SanDiego1K

I think we got so big that folks don't feel the personal connection required to host them. There are still several that are held year after year: Brooklyn Reality tour, Kansas City BBQ, Alaska Do spring to mind. But in the early to mid 2000s, we could go to several and know that half or so of the attendees would have been at the last one as well. We also had a strong chat group where we'd encourage each other to attend wherever we were going. It was possible to make strong personal connections. Now, not so much. The Europeans are doing a better job of hosting Dos than Americans (in my opinion).

We try to have semi regular San Diego dinners. We've got a core group of regulars who make it to every second or third dinner. And we get lots of newcomers each time which is terrific. I always pick up something new, whether it is information about what to see in Taipei, or tips on meeting minimum spend on my AA Mastercard.

jpetekYXMD80

Anyone interested in a bohemian, nonconformist seminar where we drink beer and perform short skits mocking the bloggers?

It will be at Hooters Las Vegas and sponsored by Milwaukee's Best Light.

Big_Foot

Of course! Now you have the amazing Delta dude and Frunny Points
teaching you all the knowledge! It's incredible.
Sorry, but the ONLY reason those conventions are created is to find
new victims to apply for the credit cards using the superstar bloggers' links.
No other reason.
If you're lucky and meet a great guy who will tell you that Lifemiles
think (used to think) Guam is in the US - good for you...
Of course "hang out and have a drink" is a much better model, but it's not
working anymore...

mcc235

I've been organizing a points and miles meetup in New York for the past year. We've had six so far with another one tonight. Generally 40 or 50 people show up, including some of the bloggers talked about in this forum. I've always thought "hang out and drink" make for the best events, so that's exactly what we do. Works well for us.

jammanxc

great job Mike! I'm thinking of doing the same for LA, but not sure what the turnout would be like.

gpapadop

Loved that beer back in college because...it was the only I could afford

Sounds like fun ^

gpapadop

I think you nailed it! ^

techgirl

I can only aspire to eventually be mockable.

I much prefer Vegas when kokonutz is giving pai gow poker lessons at 7 am. That is, seriously, the single most useful thing I have ever learned on a FT weekend.

No Milwaukees Best for me though. That stuff makes me shudder!!!

techgirl

Ah, the good old days.

I think this is where the sub-groups (those secret cannot-be-named ones) have filled in the gap. Of course that sadly means I now only learn about AA EXP related things from other AA EXPs. I miss the diversity in my travel world... but I also gave up hosting DOs myself so I'm guilty too.

oliver2002

Any news how the FTU advanced was? Can't find any reports (so far).

oliver2002

HMT/DA wrote something about Lucky stealing his thunder: http://hackmytrip.com/2014/07/lucky-...out-lufthansa/

alanro

I enjoyed myself; the most useful sessions were the ones where we were able to access the Internet during the session and practice creating mock revenue and reward itineraries using tools such as Expert Flyer. I wasn't about to load the KVS tool on my work computer, though.

Best for me was having a few drinks in the bar with a very congenial bunch of people, very few of whom I had met before and all of whom had stories to tell.

Bear4Asian

Since FlyerTalk is a place of sharing tips and tricks,it would be nice if you would share with the rest of us.

SkiAdcock

Yes. There are several topics beyond MR & MS, although those 2 sessions get large attendance (at least at the Chicago Seminar Event). The real value, of course, is all the conversations that take place in the hallways during breaks, lunch, and closing down (er, hanging out) the bar.

* Full disclosure. I chair the charity raffle at the ORD Seminar Event each year & I moderate the Marriott break-out session. I also chaired the charity raffle at the first FTU a few years ago. Ironically because I'm so busy selling raffle tickets I don't usually have time to actually attend the sessions (other than the Marriott break-out).

You should check CommunityBuzz more often. There are a lot more get-togethers on CB than there are seminar events. Some of the FT Dos are organized (like the SIN Do, CowDo, Alaska Do, etc) & some are more of the meals/bar types. Some areas such as DC & FRA do monthly get-togethers. Others just post meals or events. Chicago & San Diego often have dinners.

Seminar events, however, are more structured & do have speakers, sponsors, etc, and have a lot of newbies as well as more advanced types. You can tell the newbies by the glazed look in their eyes The first few ORD Seminar Events there were a lot of FTers that I had met at prior (non seminar) Dos. Last year was the first time there were more first-time attendees & I think they heard about it from the various bloggers. Other than the first FTU I've not attended any of theirs.

Agree.

I'm not totally sure of the sub-groups filling in the gaps. A lot of information & sharing still happens at the Dos that are listed in CommunityBuzz.

Cheers.

techgirl

Facebook seems to have filled in a lot of the gap of what used to happen here on FT "back in the day" community-wise. I'm in several FB subgroups and social media seems to make the back and forth easier, especially for those who are already on it a lot - plus you get to know people on a personal level and by real name, which somehow raises the level of civility (most of the time, anyway).

Twitter is great for getting news quickly.

TripAdvisor and Yelp fill the gaps on tours/attractions/restaurants.

In short, I think functionality is changing the patterns of how we seek general information... how we get it quickly and minimize the searching is key.

And as for community, I was never a fan of the overly complicated DOs. I like traveling somewhere to actually experience the culture and immerse myself. That's just my two cents. When many of them started to adopt agenda-heavy plans, I bowed out as it isn't how I like to travel. As you and I have discussed on a few occasions (and you've experienced from me), I do like to drop in to drinks or dinner somewhere from time-to-time, but I'm just not attracted to events where everything is planned for me as its just not my style. I do still skim for dinner events and such and have dropped in on a couple when timing has lined up, but it's been a long time since I've seen an event that also coincides with a weekend I'm free and thought "yeah, I totally want to do that". (sidebar... EZE is wonderful but always OUT for me as it's a weekend that my volunteer duties require I be elsewhere... SIN is the same - those are two long-standing FT community events that I love and am sad I can no longer attend!)