I’m heading out to LAX today to see the press conference from a “Major National Low-Cost Airline” expanding service in the LA area, so I’ll have more on that tomorrow. (Hint: It’s JetBlue) But today, I’d like to extend a hearty welcome to a couple of newbies in the blogosphere, BoardingArea and the TSA.
Wait . . . the TSA? Yes, really. They’ve started a blog called the Evolution of Security with the Fox-Newsy tagline of “Terrorists Evolve. Threats Evolve. Security Must Stay Ahead. You Play A Part.” This is a unique blog in that it’s set up to focus on the comments section and basically be a feedback mechanism. They’re soliciting feedback from everyone and anyone, and clearly they’ve seen a response. This post on inconsistencies between airports has received over 350 comments so far. Let’s just hope they haven’t censored too many of them, though I think it’s safe to say they have that as least some have been censored. In fact, they say “In the spirit of transparency, we plan to note how many comments we’ve rejected and tell you why. Mostly the rejected comments include profane language, political rants or abusive posts that we just can’t print, and some are completely off topic. Other than these, every post will go up as written and we will continue to operate this way.”
It may not be the most informative blog around, but clearly, good things can come out of this. In fact, they already have. Apparently, some “local TSA offices” had decided to start requiring all electronics to be removed from carry-ons against TSA rules. Well, people commented on the blog, Washington found out, and now it’s been fixed. Huzzah!
Ok, half-huzzah. I mean, how is it that they need a blog to figure out the major problems that are happening at some of their outstations? It’s a little concerning that they don’t have better oversight to ensure the regulations are being implemented correctly.
Maybe this won’t be too bad after all. I mean, they had the good sense to include my blog in their very short blogroll. I’m in some pretty lofty company there. Actually, I’m downright giddy to be listed right below security deity Bruce Schneier’s blog. Makes me look much cooler than I am.
Enough about the TSA. Let’s also welcome BoardingArea, the latest creation of FlyerTalk founder Randy Petersen. Head on over there to find “voices of the business traveler.” Randy has decided to aggregate blogs that appeal business travelers from around the web. I’m very happy to say that I’ve been included in that group. No need to read my content over there since it’s the same stuff I post here, but you should definitely head over there to discover some other excellent blogs, some of which are brand new and most of which can only be found at BoardingArea.com.
Edited 2/13 @ 131p to change wording on comment censoring (shown in italics)
1 comment on “BoardingArea and the TSA Join the Blogosphere”
Good for you, I think it is quite an accomplishment to be listed on something as overtly bureaucratic as anything run/funded/founded by the federal government. I am sure there will be plenty more traffic coming from that link to read this witty blog, and hopefully take something useful (other than entertainment) away from it. Either way, I am sure it is a good thing for CF.