April 2018 BCATW Buzz

President’s Message

Hello everyone! Happy Easter, Happy Passover and Happy Nowruz!

It’s probably a fitting time of year for this month’s president’s message as we think about life, freedom and new beginnings. My mission today is to build some renewed interest in our small but mighty band of travel specialists. We have been struggling for a while now trying to fill the relevant spaces on our board and, coming up at our next AGM, we will have even more vacancies. We have people who still haven’t renewed their membership even though we’re going into month 4 of the year. This calls for a bit of investigation. I think it’s time for a membership survey. We’ve done these regularly in the past but not for a while, so it’s long overdue. 

As we’re knee deep in planning the symposium (please connect with Fabiano below if you can offer even a few hours of help on the event), we’ll run the survey in June, after that dust has settled. In the meantime, as the survey will only be open to members, be sure to get your fees up to date asap so you’re not removed from our membership list. This will be the last Buzz sent to lapsed members.

Finally, as a reminder, we still need the following members on our board: Member at Large, Industry Member and Communications Support. Contact baila@nullshaw.ca if you can help.

– Baila Lazarus, BCATW President

Symposium Update

Registration for the 2018 BCATW Symposium has begun. Early-bird rates will be available until May 12th. May sure to get your ticket soon! Click here to save.

Our Committee is working hard on final adjustments and confirmations. Our breakout education sessions are almost fully confirmed and we will be announcing them soon. Some prizes have also been confirmed. Check our who is collaborating with the Symposium this year so far:

– Forbidden Vancouver
– Museum of Anthropology at UBC
– The Bard on the Beach
– BC Ferries
– Boys’Co Stores

And a lot more is on the way. Stay tuned.

We are still looking for volunteers for a few positions. If you are interested and have some time to share with us, please let us know by email: symposium@nullbcatw.org

Thanks and see you at the symposium!

– Fabiano Piraino, Symposium Chair

New Member Spotlight

BCATW welcomes new member Josh Rimer to our organization

Media Member News

Ruth Kozak’s story about Mohawk princess Pauline Johnson and her connection to Vancouver was published in the March Travel Thru History. The May issue will include a feature article by BCATW member John Geary about kayaking in the Yukon. Travel Thru History is accepting stories about Culture, Art & Literary Trips and others with historical content.

Brian Smith and Dave Smith (no relation) collaborated on a story to the BC Ale Trail, an initiative sponsored by Hello BC in partnership with Destination Marketing Offices around BC. The Sooke Beer Run: One Trip, Three Experiences”: was written by Dave with photos by Brian. It’s about the emergence of three breweries in small Sooke in Southwestern Vancouver Island, driving beer tourism to their town.

Brian has a good story about Thailand here, too.

Barb Rees has found the perfect combination of travel, photography, and writing that enables her to continue doing what she enjoys in her senior years. Last year she and her husband took a 4-month road trip from Powell River starting with presenting at the RV Owner’s Lifestyles Seminars in Kelowna in June. That summer took them to northern BC, up to Whitehorse, to a Tlingit festival in Teslin, Yukon and to Haida Gwaii. The culture and scenery were spectacular. This gave Barb fodder for her #6 book in the RV Canada series. “RV Canada A Year of Anniversaries” which will be launched mid-June. Her travels led to the article “Haida Gwaii, Land of Mystery and History” in Suncruiser and RV Traveler magazine. She will be presenting her travel shows at the Vancouver Island RV Show in Nanoose April 13-15.

Industry Member News

BCTW Meetups