posted 12-21-2003 18:48               

Just because we have a Sightings Board should it be mandatory that all RCI searches be posted there, or should the poster be allowed to choose a board open to everyone?

The instance that has brought this up is that I posted an availability at Orange Lake on the Florida Board, rather than Sightings. I don't really know why I did other than the fact that it wasn't an especially rare sighting and it was more about Orlando than it was about getting a great exchange before a non-TUGger found out about it. I guess I felt it was similar to the many SW FL searches I've posted on the Florida Board, which stayed on the Florida Board. Some of them were more rare than this one.

My posting was not of the nature of informing so that someone could go get it. It was more of the nature of the many, many searches that get posted on all the boards.

Someone complained to Steve, so he locked the post on the Florida Board. Of course, the information was still there available for everyone to see.

So, again, the questions are, "If a poster wishes to post a Sighting elsewhere, should they be allowed to do so? If the intention of the original poster is to provide general information rather than to help another TUGger grab a good week, shouldn't they be allowed to make that call? And why should someone other than the original poster be allowed to decide what the original poster's intent was?"

TIA

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JMHO
JLB

posted 12-21-2003 19:34               

However, turn the question around, from the other perspective, if you are looking for a distressed week where should you look.

In every forum, or the one set up to deal that situation.?

posted 12-21-2003 20:25               

First, I am speaking strictly as a TUG member and not as a Moderator or as part of TUG management. I feel that Sightings should go on the Sightings board. Last year someone posted a long awaited Sighting on an open board. I did one better than Steve and I moved the post to the Sightings board and deleted the information contained within the thread on the public board.

I couldn't help but think about the non-members who may have benefited from this post while a TUG member may have lost out because they saw the Sighting too late. There is no telling how many such weeks were lost to non TUG members. This was an important Sighting to many. No offense meant in the least to non-members, but IMHO, the Sightings board is one of the best benefits of TUG membership and should remain just that- a benefit for TUG members only.

Tuggers being the eagle eyes that they are when it comes to Sightings, I know that the Sighting would have been made by someone at some point later that day. So, the question for me is this- Does the desire of a single member to post this information on an open board trump the desires of everyone else or even one other person on TUG? This is particularly true when the intent of the Sightings board is to provide TUG members with this information and is so stated. Personally, I can completely understand a Tugger being upset by this as many signed on for benefits that were supposedly expressly reserved for TUG members alone.

posted 12-22-2003 06:18               

We have recently been posting many "sightings" on the Hawaii Board during our discussion about the 14-day window in Hawaii, and how it may differ from elsewhere. Those "sightings" could be considered more valuable than OLCC, but to remove them would destroy the context of our discussion there.

As far as DE's go, since they are now allowed on LMR and since the original reasons for having them be on a closed board are likely false anyway, there's little sense in having a closed DE board. But that's another discussion.

posted 12-22-2003 20:32               

Personally, I would like to see the Postings remain only on the
Postings board.

I have always felt that being a member of Tug is very special,
and the Postings Board has become one of my favorite spots.

Of course, you could say I am being selfish, but I would love
to keep this important information to ourselves.

Just my opinion, and not based on any specific information.

posted 12-24-2003 09:37               

I haven't noticed a non member visitor or real info helper ask for access to the sightings boards-or any other member only areas. (And I can think of several non members who should have access-with all the volunteer work they do).

Most posts that violate the requested TUG rules are usually done by brand new member or non member Tuggers that don't read all those "I agree" rules. (Do most of us?)

When the BBS is used incorrectly by Tuggers, it causes the TUG volunteers to need to carefully scan all the posts to attempt to see errors in the rules. It takes a lot of time, espically in the Lounge. And with some Administrators having illness in their families, and all volunteers trying to get Holiday stuff done, it is time consuming & hard to keep checking posts for errors.

As for Sightings, I think it is a good policy for it to be closed to non members...all places...because if just a few places are posted off sightings, why can't they all be posted?

posted 12-24-2003 10:08               

If I notice I can get a 3 bd HGVC Orlando with my South africa week, I'm not allowed to post that on the SA board?

And what if a non member posts a sighting ? Will it be deleted or do you only delete sightings of members?

I think its a very fair question that has yet to be answered.

posted 12-24-2003 10:56               

Whether or not I can regularly see Gold Crown Hawaii units with my SA is not really worthy of a "Sighting".

As such, Sightings ARE more valuable and they should be reserved for members.

Just my impression/opinion,

posted 12-24-2003 11:23               

Sightings off the specific Sightings Board should be removed (deleted) with no comment to posters with specificlly more than
1000 posts, or left with a reminder/information on policy (with deletion of info) to those with less than 1000 posts.

(Maybe 500 posts would be a better cut off?)

posted 12-25-2003 03:48               

As a general remark, I am finding Tug becoming more and more authoritarian over recent time, especially the last year. There is a harder line attitude developing, and not just by the BBS administrators. Threads are being closed prematurely, especially by some moderators, and now the Lounge is for Stepford Wives. Besides Lord Acton's remark, one must remember that the test of a good leader is not how much power is wielded, but how much it is not. And as for draconian measures being applied if one has posted more than XXX posts, I consider that suggestion to epitomise the issue.

I would prefer as few restrictions as absolutely necessary, and in this particular case my vote is definately for permitting posters to put sightings where and when they think appropriate.

posted 12-25-2003 07:47            

And with timesharing changing so drastically just in the 3-1/2 years we've been in it, this is likely to become an ever increasing mantra on this BBS.

A good example is a RCI VC telling a member of this board recently that he would try to find them an exchange he couldn't get with his deposit if he antes up more money. This kind of thing is ludicrous and must be publicized, just as unrealistic rising maintenance fee hikes must be publicized so that new members can realize that yearly costs pertaining to timeshare ownership continue to rise each year, some costs rising drastically and unrealistically.

This is a timeshare information board, and knowledge and education is power.

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www.picturetrail.com password:gingin (see 14 timeshares we've visited, please lighten screen before viewing)

posted 12-27-2003 09:34               

In my SW FL, or the current Hawaii thread, where we are using the results of searches to discuss the availability pattern of areas, what if we just refer to what's available generically, rather than by specific resorts?

That would not be encouraging viewers to jump on a particularly good sighting.

So the rule could be "Specific sightings go on the Sightings Board." That would seem easily comprehendible and easy to administer.

So, what about all the posts where someone asks for someone to do a search for them. Are those not "sightings" just as much as me posting what's available for January in SW FL?

posted 01-03-2004 13:40               

I also think its OK to remind those of us who pay the modest membership fee how to help encourage non members to chip in as well. However, I see no reason for the moderators to rigidly enforce the sightings rule for resort availabilities regardless of whether inside or beyond the 45 day boundary

I usually stay out of these rules of forum participation discussion since I tend to avoid pushing the envelope. But now I see the manners police knocking in my neighborhood. (I am one of the participants in that seemingly illegal thread in the Hawaii forum - even though I never posted individual sightings)

Sightings are not ad hominem attacks, do not cross into politics, religion, sex, etc, so why would/should moderators be forceful about them?

Jack

posted 01-03-2004 14:35               

quote:

---

Originally posted by JacknSara:

Sightings are not ad hominem attacks, do not cross into politics, religion, sex, etc, so why would/should moderators be forceful about them?

---

Not a single moderator has objected to that thread. In fact, at least one moderator and one administrator have contributed to it.

The primary reason to post sightings on the Sightings board is as a courtesy to other TUG members. A lot of TUGgers check the Sightings board regularly; if a sighting is posted elsewhere, it may or may not be seen.

As for the rules, the primary guideline to follow is this one, from the BBS FAQ: How do I start a new BBS topic?:

"If you are starting a NEW BBS Topic, please make sure you choose the appropriate forum from the list of discussion forums. If you are unsure where your note belongs, read the forums first, then decide."

The guidelines for the Sightings/Distress Exchanges forum read as follows:

"Sightings are posts relating to weeks of special interest that have been found to be available from an exchange company.
By sharing this information with other TUG members you enhance the value of our collective TUG memberships."

The Sightings board is the best place for this type of post. As with any post, a moderator may decide to move a post if he/she feels it has been posted in the wrong location.

posted 01-03-2004 15:52               

The OLCC sighting I posted on the Florida Board contained no further explanation so was more apt to be moved. It was intended to be a comment on the last-minute availability at OLCC, the same as the Hawaii discussion, but without the supporting thread that was not obvious.

No big deal.

So, the rule is: All Sightings go on the Sightings Board, unless there is a more approporiate forum, right?

posted 01-26-2004 16:19            

quote:

---

Originally posted by JLB:
So, using Ed's explanation, if the purpose of posting a "Sighting" is to discuss the availability pattern in SW FL, or Hawaii, and the originator is posting to the forum that is most appropriate, that would be the Florida or the Hawaii Forum, not the Sighting Forum.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by EdB:
That's a good summary, Jim.

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posted 01-26-2004 17:22               

Fern

quote:

---

Originally posted by Carl D:
Just wondering- Keeping with this logic, why are trade tests results posted in the sightings forum?
That seems like misuse of the sightings forum, just to keep the results from non members.
According to the above logic, they belong in the exchange forum.

[/B]

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posted 01-26-2004 18:58            

I understand that nobody realy cares what I think, and that's okay. It just seems as though TUG strictly adheres to the rules when it fits certain criteria, and ignores the rules when it suits the masses.
You can try to spin this anyway you want, but it is clearly not right.

posted 01-26-2004 20:33               

What is clear is that some people don't know what they are talking about.