Re: A Formal Invite!!
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Two things Kristie...
1. I have tried on numerous occasions to get someone from the upper management to response in the forums. From what I have seen, I don't blame them for not being willing to post. It is an unwinnable battle for a "company man" to post in here. Look at all the crap Yankee One has had to deal with. They are happy to watch and learn....
2. Speaking of watching and learning... The upper management are DEFINITELY watching what is being said in this forum. Steps are being taken to act on what is being said in these forums. From what I have heard, the PA website is being updated as I type. Some of the issues that DE727 has voiced, are being addressed. In short, the people at PA are listening, and taking action. If it were up to me, I would LOVE to see PA become of the mindset to "under promise and over produce". That is how a successfull business is built.
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I disagree with the unwinnable battle...you have to get wet in order to scrub off all the layers of dirt.
You mentioned Yankee One, so let's look at Yankee One as a *good* example of what upper management should be like on a forum like ours (the little people). Yankee One, from what I perceive (IMO), sees this site as his opportunity to look, listen, comment and assist the future aviator, just as we all do. As a business man, Doug and I respect him a great deal and applaud him for having the balls to continually come onto this site and listen to what the users have to say...even more so for staying on the site and speaking up about the questions and/or complaints that are brought up. We see Yankee One as a person, a JC member and as a business man but not as "DCA" because DCA is made of a team of people who all decide on how DCA will be run. Yankee One is the "foot in the door" so to speak because he speaks for "DCA" on this forum. so when the DCA forum has red flags in it, and they do usually for marketing as well, he makes it his responsibility to provide an answer for the team or find the answer - he takes the crap because it's part of his job to do so and we totally give him kudo's for that.
Now, I think for any company to repair and/or improve reputation, it means getting out amongst the complainers, listening to what they have to say and coming back with bullet proof gear, if needed, and respond to what needs addressing even if it means just having to, in a sense, "explain yourself - as a company". Piping up in this community is one of the things we've always encouraged. There's no holds barred (except for personal attacks & too much foul language) and there are no "bad guys" per se as sometimes the business man is wrong and sometimes the customer is wrong. In a sense, it's a discussionary outlet for both business & client.. in the end, we all learn something (if not new) and make better business practices on all ends. Also doesn't mean coming in on a daily basis either, if they think it'll take too much of their valuable day time. Forum's open 24/7/365!
Having one of the upper management guru's, even the lead marketing man, listen to the little people and come in and talk on a one on one thread basis speaking FOR the company, actually means a lot to the little people (no matter what business your in), having any of them come back and respond to you on a personal basis is only 110% better. But yeah, it means you have to wade thru the crap first in order to get into cleaner waters and yeah, it might mean being chewed up and spit out for a bit but look at the big picture.. the end result.. most likely will be that PA builds itself a community of conversation, of satisfied instructors & students (even bystanders). That only helps in their business venture of obtaining future students. And if i'm wrong - at least we tried but I would think that it'd still be worth the effort!
DE727UPS isn't getting "in yo face" because he has nothing better to do (at least I, personally, don't think so), there is a purpose to his madness. Doug and I are pretty likely to continue to trust his madness, until he proves us wrong, because he also has mad skillz (like we do) for being a watchdog for the future pilot.
The "Company Man" can watch and learn as long as they like, but it's very hard to work on your reputation that way because everything essentially stays one sided just as it has in the past before PA became part of the JC sponsorship. In some cases, they just want to hear from one of the main guys themselves and nobody else can satisfy that need.
oh - and I don't doubt that steps are being taken to rectify the few items that have been brought up. Doug makes it his personal responsiblity to not only make sure that the sponsors are happy but also that his clients here are happy to, this is one venture that's always been really important to him (& me) and we really enjoy watching everyone (businesses included) succeed. If Doug sees something here (and he must have since he approved PA's sponsorship & has been duking it out with DE727UPS, who he has a lot of respect for), then I'm with him all the way.
"Under promise and over produce" is not a bad marketing scheme to go by! People want honest marketing...without it, 5 people that could have walked through your doors, walked past because "word of mouth" gave them a bad taste!
