Journalist Jeff Jarvis has been mourning his “beloved Silverjet” along with many others who hope the airline isn’t grounded permanently. If perchance you missed the news, Silverjet had lined up $100 million in financing but the folks who were going to put up the money got cold feet, what with the high prices of fuel and all. While Jarvis didn’t have anything new to say about that, the blog did have a link to a December column of his that I missed, and it has some fascinating ideas.

One of his ideas is for airlines to tap into the online social networking craze. The logistics aside, the idea behind it is that if business travelers could network more in flight–through lounges and the ability to choose seatmates etc.–brand loyalty could be increased. Interesting idea, that you would pick your airline by its networking potential. However, lounges etc. aren’t new to business class–think Virgin Atlantic–and it doesn’t deal with the issue of economy class, where more seats equals keeping prices down.

Another deal I like is creating more of an auction marketplace. Let’s face it, it’s the airlines with the biggest route systems who are surviving; why not let prices float with demand from one flight and route to the next? If they don’t want to auction seats for dollars, they could auction some for miles — not once in a blue moon but on an ongoing basis.

Who’s got an interesting idea for a fresh approach to air travel? Share them here!

–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer

The final day of the auction has finally arrived and the bids are furiously going up and up as everyone scrambles to get in on the action! If you have not begun to bid, I highly recommend you start - not only is it for a good cause, but these hotel stays, flights and other great items are available to you at serious steals! Business class tickets to Europe for under $3000 are normally over double that price - the savings are unbelievable. Luxury hotel stays for $150 - these deals cannot be found anywhere else. So, please log onto www.globaltravelerusa.com/auction and bid. Winners will be notified Monday via email and once the payments are made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, original prize certificates will be mailed out. Within weeks, you could be on your luxury vacation - be it your graduation trip, a second (or first!) honeymoon, a birthday celebration or just a chance to kick back and relax, you will be able to enjoy a lot more while at your destination because you saved so much booking airline tickets and hotel stays!

Just to avoid some confusion - the auction will end promptly at 11:59.999 pm EDT, as the time changes to 12:00 (midnight). We have been advertising this time, as opposed to saying midnight, since the beginning of the auction, as you probably all know from my previous blog postings. But this does bring about a good question - is 12:00 midnight the official start of the next day or the last minute of the previous day? Is May 30th’s midnight already past or is it coming up? According to Wikipedia, the concept of midnight has a variety of meanings.

So, enough reading, get to bidding!

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive

Despite the fact that I have been in corporate America for more than 25 years, I have a pet peeve I must share with all of you corporate raiders out there reading this. Since most of you are the movers and shakers I am begging you to hear me out. What is my pet peeve? Corporate-speak!

I was in my local bookstore and picked up a book that caught my eye called “A Dictionary of Bullshit” by Diane Law. I have been laughing from the moment I picked it up because it addresses my annoyance at the plethora of business “buzzwords” that have permeated our conversations for decades now. So, before I lose my mind completely I want to share some of them with you and plead with people to embrace the English language as it was designed and throw these silly phrases to the wind. Some of my favorites:

“Due Diligence (noun): the failure to spot blindingly obvious contractual, legal and accounting nightmares prior to a takeover.”

“Blowback (noun): the inevitable consequences of a foolish business decision, generally dealt with by other parties after the person responsible for the decision has safely left the scene of the crime.”

“Benchmarking (noun): the corporate equivalent of waterboarding.”

“Behavioral Competencies (noun pl.): personal idiosyncracies yet to be crushed to nothingness by the corporate behemoth.”

“360 Degree Appraisal (noun): an attack from all sides.”

“Robust (noun): a doormat, which holds up well to being stood on, repeatedly, by many different people.”

“Third Generation Contingencies (noun): things that might go wrong, but not until years in the future, by which time you’ll hopefully be far away and beyond the reach of blame.”

And, on the top of my list:

Vice President (noun): a corporate drone who accepted a fancy job title instead of a pay rise.”

-Morissa Pawl, vice president western region

Several years back, I bought a Honda Elite Scooter. I purchased it for fun. I was tired of driving my Blazer everywhere. Also, I lived several blocks from work and a scooter was the perfect mode of transportation for that trip.

A few people had fun joking about me scooting around. The fact that it was purple (naturally) certainly added to the comedic fodder. I didn’t care, because I loved riding it. It came in very handy on several trips to downtown Chicago, where I squeezed it into a previously occupied parking spot and shared the (already fed) meter with that vehicle.

Some people suggested I purchased it strictly to save money on gas. At that time, gas was probably about $2.25 per gallon. Even at about 100 miles per gallon, I would need to drive approximately 15,000 miles on the scooter before it paid for itself. Of course, this was ridiculous, but the joke continued.

Now, I suppose it is a joke no more. At 100 miles per gallon, it beats the heck out of the usual 20 miles per gallon of my Blazer. In other words, for every 100 miles I drive, I save about $18.

In Europe, scooters are much more common than here. If gas prices continue to rise (and I don’t see them falling), scooters will become much more common here, too. A few of my friends have already talked about getting one.

The advantages of a scooter over a motorcycle basically comes down to cost and ease. A scooter can be purchased for under $2000. They are easier to ride than motorcycles, which require shifting. Lastly, although it limits the max speed to about 45 mph, selecting a 49 cc scooter allows you to ride it under your regular driver’s license (at least in Illinois).

Unfortunately, the scooter is only useful for some of my job responsibilities. I can check on the work of my distribution crews, while scooting around. However, it would be quite a challenge for me to actually distribute anything while on the scooter, although it would be fun to watch someone attempt it.

Okay, that’s all for now. It’s a beautiful day and I need to scoot!

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

Memorial Day is known across the country for barbecues, picnics and time to spend with the family. It’s also a great time to get away from the hustle and bustle of your everyday and take a three-day weekend. Parades go on in small and large towns and I like to think all Americans take just a few minutes to think about why we have this holiday. President Bush asked for a moment of silence at 3 pm EST to remember the troops around the world who have sacrificed so we can enjoy a beautiful day like Monday was (at least in NY as the weather was perfect).

Memorial Day weekend is also a weekend where most New Yorkers flee the city before you can say Memorial. I stayed in town this weekend and had a ball, especially as it was Fleet Week! Fleet Week is when a number of Navy ships dock throughout NYC and New York celebrates the sea services. Sailors of the Navy, Marines and Coast Guardsmen run loose throughout the city and it’s a great sight to see! Events go on all weekend, like Marine Day in Times Square, Navy Band performances and plethora of great events. I also decided to take a tour of the USS Kearsarge, which was docked on the West Side and open to the public. It was great to see the crew of the ship show their true colors and interact with the public, friends and family.

The public was allowed to be hands on with the military equipment (well supervised, of course) and I saw only smiles of the soldiers, from tank drivers to the helicopter pilots, explaining what they do on a daily basis. Seeing the men and women on board the ship made me proud to be an American, and all my best wishes go out to the men and women in uniform overseas who couldn’t be home to spend this day with their friends and family.

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher