Acroymn Guide

John

Level 2 Member
I know when I first started out it was difficult to figure out what all the different acronyms meant ( VGC, OV, MVD etc). There are still somethings I see I do not know but now don't stress it.
I was wondering to help out new people so they do not have to go crazy searching if a list can be created?
This might seem simplistic but I think beneficial to newer people.
 

mrsjon01

Level 2 Member
Charity Forum Mod
Thoughts?
I struggle with this one as well. Maybe have the lists segmented, as one person suggested above. That way a level 2 list would not be giving too much away, and a level 1 list would answer the questions that most newcomers would have. Example: level 1 = VGC,OV, MO, etc. level 2 = Kate
I'm not a MS person though, so there might be better examples.
 

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
I struggle with this one as well. Maybe have the lists segmented, as one person suggested above. That way a level 2 list would not be giving too much away, and a level 1 list would answer the questions that most newcomers would have. Example: level 1 = VGC,OV, MO, etc. level 2 = Kate
I'm not a MS person though, so there might be better examples.
Something like this might be an idea - though I think we should probably have it all behind level2 - there is no value in putting anything like this in level 1 other than to gain audience share, which of course I want from certain selfish reasons, but from a stewardship perspective it doesn't offer value.
 

mrsjon01

Level 2 Member
Charity Forum Mod
Hmm, hard to know what to share and what not to share. I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with vetting people before giving level 2 access. If you think that's working well, then I don't see any real problem with a guide. The acronyms would be there more for convenience rather than to make the threads more obtuse. However, there is value in the FT Trick-It method, or what I call the RTFM method, because it forces people to do their homework. Those who have can understand, and those who pop in hoping for a quick and dirty deal cannot.

I just thought of another possibility, sort of like a reverse wiki. What if there was a space for an acronym list, but the space was kept pretty empty. If someone wanted to know the meaning of an acronym, then they could post there as a query. Members could respond, thereby updating the acronym list dynamically when there is a need.
ex: Bob reads this and doesn't know what RTFM is. He posts "RTFM = ?" in the wiki area. Later on Bill is browsing the threads and sees the question. He updates it to read "RTFM = Read the F-ing Manual."

This might help the people who are strong in travel hacking and weak in MS, or vice versa. Just a thought.
 

mrsjon01

Level 2 Member
Charity Forum Mod
Oh and I also think if the plan is to make it all behind level 2, we should move this chat behind level 2 as well.
 

InstinctX

Level 2 Member
I don't think there's value in creating an acronym list or wiki. I only started MS-ing in Jan./Feb. Before jumping in, I read though the posts on FT and various blog sites. "Kate" was something I had to do some searching to figure out who "she" is and why people LOVE her.

If you need help with acronyms, you can always ask it in the flame-free thread on FT
 

mrsjon01

Level 2 Member
Charity Forum Mod
I don't think there's value in creating an acronym list or wiki. I only started MS-ing in Jan./Feb. Before jumping in, I read though the posts on FT and various blog sites. "Kate" was something I had to do some searching to figure out who "she" is and why people LOVE her.

If you need help with acronyms, you can always ask it in the flame-free thread on FT
True.
 

John

Level 2 Member
It seems I am behind the times :) as it was posted already..sorry for the multiple posts.
Is it really dangerous? However, A Q & A would work but then someone can search the Q & A for the same information. I think it would be harder to view and make someone using it for the wrong reason if when someone used an an acronym in parenthesis they put in the real term like VGC (Vanilla Gift Card) then the information would not be so easy to access. Unless told it is not allowed, I will do that in the future.
 

Matchmee

Level 2 Member
I think there is value in helping those people who are just starting out what the acronyms stand for. To have people have to stop reading a post to go think about what it could possibly mean or do a google search is a waste of time that could be spent doing something else. Also when I was first going at this- posting every acronym I wasn't sure about would have been crazy. That's frankly a waste of everyone's time then and also will make people frustrated if they have to keep answering it. It would be nice to have a chart of abbreviations- maybe put it in level 2 and keep it from the basics. Have it be a chart for helping those newer people be able to study it.
 
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