@MarcelC. No need to be mean :) You got flagged as offensive, that was as kind a reaction I could give you. Saves me and you hassles if you keep discussions to the chat room rather than in comments.
@MarkMayo just curious, when you were talking about the UAE's rights, were you talking about their legal rights to create whatever legislation they want to, their moral rights to create whatever legislation they want to, or just their ability to create whatever legislation they want to?
@RoflcoptrException 149 users out of 778 users entitled to vote. That yields a participation rate of 19%. I find that this is a poor result for a site who wants to be "democratic" ...
Anyway, I think people are not really interested in participating in votes like this. For example when we at our university vote for the students who should represent us, we have a rate of about 5% and this is historically considered to be quite high
Even if it is a vote in the RL, a 50% rate can be quite high (obviously this depends on many circumstances)
@RoflcoptrException: Material Sciences in Zurich used to have ~80% participation. Participation requires that people feel invested in the community. Getting them to feel like that is hard, but can be done (it's easier for smaller communities)
Also, the threshold for participation in the election is quite low -- 300, if memory serves. That's not hard to obtain for one-time contributors (basically, ask a question or two and then stop visiting)
19% seems an okay-ish figure, given the circumstances. obviously, more is better, but 150 voters should be representative enough of the preferences of the community
Thanks to our pro-tem mods @MarkMayo and @VMAtm for their service in building the community. We will do our best to support and develop the site to make it the first stop for any travel-related question one might have!
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and of course, thanks to @RoryAlsop for throwing his hat in the ring, you've proven your value to Travel-SE and other SE communities, and hopefully you'll continue helping us in making this site great
@mindcorrosive and @RoflcoptrException - good to see you in there, congrats :) And of course @AnkurBanerjee - have fun keeping up the good work! I'm content here sipping a coffee in Quebec City (it's freeeeezing outside) and enjoying the site as a regular member again :)
Good to see you yesterday @Jonas, maybe third time lucky when you try to see @RoflcoptrException ;)
Oh and I made it to Schwartz's deli last night after queueing again, it was AMAZING.
@AndrewGrimm - their ability in general. Whether it's morally right is up for debate, but it's still their laws, and by choosing to go there, you choose to obey them (or choose to be 'criminal' I guess)
And thanks to @MarkMayo and @VMAtm for their great work! I've already been able to invite @MarkMayo to an excellent hot chocolate; let me know when you're in the neighborhood, @VMAtm
@AnkurBanerjee: I might spend some time in Cambridge around May/June. Will you be in the area?
