

Same here, these new smiles have got to go!

[Edited to fix UBB Code error.]

[This message has been edited by brattdisp074 (edited 09-23-2001).]

nologic

Might be good to have a smiles vote/contest...let the winners reign!

Mostly, I like the old ones, but I do like the thumbs up and down, although I haven't seen them too much?

Sort of feel these threads here are mostly contenders talking amongst themselves...but there's lots of good input and insight here which shows the value of this kind of inititative.

LAX 1K

I am all for it... it is getting confusing with all these different smilies...

AOL has AIM version of Smilies..
YAHOO has Messenger Smilies..

and Flyetalk has there smilies... I am just plain smilie confused

[This message has been edited by LAX 1K (edited 09-24-2001).]

chexfan

This is great! I actually have a Platform in my Candidacy.

fwiw- I do like the 'thumbs up' and 'thumbs down' BUT I terribly miss and

Spiff

Hopefully not everyone has done all their voting, because I haven't yet answered the questions posed on thread #1:

Experience?

My background experience includes bartending and rocket science. I'm also captain of my hockey team.

Travel and FT experience: I've been a frequent flier for about 5 years and have been a FT member for about 2 years now. I participate very actively in posting, chat, and get-togethers.

What would moderators be doing?

Preferably nothing. Ideally, there shouldn't be any need for them. Alas, occasionally something is wildly mis-posted or tempers flare. So, their job description should be: moving topics to proper forums, administering shots of demerol, klunking head together ala Moe and ending unquenchable flame wars.

Would you impose limits?

Not hard ones. The auto-censor already takes care of those naughty words no one likes to see. Otherwise, the world is gray.

Would you impose standards or require consistency?

People are usually pretty quick to advise folks when they've really crossed some line, therefore I don't really see the need to unless something truly extreme is posted.

How would you deal with complaints or accusations of abuse?

The same way I do on the ice when things get abusive. Use common sense. Reason with people. If all else fails, administer a savage beating.

What do you think would the ideal format for FlyerTalk? (i.e. a Philosphy of how a community like this should be organized)

It's great the way it is now. We try new things from time to time. When they work, we keep them, when they don't, we scrap them.

How structured should this format be?

Two words: "Extreme Freeform"

How would you support that format?

"Give the People What They Want" (as long as we can afford it!)

One candidate talked of improved growth management. What does this mean to you?

Servers get overloaded. Hard drives fill up. It's a funds issue. By virtue of my experience with work and hockey, I am very good at managing trade-offs. There are obvious ways to trim resource demand like no multiple handles, minimized multiple posts. Then, it's really a matter of what the budget will support and how to increase that budget if the need arises. NO FT TAXES!!! (There, now like chexfan, I too have a platform)

I really like FT and would be pleased to serve on the Talk Board.

geo1004

What about those of us who already voted for you for your coolheadedness and fine taste in malt beverages?

However, reading of your willingness to administer shots of demerol only re-enforced my earlier decision.

BlondeBomber

Spiff sounds like a candidate for the Rhinoceros Party (and do they like to party!).

I'd vote for him.

hfly

Just bringing this to the top for the last few hours of the election.

Dorian

The election was extended 4 days on account of the recent events in NYC.

Dorian

doc

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."