Nice find.

And my absolute favorite charity is...my wallet!

I had this to say on the subject. And yes it was weird to receive that email. It's just plain weird to have a luggage company involved in this period!

--------
Hey do you want some luggage for $590? It has the Star Mega Do logo on it! You can show off with it, you be the cool cat in the block. Oh, and you know what? $200 will be sent from Rimowa back to Milepoint Cares! How about this? You make me a deal on the luggage, the lower the price the more I myself donate to Milepoint Cares so I can reduce my taxes even further (in addition to the red I am running with my TBB LLC venture!). Call me..maybe. I must admit I had never heard of this company before! I have a Travel Pro carry on but the darn wheel keeps making a noise that drives me nuts! Still, I will never even think of spending close to $600 for a luggage! Can�t wait for the next exclusive product? Hot nuts for all :-)

I freely admit that I don't quite understand the arrangement. But apparently the order goes to one of the House of Miles (HoM) businesses, which apparently has a drop-shipping arrangement with Rimowa Canada and US to produce and deliver the bag. Apparently a $200 'discount' was achieved due to the potential bulk order, but Rimowa balked at HoM selling the bag for less than MSRP. So instead of applying a direct customer discount that $200 discount is being rebated back to the charity arm of the HoM. But all SMD5 participants will benefit because apparently this scheme to raise charity money will replace the repeated 'in your face' charity fundraising that has historically taken place during SMD flights and events.

But that's just what I surmised from reading the MilePoint thread and clicking through the bag offer website. I could be wrong on some of those details.

And I am sure someone will point out to me that the details behind this offer are none of my business so I should ether just buy a bag or shut up about it.

I'd say that's a fair summation of the situation.
Meh. I'm assisting in SMD5 because I was on SMD3 and became friends with a bunch of people in this world. OTOH, my posting is still 98% FT as it's where I started and because the MP Air Canada forum is just not developed enough yet for it to be an enjoyable experience (at least for me). I'm well aware of the animosity between the various participants in the FFer world, but I just don't have enough time in the day to care about it.

If you'd like to buy a bag, please do. I'm getting one as my wife claimed the Briggs & Riley bag I won from one of the bloggers so I'm still in the market for a nice carry-on. If you don't have an interest, that's fine. It's an expensive bag and many people either can't afford such a bag, or if they can, they already have one. Either way, I don't begrudge you or anyone else speaking their mind on the Do, the bag or life in general. If there is something that you think I should do better, I'm all ears.

I personally think you are doing a great job...and things seem to be going a hell of a lot better since a few of you guys stepped up/in to help run things. ^

I too have heard a lot of the talk about some of the animosity the MEGADO has generated among its founders, partners and former partners, etc. But I'm still a big supporter of the MegaDos even though I have never been on one...I'm just waiting for what I consider a decent value proposition to come along for one, so I really don't want them to go away before that happens.

So I hope that volunteers like you will help Randy and Tommy and whoever else is really running this business these days see that the current MegaDo business model is a bit spent. And this version in particular feels very slapped-together to me. IMHO, a little more time and effort ought to go in up front to come up with more compelling activities and destinations than a freaking luggage factory tour. That said, it's just a business (all this non-profit/charity stuff notwithstanding). Either they can make it profitable and it will survive or they can't and it won't.

BTW, I do hope you are getting some benefit (financial or otherwise) for your hard work. You and the others who have pitched in since the original plans started falling apart certainly have earned it! ^

The whole thing is weird indeed. The last piece of email I got from MilePoint was the Wall & Main spam, now this. I think the MD is grasping at straws bringing in a luggage factory tour to the event, but that's just me.

I'd not spend anywhere close to $600 on luggage, even if I were a billionaire.
I've had great luck with some bags from ebay and overstock-type stores. My current rollaboard is some no-name slightly used piece that I got for $20 from ebay. The thing is a bit shorter than standard which makes it very useful, and is solid as a rock inside and out. Wish I could find a name on it to track down another one.

Anyway I don't care for the charity donation angle thrown into it. Just feels gratuitous and why should I finance a company's charitable write-offs. I don't know, just weird.

Most major DOs are annual events.

Ozfest
London
SIN
BRT

Once a year is a draw.

Once a month isn't. The frequency of the MP MegaDo is not the way to proceed.
It's not special if it's frequent. @:-)

dh

You forgot Austin, the original Megado

Even our Guru seems a bit confused...
View Screen Capture


AFAIK SMD1 was in Nov 2009

It depends how you group them. Arguably, SMD is completely different from OWMD. While some hardcore fans go on both, they each attract a completely different 'regular' crowd as people are drawn to their primary alliance. So in that respect, SMD has historically been an annual Do, no different from any of the others you mentioned.

Having said that, it's clearly not that simple. Having Nordic & SMD so close together is definitely having an impact as many 'frequent' participants choose one or the other. OTOH, if we announced a SkyTeamDo, we'd probably see huge pickup even if it was in November, as the pent up demand from Delta flyers would more than make up for some past MD attendees not going on it.

Finding the ideal number of events and the ideal mix of alliances/airlines/sponsors is difficult, but with each event we get better at it. Will we hold back-to-back events again? No, probably not. Can the community support more than one MD per year? Seems like yes. Can it support five? No. Where does the perfect balance lie? Still don't know. Maybe 2 events per year? That could mean a cycle of the 3 alliances and a non-alliance MD once every two years. But does each alliance have the same attraction rate, and are the airlines within each alliance as willing to host? Maybe, maybe not. Many variables to consider.

There are 100s of questions to consider on this and arguably more than one right answer. But we're still getting there.

As I said before, I would not think about frequency nearly so much as quality if I were running this business.

Actually give me that (ultimately false) promise of a Brazilian waterfall fly-by and I am in almost regardless of price.

Give me a tour of a factory in an industrial park and you'd need to pay me to get me to participate.

Just my free advice. Take it for what it's worth.

What Koko said. Agree completely with your ongoing assessment of this luggage factory do. Truly, I hope the participants have a good time.

I agree with you that SMD5 does not have the wow factor. I decided to join the Kiva Do at the end of the Do.

If you are not interested in buying a seat in English, perhaps buying one in Norwegian appeals to you: http://translate.google.com/translat...a%26t%3D120111

Can't hurt to try, I suppose.

As George Takei would say, oh myyy.

Glad I could make you smile.