For the first few years I was on this board I didn't feel like I'd fit in as I wasn't as frequent or knowledgable a flyer as others. My very first "meet in person" was some great guy from the boards named....uh...uhm...what was it now....Oh Yes, DHAMMER.....of the well lauded Brooklyn Reality Tour :D
Having met one member....I braved the Freddie's last year and had a great time meeting others....Goingaway who posted above for one....and several others. When Dan ran the Brooklyn Tour I got to meet a few??? others, lol (about 20 or so I think).
I now feel much more comfortable about attending an event by myself. Try it.....you'll like it!! :D :D

As Marysunshine pointed out I was a little concerned I wouldn't fit in....my first thoughts were it is a lot of businessfolk and as a 19yr old student I'd be a bit out of my depth.....alas over time I built a little online rapport (as one would expect with almost 8k posts in 2yrs!) and so went to my first 'do'. In my dos and chance meetings I'd say I've probably met 20 Flyertalkers, all a very friendly bunch!

fbg's milestones
Joined Flyertalk: Feb 03
Met first Flyertalker: Oct 03 (BahrainLad - final Concorde landings)
First Flyertalk do: May 04 in London
First Flyertalker in natural habitat: Sep 04 - Bartinbrook onboard BA LHR-SFO. By absolute chance, he came over during boarding and asked if my name was Fraser! :eek: )
First arranged Flyertalk Mileage Run: November 2004 (LHR-BCN-AGP-BCN-LHR with flyclub and BA97.com)

Of all those who have posted to this thread thus far, I have met ALL BUT THREE: bursa, underpressure, and fbgdavidson. And I've read lots of posts by the latter two.

And of those I have met, I have met several of them several times!

Am I an FT junkie or what? :eek:

Kathy, that question will be answered in November.

Are you going to Tel Aviv? (And, if so, what exactly are you going to tell her?)

All true FT junkies will be joining us for the big meet. Festivities will last a week (actually, most will be crowded into three or four days) and will include the main dinner in Tel Aviv; a tour of the Sea of Galilee area (including the Jordan River, Nazareth, and Capernaum); a tour of Jerusalem; and a walking tour of Tel Aviv.

It will offer a little for everyone: Orthodox Jews will have kosher food at the Meet; Fundamentalist Christians will get to see Armaggedon; athiests can enjoy the nightlife of Tel Aviv and agnostics will be able to not make up their minds about what they want.

The highlight of the week will be a pagan festival where we sacrifice Cholula. (We were going to have a virgin sacrifice but PlatBrownGuy isn't sure if he will be there.)

Will you be joining the 40 some odd (and some very odd) people already on the "Probable" list?

Over the past (it is hard to believe it is almost seven) years, we have met hundreds of FlyerTalkers in many countries all around the world and made many friends who will be dear to our hearts for the rest of our lives. One active FlyerTalker was only ten when we first met him, and others have been well into their seventies.

We are a very interesting cult, complete with all of the virtues, foibles, strengths, weaknesses, joys and sorrows of life. I have witnessed amazing FlyerTalk acts of generosity and some disappointingly petty acts of jealousy.

FlyerTalk has brought people together into primary relationships, even marriage, and has led to the demise of others. We have shared in the joy of births, anniversaries, new jobs, and successes, and commiserated with one another during times of loss, death, and other personal, national and international tragedies. I will never forget the support we all received from FlyerTalk chat during the 911 attacks.

I think was sets us apart from the rest of the world is the bountiful sense of adventure that prompts us to jump on a plane to meet a bunch strangers for a party, half way around the world, knowing that we will come away friends with most, if not all, of them.

There is something fascinating, almost magical, about FlyerTalk and the personal connections that are reinforced almost daily on line and then periodically in real life. We will be forever grateful for FlyerTalk and its singular ability to connect us with matchless experiences and new friends across oceans and/or across town. How else would I have met Chex? :D

Wow Punki, your comments should be part of the official FT "about us" promo section! Great to be part of such a unique community and eventually I'll meet some of you! :)

FT'ers are like anyone--although just about all of us have a love of travel (or a love of upgrades/freebies etc having to do with travel). The first FT'ers I met were Punki, AnnaS & Comicwoman. I was on a biz trip to Chicago and Punki was in town for a trade show, with AnnaS & Comicwoman locals. It was a really great time and while yes travel was discussed, so were other topics. Since then, I can't count the number of FT'ers I've met, both a DO's and informally. Also I've met a couple that are in the same business as I'm in and even one who works in my company, on my floor!! (I didn't know her before). As a woman who travel a lot, it's good to have the ability to post if I'm planning to be in a city and want to meet up with some others to spend some time with, or become acquainted with a city. I've been to Do's with 40+FT'ers (SIN, Cannes, HKG, CDG etc) and also met up with just one or two FT'ers TXL, ARN, SFO, BKK etc). I honestly can't say that I've ever had a bad or disappointing time with anyone from this group. And while yes, the underlying conversation is generally travel and how to get the best out of it, you'll find an vast variety of personalities, businesses and interests from everyone in this group.

I met the following FTers in order I met them

1. Cholula
2. Viajero Joven
3. redbeard911
4. jan_az
5. myefre
6. TravelManKen

And each one only once, I think I scared them away :D

Didn't know any of them prior to FT, especially since I am the only FTer from ELP ;)

In the case of myefre that is a good thing :p

Um........This may ring to be true. :D Myefre complains too much. Oh wait, that is another site. :D :D

The Flyertalk community is just amazing. I tend to travel to the more obscure places in the US, and have received amazing tips on some of the greatest restaurants (well, those places serving pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and BBQ).

On my first trip to NYC, dhammer arranged a quick brunch DO at a favorite deli. Among the FTers there was JanAZ, violist, seeya, cameraman, catman, and several others I can't remember (shame on me). Seeya was kind enough to give violist and me a walking tour of Manhattan. I hope to have the time to go to the NYC Reality Tour that dhammer presents.

I have met over 20 FTers, and communicate regularly with several. When I'm home, I try to get the time to meet with myefre and empedocles for lunch and other activities :p

There are many others I want to meet. Eventually I will.

bursa, to answer your question, yes I have the honor tomeet some of the folks that post here. Go out and meet some ^

I am dating and practically living with another FT member and recently I met about 14 FTs at a dinner in Philly.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

:(

:eek: :eek: :eek: That many. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Small Flyertalk world story:

I used to keep my personal life relatively separate from FT, then my stupid SISTER found Flyertalk and started gushing to me about this super-cool awesome website she found about miles and points and very frequent flyers and and I was like, duh! :rolleyes:

Fortunately (and oh-so-much LIKE me), she is an introvert so avoids the community portion of the community. Because, God knows, THAT's what I need: my stupid sister passing around naked baby photos of me at the next London Do... :mad: