#MDT324 from @User47

MDT hosted our second annual fly in tweet-up, #MDT324 and over the course of the next week or two will be sharing the blog posts from the attendees.   Attendee JLJ was a first time attendee.  JLJ astutely self-describes as a Biz Analyst. INTJ. Pescatarian. Info sponge, #avgeek. I love: @JLJ_2, NPR, documentaries, #planespotting, travel, wildlife, sci, tech, #photog and root beer.

JLJ shares, today, about his experience at #MDT324:

My friends tell me I’m a nut. You see, at least twice a year I take a three to four-day weekend for the sole purpose of planespotting, trying out a new airline, adding lines to my flightmemory, flying just to fly, or in most cases, some amazing combination of these. It turns out there are lots of folks out there like me, avgeeks, propheads, milerunners, aerophiles, really, it’s all the same. We are folks who love everything about aviation. Planes, airports, runways, airlines—We love ‘em all.

My most recent aviation-themed weekend involved a multi-legged trip to and from Harrisburg International Airport for a small tweet-up, that is, a meet up of tweeters/twitter-ers hosted by the airport. The second annual MDT tweet-up, affectionately dubbed #MDT324 as a throw-back to the first event’s date, involved a tour of the airport’s secured and non-secured facilities to include the administrative offices, baggage handling operations, common areas, and my personal favorite, the tarmac apron where commercial, private and military traffic could be seen just yards away.

The tour ended with awards of swag-bags, containing an assortment of goodies and an incredibly complex (designed for ages 6-12) LEGO aviation set. We spent a good 45 minutes or so racing to build our airplanes, but we all basically ended up with duds. I’m sad to report that my blatant disregard for the instructions coupled with my terrible design skills “won” me the least defined, least likely to fly hodge-podge of plane parts. All I really needed to complete my hybrid plane to nowhere was some speed tape, the aviation industry’s answer to duct tape.

My visit to MDT was delightful and exceeded expectations. It's clear that the airport leadership wants to build a facility with passenger experience and comfort in mind. As a matter of fact, I can honestly say that all but one of the people I met who were employed directly or indirectly by the airport, its vendors or airlines were genuinely happy, an odd and terribly uncommon phenomenon. The exception? A single TSA agent, there's always one, isn't there? I don't see this as a negative, though. Because of all the TSA staff I encountered, all but this one were, like the others, genuinely happy.

As a Business Analyst by trade, I'm always considering how organizations can build upon what works and address what doesn't. Comparing the strategy and operations of one company to its industry-peers, and finding pros and cons is what I do for a living. And, while I'm not in any way involved in the aviation business, I cannot seem take off my continuous improvement hat while traveling or on holiday.  Strolling through the airport terminal prior to our meet-up I was able to check everything off of my list of need-to-haves and nice-to-haves for the perfect airport, this was a fist for me. I won't share my list, because the contents aren't important. What I will share is that I generally add one or two things to my list when I visit a new airport, with this visit not only did I check everything off, I added three.

We concluded the evening with dinner at a restaurant just off of the Lancaster Airport’s tarmac. I could write an entire blog just on that experience, but suffice it to say, it was an excellent way to end a busy and exciting day. Planespotting at sunset over great food and excellent conversation, it doesn’t get much better than that.

#MDT324 is an event designed to cater to the most extreme and dedicated aviation enthusiasts, or "avgeeks."   We look forward to meeting some newbies and seeing the old crew at next year's event!

The Power of Curiosity

MDT hosted our second annual fly in tweet-up, #MDT324 and over the course of the next week or two will be sharing the blog posts from the attendees.   Attendee Mike Morgan visited us for the event for a 2nd year in a row.  A little about Mike: He loves to fly.  He became a passionate #avgeek when he lived in Orlando and watched planes for hours at ORL.  He self-describes as being obsessed with Boeing, Marriott, United, and Taco Bueno. He is working towards a private pilot certificate and mostly flies in a C172.  He hopes one day to own his own airline, and proudly fly an all Boeing fleet.

Mike shares, today, about his experience at #MDT324:

Friday, April 20th started just like any other normal Friday for me.  Wake up early. Take a shower.  Fumble out of my Marriott hotel room.  Find my rental car.  Drive to some airport.  TSA.  Board.  Fly.  

But, my destination would not be home on this Friday.  After a two hour layover at EWR (Newark, NJ), I hopped on a Bombardier Q200 and flew at 8,000 feet to MDT.  It was time for the second annual #MDT324 tweetup! 

At 3:24pm we all met up to spend some serious time in #avgeekery.  @airport_girl, Stephanie Gehman, Harrisburg's Marketing Manager, treated us to a behind the scenes look at the airport.  Stephanie had lego airplanes for us to build (needless to say, Boeing won't be hiring us as engineers any time soon).  We also took an airport quiz (Did you know that there are 4,200 window panes in the airport?  Also, the apron takes up 45.1 acres.). Then we headed to dinner.  Among us were @airport_girl, @BruceBere, @user47, @GehmanAndCo, and myself.  I have met each of these great people at other airports around the country.  

Here's what made this year's #MDT324 so amazing.  We had a real conversation about the good that plane spotting offers.  @user47 is an avid plane spotter, and he works hard educate others that plane spotting isn't doing any harm.  We ate dinner at a restaurant that sat next to the ramp at another airport.  While we were talking a little girl ran up to the fence to take a picture of a plane passing by.  @user47 said, "That's why plane spotting is good."  And he was right.  Plane spotting encourages people to learn about engineering, physics, and it's even pushed me to learn more about business!  

How many of you first watched a plane fly over head and thought, "I wonder how that giant hunk of metal stays in the air?"  Maybe you watch planes at a hub and ponder what it takes to manage all of that.  Plane spotting encourages curiosity.  It causes people to learn and grow.  The airline industry is treated like a bus service for potential terrorists, but should be regarded as an industry that makes the impossible possible.   

Plane spotting builds community.  Look at the folks who spot together with NYC Aviation, and other like groups.  MDT offers an observation deck at the airport, and with visitors like Air Force Two it's well worth the trip (so book a round trip to MDT, you need the miles anyway!).  My hope is that other airports will catch on and start to encourage the love of aviation, and stop trying to ban those of us who are passionate about it.  

This was my second year to #MDT324, and once again I am very thankful for the opportunity to join my #avgeek friends.  I am already planning next year's trip!  I would really like to thank Stephanie and the Harrisburg International Airport for their hospitable spirit towards #avgeeks. 
But, hey, I'm just some guy who likes to look at airplanes, so what do I know?

We look forward to having another crew of #avgeeks fly in for next year's #MDT324!  Hope to see you there, Mike.


The thoughts shared in this post are those of the author and don't represent the viewpoints of Harrisburg International Airport.

#MDT324 - @BruceBere

Bruce Bere

MDT hosted our second annual fly in tweet-up, #MDT324 and over the course of the next week or two will be sharing the blog posts from the attendees.  Today's post is from Bruce Bere, a self-described 'airline, aviation and travel enthusiast' from the Midwest.  This was Bruce's first time joining us for fly-in tweet-up.

I love aviation—quite a bit. When I got an email and an invitation to the tweet-up, #MDT324, I jumped at the chance to go. Flying in from all different areas of the country, a group of people met at HarrisburgInternational Airport (MDT) and started what was the second consecutive tweet-up for this group.

Our lovely host, Stephanie Gehman (@airport_girl), who showed us around the airport including a behind the scenes look at the baggage operation and the tarmac, met us. Working for United Airlines at ORD, it was quite an experience to see a completely different airport. I am used to a baggage room with over 100 belts for different flights--MDT has only three. Overall, it was a great experience getting to compare a larger and smaller airport. The neat thing about MDT was the fact that so much goes on there that I certainly would never have guessed before touring the facility. Between the commercial aviation, military presence, and the FBO on site, it is always a full day.

Going into the tweet-up, I was a bit uneasy. I am shy by nature but by the end of the night, I felt great connecting with such a great group of people. Here’s to #MDT324 2013! 

We look forward to having another crew of #avgeeks fly in for next year's #MDT324!  Hope to see you there, Bruce.

Confessions of an Outsider: #MDT324

Over the past few months, those of you following the MDT's Twitter stream may have seen the hashtag #MDT324 in use. What appears to be a nonsensical collection of letters and numbers actually represented an event planned to bring several of our more active twitter followers to MDT for an opportunity to meet one another in person. In total 5 "tweeps" flew or drove in from across the country for an evening "tweetup" with the airport tweeter. Each tweep has graciously agreed to share their experience in a wrap up blog series.

Laura Morgan's post is the second of the wrap up series on #MDT324.  Maybe we'll be seeing you at the 2012 event!

By day I’m a copyeditor, living in the world of books. By night, well, if you know me on Twitter, you know I’m a wife (@heyhusband). And if you know my husband, @Mike_J_Morgan, you know he likes planes. A lot. As we drive down I-35, our conversation frequently comes to an abrupt Mike-just-saw-an-airplane stop. And then, quick! Opentheglovebox! He’s got to get out his ATC receiver to listen to the pilots of aforementioned celestial metal beast.


It’s obvious why Mike went to #MDT324, but why me? I can’t tell you the difference between a 737 and a 747, nor do I really care as long, as they get me where I’m going as quickly as possible. I guess I went to the Tweetup because I wanted to meet these other humans who have weird obsessions with aviation.

I could tell you about the airport, and I would have good things to say (it’s got a great atmosphere and awesome rocking chairs), but I’m no expert on the technical side. There was a runway, some gates, and a nifty massage nook. It was an airport; it was what I expected.

Sort of.

Harrisburg International has a pulse, a heart. As Stephanie, a vital member of a team that gives MDT this life, guided us through the bowels and out on to the extremities, we encountered other people who were excited about their work and were glad to see that we were touring their domain. We immediately could tell that everyone who works at MDT is dedicated because even the places the majority of patrons never see were immaculate.

And then there were the Tweeps. Those humans with weird obsessions. Those people with passion. My new friends who also happen to like airplanes and MDT. I still don’t understand why they like planes so much, but I know exactly why they like flying in and out of MDT. I also know they’re people just like me who are dedicated to planes and terminals in much the same way I’m dedicated to hardbacks and libraries. We had a wonderful evening getting to know one another, and I’m heartily looking forward to our next Tweetup.

How MDT Brings People Together - #MDT324

Over the past few months, those of you following the MDT's Twitter stream may have seen the hashtag #MDT324 in use.  What appears to be a nonsensical collection of letters and numbers actually represented an event planned to bring several of our more active twitter followers to MDT for an opportunity to meet one another in person.  In total 5 "tweeps" flew or drove in from across the country for an evening "tweetup" with the airport tweeter.  Each tweep has graciously agreed to share their experience in a wrap up blog series. 

Mike Morgan is our first wrap up post today. Enjoy and maybe we'll see you at #MDT324 2012!

When you travel to an airport, you don't think, "Yes, I'll be back here next year, at this exact time." But if you were one of the lucky few who attended #MDT324 at Harrisburg International Airport, that was your thought.

On March 24th, 2011, Myself, @heyhusband (my wife Laura), @juliewillfly, @chris_stoltz, and @travlinsalesgal (Amanda) were hosted by Stephanie Gehman, Marketing Manager at Harrisburg International Airport, and her husband, Hans, for an evening of airports, airplanes, good food, and great friends.

We journeyed from all across the country. Laura and I traveled from Oklahoma City. Julie rode the Greyhound bus from Sacramento. Chris flew from Fort Lauderdale, and Amanda flew in from Omaha. We all had one thing in common, we love travel. We met at the airport at 5 o'clock to begin our exciting evening.

Checking out the baggage system.

Stephanie took us on a tour of the airport. It started with a look at the baggage system. Having seen the system before, it was neat to watch others see it for the first time. If you haven't read my review of MDT (view it at http://bit.ly/HIAReview), you may not know about the baggage system. The system was designed to take a lot of hand work out of baggage handling. As a bag travels down conveyors, it is scanned and shipped to the correct airline. It's an amazing system, and was the first of its kind. You'll now find these systems in airports all around the world.


@JulieWillFly on the MDT ramp

After that Stephanie guided us to ramp where we got to watch a few arrivals and departures. It was a unique experience for many. Amanda and Julie were both very excited to just be wondering around on the ramp. I realize that for some people, like my wife, being on the ramp is boring, but for true #avgeeks, the ramp is a place of magic. I mean, where else can you just walk right up to a 747? Please note that there were no 747's on the ramp at MDT, but any ramp is still magical.

To finish up, Stephanie showed us the terminal, and then it was off to eat!

The magic of any tweetup really happens when everyone is sitting around a dinner table. Our conversation started with banter about which airline was best, or why Boeing really is better than Airbus (please note, this is the author's opinion, not MDT's). But it didn't take long before we all began to chat about our histories, and our lives. We found that we have a lot more in common that just being #avgeek's. This is the kind of connection that can't be found on Twitter or Facebook. This is real life.

As the evening ended, we parted ways. Julie headed on to the Sun-N-Fun fly-in. Laura and I headed to Erie. Amanda went to visit a friend. Chris went stayed in Harrisburg to spend some time with his family. And Stephanie and Hans headed home.



Look a plane!

 The relationships I had online became real. And it's only because Harrisburg International Airport could bring us together. I want to thank Stephanie and the entire airport for allowing us to come visit. And I want you all to know that Julie, Chris, Amanda, Stephanie, and Hans are amazing people to know. And, of course, a special thanks to my wife for joining us. She is a special person for putting up with my love for airplanes.


We hope to have #MDT324 become a yearly event, and I want to invite you to join us next year! This is a great opportunity to meet people from around the country who love the aviation industry as much as you!