AFF Gathering #17 in BNE on 18 - 20 October 2024

We're pleased to announce that the 2024 AFF annual gathering will be held in Brisbane, the sunny capital of Queensland!

The weekend of Friday 18 - Sunday 20 October 2024 has been chosen for the event. As per past years, there will be a welcome dinner on the Friday evening, optional activities on Saturday and a main dinner on Saturday evening. There may also be an optional activity on Sunday in the late morning.

All AFF members (and +1's, etc.) are welcome to attend. Most people usually fly in on Friday afternoon and leave on the Sunday afternoon/evening.

Your lead organisers for this year's event are @NM and @QF WP. Other Brisbane-based members are also welcome to volunteer to assist.

We'll update this thread over the coming months with more information about the planned activities, dinner venues and costs, which we expect to be similar to past gatherings. There will be a $5 registration fee per participant, plus the cost of any activities and/or meals that you choose to join.

For now, please feel free to let us know in this thread if you think you'll be able to make it! For those unfamiliar with the AFF terminology:

• "Platinum" means you're planning to attend and have booked flights/accommodation
• "Gold" means you're likely to attend but will need to confirm at a later time
• "Silver" means you're unlikely to attend at this stage.
• "Bronze" means you're unable to attend.

The AFF Leadership Team can provide support in terms of money collection and distribution, and editing this thread as needed. If something needs to be updated, please simply report the post with the update so anyone on the team can action it (starting a conversation only alerts one person).

We're looking forward to seeing you all in Brissie!

 

[NM]

Well, its less than three weeks to go now! I am getting excited and hope you are too.

We finally have the Friday and Saturday dinner details included in Post #2. We now have 33 for Friday drinks/dinner and 35 for Saturday dinner. The fluid numbers was one of the cost per person is directly influenced by the number of attendees (for Saturday night). Big thank you to the folks making the dinner venue arrangements.

We are still looking to finalise the costs for Experience B, which is dependent on the number of people going. There are plenty of spot free at this stage, but we need to lock it in soon and arrange for a smaller bus if numbers are lower than originally expected. So if you have been holding off registering for any of the events, now is the time to commit and send me a conversation message with your attendance plans (Friday drinks/dinner, Saturday Experience, Saturday Dinner).

Those who have registered for events will receive a personalised cost summary shortly, with instruction for payment. Please review for accuracy and follow the instructions to confirm you places.

Note there will be a once-off $5 registration fee per person included to cover some of the administrative overheads, name badges, give-aways etc.

Sorry, we do not have the facilities to accept payments from Amex, Visa or Mastercard. Payment will be by direct deposit into an AFF Gatherings bank account (details provided with your cost summary statement).

 

[bPeteb]

Chu the Phat is excellent!

 

[Mr_Orange]

Platinum for Friday dinner/drinks.

 

[patrickw]

Also platinum for Friday Dinner! Looking forward to it. DM'd as well.

 

[Mattg]

I'll be at both dinners and will join Experience B on Saturday. Looking forward to it

 

[MJW Kangaroo]

Will attend the Saturday Dinner with my partner.

 

[admin]

Platinum for Friday and Saturday dinner. Incredible job organising the event, looking forward to it!

 

[Deno]

Hi All. I have slipped back to bronze. I have unfortunately been scheduled for minor surgery on the 17th October, and I am not sure I will be fit enough to attend any of the functions.

I appreciate all the effort of the organizers and hope I can attend a function in the future.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I have unfortunately been scheduled for minor surgery on the 17th October, and I am not sure I will be fit enough to attend any of the functions.

Sorry to hear that - we all wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[boxo]

BRONZE

It pains me on multiple levels to be dropping out of this DO. I so looked forward to winning 'the furthest traveled' for a consecutive year. The 2.5 week trip down to the other hemisphere, dictated by the Alaska / Fiji (pre-devaluation) award availability, is just too daunting after a rough few months of health challenges.

I do still have NZ$500+ credits to use by January 2026, so I'll aim to make it down in fall or spring next year.

 

[RooFlyer]

That's such a pity @boxo . 2025!

 

[NM]

A quick update.

Now that we are getting numbers finalised, Expect your personalised cost messages to start coming through. Hopefully starting today. With some recent additional confirmations for Saturday night dinner, the cost of that event will be slightly reduced per person.

There are two spots available on Experience A (sorry Flight Simulator slots are all filled). Send me a conversation message if you want to join.

Still plenty of room on Experience B for anyone wanting to join us - we can take up to 40 people for Experience B.

 

[Deno]

Sorry to hear that - we all wish you a speedy recovery.

Thank you.

 

[jumpjam]

I'll be flying up Thursday, return flight VA1224 on Sunday.

 

[NM]

Personalised AFF Gathering Attendance Cost Summaries have been sent to all members who have identified the events they are planning to attend.

If you have not received your cost summary via an AFF conversation from me on Friday afternoon/evening, and you are planning to attend, please let me know (via Conversation or posting in this thread) which events you would like to attend and I will send you a cost summary and payment details.

Thanks to those who have already sent through payment. Your prompt payment is appreciated. I will acknowledge your payment receipt when it shows as received in the account.

Please be certain to use your AFF user name as the Description in the bank transfer process.

All payments are required by Thursday 10th October as we have to pre-pay many of the costs and lock in numbers for the various venues on Friday 11th.

 

[Hvr]

Made my payment this evening but my bank being the suspicious kind said it may take 24 hours to actually process.

 

[Sprucegoose]

my bank being the suspicious kind said it may take 24 hours to actually process.

HVR, I think your bank is quite prudent.

Anyone going by the handles QF WP and NM, law enforcement, and AML cops have every right to be suspicious of organisers of any event that makes 'Weekend at Bernie's' look like A-lister heaven. Given the cross-section we get these days, I suspect the profiling teams will suffer a meltdown, and I predict they will lose our tail when we scatter for our 'experiences'.

Of course, the upside will be the talent scouts from LAX (they've taken five rooms at the Sebel, according to my intel) casting for 'Oceans 49 AFF', so be sure to wear that new floral embroidered shirt!

 

[Scash]

Will make payment today. Thank you @NM and @QF WP for all the hard work in organising this. Really looking forward to the weekend.

 

[Bindibuys]

Of course, the upside will be the talent scouts from LAX (they've taken five rooms at the Sebel, according to my intel) casting for 'Oceans 49 AFF', so be sure to wear that new floral embroidered shirt!

My husbands (Congewai) jackets will catch their eye.

 

[tdimdad]

My husbands (Congewai) jackets will catch their eye.

Excellent! Allows us others to fly under the radar, so to speak.