I have attended many Flyer Talk parties, both large and small, in many cities all around the world. I have had a ball at each and every one of them. ^

It is really easy to have fun at a Flyer Talk Do, even in a large crowd where you don't know anybody. If you are feeling uncomfortable, pick out somebody who is sitting by themself and go over and ask them what airline they fly, what hotel they favor or how they first learned about Flyer Talk. FlyerTalkers are for the most part fascinating people who lead very interesting lives. Once in a great while you might run into someone who doesn't particularly appeal to you, but, so what? Be polite and move on. Life is way too short to waste even a tiny part of it worrying about the people you don't like. ;)

Once when I was very upset over something someone had done, my Dad told me, "There are at least a million people in the world with whom you just won't get along, no matter what--fortunately you will never meet the vast majority of them. :( On the other hand, there are probably twenty million people on earth whom you would adore, if you had ever time to meet them all. :) Why waste time worrying about the losers, when you could be spending that same time seeking out the winners?" Great DO advice! @:-)

The DOs we have attended have really enhanced our travel and our lives with rich experiences, wonderful friends and a new sense of freedom and adventure. While in Dusseldorf this past weekend I was thinking about all the wonderful people at the party, and, trust me, all of them were wonderful. Old friends, new friends and new experiences. What more could one ask?

Get out and DO!! :cool:

I had help....does that count? (meow, meow...)

Great saying, Punki. We need a Do calendar with this at the top!!

SanDiego1K ,

Oh no. Not another sticky. :eek: :p

I've attended many dozens of FT gatherings, (on 5 continents) and even helped organise a few - big and small.

There has never been one I did not enjoy attending, and where I did not meet some great folks.

At FT Doos - as with every social event on earth - like weddings, business meetings and dinners at friend's houses etc you'll come across folks you do not especially care for. And just like at those occasions you are free to politely move on and mingle mostly with those you do. That is what all sensible and mature adults generally do. :D

I think it is important to note that holding get togethers in large English speaking cities like London, Chicago, New York or LAX or SFO will clearly get very good numerical attendances as large 4 figure numbers of FT'ers clearly live in each city. And a 5 figure number probably live within an hour's commute from some of these cities most likely.

In my mind the most successful and consistent Doo to me has to be bernie's Dusseldorf Doos, where AFAIK he is the only FT'er to actually LIVE in that city. :D

Despite that, for 4 years on the run, quite a few dozen folks attend each year from all over (most from outside Europe.) They are consistently well run and perfectly organised, there are no problems or hassles with monies or payments or venues (AFAIK), and they are attended by folks who genuinely seem to enjoy each other's company. Dus Five seem to be a firm starter for 2005 - hope so. ^

Someone mentioned to me on the weekend in DUS he was literally ready to get on a plane and come punch my head in a couple of year's back, but we are now good friends after meeting a few times, and he now wants to fly down and attend OzFest 2005 when we get it organised. ;)

For those reading this thread who have NOT attended any gatherings I urge you do try and get to a few if you can. It will change the way you view FT, and often change to way you perceive other posters. :p

Amen to that! :)

This is not universal. In DC, there are regular monthly get-togethers that draw a mostly local FT crowd. There are pretty frequent get-togethers in other places as well, such as Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco, again mostly attended by locals.

Somehow I don't think 1000 (four figures) FlyerTalkers live in Chicago. And even with 1 hour flight time to Chicago, I don't think 10,000 FTers are within sixty minutes of ORD.

I guess we will never know for sure. :D

However I think we sometimes forget that there are close to 38,000 registered FT'ers. I agree of that figure many are not active at all times, but that is the number of members Randy gives us daily on the entry page to FT. My observation over 4 years has been that the vast bulk of FlyerTalkers are resident in North America.

Say 25,000 to be very conservative - although my real guess would be more like 30,000 of the 38,000 of FT'ers reside in North America.

If "Chicago" has roughly 1% of the population of the USA, (which I understand with assistance of my uncle Google that it does) and by virtue of O'Hare being such a major airline hub, I suspect you'd find many times 1000 FT members live in "Chicago". :)

It is a philosophical question as to whether anyone lives in Chicago?

How can one be considered to be "living" in a place where the gourmet dinner is deep dish pizza?

Compare this to Philadelphia's sacred cheesesteak sandwich or hot pastrami on rye in New York City (with a knish side order).

I do, however, tend to agree with your estimates of the number of inhabitants of the Windy City.

My opinions closely reflect those of catman. I have been to DO's small and medium (not sure what is large but none over 30 or 40 for me).

It was nice meeting some folks I have conversed with on a regular basis electronically, but at the same time I met some folks who I would rather have not met - just a fact of life.

One DO I was at it was impossible to not have been offended by the organizers. It was like they decided who they liked on the first night and those that made the 'A' list got the invites for afternoon activities the next day, evening cocktails, even inclusion as to where the dinner would be that night. Not having made that list, I had to wait until I ran across a fellow FT'r to find out the locale of such events as the group dinner. It was the epitomy of rude and tacky.

Since then I have gone to a couple of events, where I know the folks in attendance quite well. I seriously doubt I will fly off anywhere to meet a group of strangers and take the chance on being treated as shabbily as I was at the previous one (oh yeah, I wasn't the only one who did not make the 'A' list).

If others enjoy it, then great, but I will stick to the small dinners, pre-arranged coffee or drinks instead.

Of course, if we really want to "break the bank" when it comes to attendees, we just need to schedule a run to the Buenos Aires Grill here in SEA six months in advance. We have had folks cross oceans for the meat, and based on debua1k's fish dinner, it's worth crossing oceans for that, as well. :)

And Kell's can hold lots of people for after-dinner aperitifs (sic).

I just hope fredmarten's hot tub is big enough. :D

Though a Seven on Heaven run and pub-crawl in Chicago could probably grab a lot of folks, as well. ;)

I guess that I have been lucky. I have truly liked all the FTers I met to date. In fact, I will go as far as to say that I was actually surprised by this fact.

I agree with you about it being wrong to have an "A" list which is invited everywhere while others are not. However, at a meet lasting several days, it will be impossible (and probably not even desirable) to invite everyone to everything.

A good compromise between the two is easily worked out.

At our Venice Meet, for example, everyone will be invited to the initial drinks in St. Marks. They will also be invited to the big dinner and the tours of Verona and Murano. If another major event is planned, that, too, will be open to all. There will be no need for an invitation as the schedule and locations will all be publicly announced on FT.

This does not mean that I will automatically ask everyone to join me wherever I go during those days. I might well have lunch with three or four people on one day and go to the casino with four others that that evening.

By the same token, I don't expect to be asked to join every gathering. I am certain that one small group will head to the museums while another will prefer doing some shopping and a third one will decide to attend Sunday Mass together.

How many FTers were at this years Freddies?

That question was already asked earlier in this thread, but nobody seems to have given a definitive answer.

The tub holds 8 intimately, 6 comfortably and 2 very nicely. Just the right size for a mini-do!