Only two people I know can make it snow on command – Mother Nature and Molly Blaisdell. November’s BATW meeting was a colorful kickoff to the holiday season, complete with snow in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco. (See Georgia Hesse’s article for the full story.) But while...

Audrey Medina joins us from Placerville (heck-of-a commute!) and Eren Goknar, from Sunnyvale. We look forward to meeting both new members at our upcoming events.

BATW January Meeting January 21, 2012  – 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Spinnaker Restaurant, Sausalito Thanks go to Lee Daley, who has planned the January 21 meeting at one of Sausalito’s most notable restaurants. We plan to meet and greet at 11 a.m., followed by the general meeting and a presentation by...

It’s that time of year again. By now, all members should have gotten their renewal notices for 2012–deadline is December 15 (log in to the Members Only section of www.batw.org and click on the drop-down menu of Member Services). Don’t forget: If you want an updated listing in the print...

Our judges are hard at work, and the research for the publisher is underway. We’ll keep you posted as we go along! Be sure to mark your calendars for the book release party, March 17, 2012… That’s also a special day for one of our Board members, so there’ll be a bonus celebration!

David Perry, of David Perry & Associates, Inc., is offering complimentary press passes to BATW members to attend the Global Winter Wonderland, which is currently making its U.S. premiere at California’s Great America Parking Lot in Santa Clara. The traditional Chinese Lantern Festival is inspiration...

April Orcutt has won a prestigious Lowell Thomas Gold award in the 2011 Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition. Her essay “Loneliness the Same in Any Language” (online title “Drawing Out a Shy French Girl with Paper Dolls”) won first...

Fred Gebhart has signed on as Business Travel Editor for the newest travel trade pub on the block, Travel Market Report. He’s interested in all things business travel, but no consumer products, no destinations, and no meeting or incentive products unless it’s something a corporate travel manager...

Susan Alcorn says she’s delighted to hold a copy of the newly published Pacific Crest Trailside Reader in her hands, and to see her nonfiction story, “When Deer Go Bad,” in the company of stories by Wallace Stegner, John Muir and Gary Snyder. The book was published by Mountaineers Books. Its two...

Ginger Dingus recently published a “Five Places” piece in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Five Places Where American Indian Legends and Lore Abound.” She has an article on world cruises in the current issue of AAA Traveler, and her piece on river cruising appeared in the September issue. (Tapping...