February 2018 BCATW Buzz

President’s Message

I am thrilled to finally announce our 2018 symposium! Now we can begin the work of organizing and promoting this annual event. Please see the information below for details of the event and volunteer opportunities.

We also need to recruit board members. Regretfully, Taylore Daniel has stepped down from her position as Secretary, due to unforeseen circumstances. So we need a new Secretary to keep our board meeting minutes in order.

The position of Member-At-Large also needs to be filled. This is an easy job where you are required to offer feedback at board meetings, which are increasingly held online.

The Travel Industry Member position is also still open so we hope one of our sponsors will consider joining.

Finally, we still need a Co-Communication Director to help Mari Kane promote the association. For this job, your only pre-requisite is to know how to write and use a computer. You will definitely gain technical skills relating to WordPress, Mailchimp, Picatic, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and many more platforms.

So please consider giving a few hours per month to helping your association. You will, in fact, be helping yourself.

You many contact BCATW about any of these positions at info@nullbcatw.org.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to renew your membership!

Thanks and I’ll see you at our next event.

– Baila Lazarus, President

Symposium News

Announcing our 2018 BCATW Symposium!

Date: June 9, so mark your calendars!

Venue: Firefighters Banquet Hall in Burnaby. (Due to the excellent feedback we received last year.)

Theme: “Adventure Travel.”

Keynote Speaker(s): Jim Gordon and Darren Parkman, from The Travel Guys TV series, will be sharing the afternoon with us and talking about their adventures around the globe.

We expect to host two Panels: one with Writers and one with Editors.

As before, the Editor Pitch Sessions will follow the Editors Panel.

Furthermore, based on the popularity of last year’s symposium, we are adding two rounds of Breakout Sessions featuring educational and thematic topics.

Some Contests will start running two months prior to the event and will include Instagram, Twitter, and Photo Contests.

We have lots of work to do and of course, volunteers are needed. Would you like to be involved? Do you have any abilities you want to share that would contribute to the success of this event? Let us know. We have positions to fill, and one of them could be just the right one for you.

As in past years, the BCATW Board does most of the heavy lifting, but we also need help. There are many positions to fill for the pre-symposium and for the day of the symposium. Some key volunteers will receive free admission to the symposium.

Here’s what we need:

Sponsorship/Prize Liaison
Photo Contest Liaison
Social Media Contest Liaison
Speaker/Pitch Session Timekeeper

Also, if you would like to present a breakout session, please send your proposal to info@nullbcatw.org. Breakout presenters also receive free admission.

We will soon open registration. Stay tuned and get ready to be adventurous!

– Fabiano Piraino, Symposium Organizer

Website News

We have recently changed this BCATW website to better highlight our members and their accomplishments.

Now, editors can see your smiling faces on the front page and below that image they are able to find travel writers via a dropdown menu labeled, Niche. Try it!

Currently, Food and Drinks is the only niche that produces results, which is why we’re asking members to work on their profile pages.

The Niche menu is sorted by the Categories on your page. Please login (via the handy tool on the front page) and choose the category niche that applies to you. Choose no more than three niches, please.

Also, please freshen your page by adding updated photos, videos, and links. Ask yourself, if an editor looked at my page does the content match the niche? Can they access my published stories? Does my Contact email link even work?

If you need help using WordPress, please watch this tutorial.

As part of the promotion of our symposium, BCATW will be promoting this section of the site to magazine and newspaper editors.

So please, for the benefit of the association, tend to your own page in case these visitors show up. We want to present as professional a face as possible.

– Mari Kane, Communications Director

Media Member News

Queen Elizabeth II read Lenora A. Hayman’s article “The Royal Collection comes to Vancouver Art Gallery,” in the December issue of Today’s Senior Newsmagazine and was moved to reply via her Lady-in-Waiting, Elizabeth Leeming, on January 10th.

Dear Miss Hayman,

The Queen wishes me to thank you very much for the message you have sent for Christmas and the New Year, and for your article about the exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, “Portrait of the Artist: An Exhibition from the Royal Collection”, which you have thoughtfully enclosed.

Following another year of special celebrations for Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh, and their family, I am to thank you for your thoughtfulness in writing as you did and I hope you, too, had a happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.

Yours sincerely,
Elizabeth Leeming.
Lady-in-Waiting.

Rick Neal has had an article published in Travel Thru History on the vibrant Argentine city of Cordoba. Located in the beautiful central Sierras, Argentina’s second largest city boasts stunning colonial architecture and a dynamic cultural scene though though it is somewhat off the radar screen for many tourists.

Industry Member News

Join us for the Salt Spring Indoor Market on Saturday, February 17th, 9 to 3pm at Farmers Institute on 351 Rainbow Road. The festival includes Saturday & Tuesday Market Vendors and Salt Spring Island businesses. Free Admission and entertainment. There will be lots of food vendors, a wellness area, and great “made on Salt Spring” treasurers for you to enjoy! A wonderful family event to attend – see you there! Visit www.saltspringtourism.com or call Janet Coulson at the Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce at 250.537.4223.

Cedar Creek’s annual Valentine’s Day event is just a few days away! On Saturday, February 10, 11am-4pm bring your sweetheart and enjoy complimentary wine tastings perfectly paired with curated chocolate treats* from Kara Chocolate at each Lakeshore Wine Route winery, Tantalus, Summerhill, St. Hubertus and CedarCreek.

Bestway Tours & Safaris is excited to announce a series of educational travel talks focused on some of their most fascinating destinations. Join noted travel photographer and BCATW member Peter Langer as he offers travel highlights, stories and advice. Complimentary tickets are available at www.bestway.com.

Discover Pakistan: Experience a millenary heritage & the stunning Himalayas
Thursday, Feb. 08 at 7:00 pm
UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson Street
Explore Hunza Valley, the real-life “Shangri-La”

TRAVEL TALK: Treasures of Indochina
Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 pm
Peter Kaye Room, Vancouver Public Library
Experience Siem Reap (Cambodia), Vietnam & Shanghai (China)

TRAVEL TALK: India as a Maharaja
Thursday, Mar. 01 at 7:00 pm
Alma VanDusen Room, Vancouver Public Library
Learn India’s must-see sites for first-time visitors

Free tickets at www.bestway.com or register through our new Meetup group – Bestway Cultural Travellers (https://www.meetup.com/Bestway-Cultural-Travellers-Meetup/).

BCTW Meetups

Trip Night with BCATW Members

It’s time once again for Trip Night!

Trip Night features BCATW members giving 10-minute multi-media presentations about their favorite or most recent trip.

Come and hear about fabulous travel destinations and get tips about covering them journalistically.

Signups are being accepted. There are three spaces left. Contact info@nullbcatw.org to volunteer.

Presentors (so far)

Mari Kane – Amtrak’s Coast Starlight
John Geary – Paddling the Yukon River to Dawson City
Avrum Miller – Southern Africa
(Your name here)

We’re asking for members who DID NOT speak at last year’s Trip Night to volunteer.

Please note our new location, Milestones, on Cambie near Broadway.

RSVP now for Trip Night!