My first was Catman Do III (see end of this post) in New York City, March 2001. I went with another FTer, and we had arranged to meet up with a few others before the formal festivities began, so I wasn't too worried. As it happens, I needn't have been anyhow. It was a truly fun time. I've been to several dozen more since, on five continents, from half a dozen people up to about a hundred.
Originally Posted by
mersk862
Mine was a late lunch/early dinner in Boston a few years ago - ozstamps was passing through on a layover (on an ANC-DEN-BOS-SFO-SYD itinerary only requiring one SWU), so I came down for lunch - it was a group of maybe 8 of us at a Legal's in Southie...
I think I was there too - Legal Test Kitchen?
Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
...There's a large DO in London (Presidents Day? next Presidents Day is 2/21/11), and there's also the annual Advents Brunch in Frankfurt (1st weekend in Dec. this year). Those would be great first DOs for anyone...
I can second the London suggestion. There are often several activities scheduled. This year, for example, we had a tour of the 2012 Olympic site construction with a manager of the firm that's coordinating the project (also an FTer).
If you can get there, the annual OzFest in late May is also a whole weekend of experiences that attracts quite a few people. (Next week's has 76 confirmed as of now.) I've been to three. Hats off to the folks who put in a huge amount of effort planning these.
Originally Posted by
SanDiego1K
I got roped into organizing the first Do I ever attended in July 2001...
Originally Posted by
jan_az
This was the first DO I ever attended. We had a tour of the ATC tower ( this was pre 9/11), saw how the dogs are trained, and had a great time...
I remember that one well!
Originally Posted by
Dovster
This was my wife's (at the time GF's) introduction to FT Dos. She had a few misgivings beforehand, but none as soon as it began!
Originally Posted by
no-backpacker
(PS. Maybe a stupid question, but what does "do" mean?)
No mystery here. It's standard UK English slang for a party. FT adopted it after an FTer with the handle
CatMan organized a party and called it "CatMan Do" as a pun on "Katmandu." He followed up with two more, CatMan Do Deux and CatMan Do III which was my first. (Some FTers insist on writing "Doo." I have no idea why, though early toilet training problems have been suggested as a possible explanation
.)