John Montgomery and I just spent one month exploring the nooks and crannies of Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon in order to learn more about this important region and its peoples. More is coming up when we do some presentations/slide shows about our experiences for BATW on August 21 and the Foreign Travel Club on August 26 (a colleague from Jordan who has her own educational tourism business there will be flying in from Amman to join us in our presentations). However, in summary: this region, the crossroads of our history both ancient and current, is welcoming, safe, fascinating, and well set up for tourism and travelers.

Diane LeBow dances in a cafe in Baalbek, Lebanon (photo © John Montgomery)

Successful panel and upcoming meetings:

Thanks to Erin van Rheenen for coordinating the June program on “The Ethics & Etiquette of Travel Writing.”  BATW members Edward Hasbrouck, David Page, and Tom Wilmer and Associate Member Catherine Boire were the panelists for an informative and thought-provoking presentation.  See Suzie Rodriguez and April Orcutt’s full report on this excellent event in the “Tips & Resources” section of this ezine.  Also in “Tips & Resources“: practical information regarding “Copyright Infringement” from Laure Latham, Edward Hasbrouck, Suzie Rodriguez and Dick Jordan.

We appreciate new BATW member Eliza Southard taking over the role as Greeter at this event. I was pleased to meet new member photographer Bill Scull at the meeting.

Our endlessly amazing Program Chair Sandy Sims continues to pull superb programs out of her hat with a terrific line up for us for the remainder of this year. In July, we meet at the newly revamped Aquarium at Pier 39 and learn the just-off-the-press updates about San Francisco events and developments. Thanks to Carole Terwilliger Meyers for coordinating this event. In August,  John Montgomery and I will tell tales, share adventures, information, and photography from our travels in the Middle East: Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The September program will be about putting the pizazz into your travel writing, with Judy Wylie (coordinator), Georgia Hesse, and Bill Fink. And, of course, there’s the December 11 holiday party on the Jeremiah O’Brien that Monica Conrady is coordinating.

Sandy points out that our members’ work is increasingly incorporating 21st century publishing techniques. For example, Lee Foster, as always, leads the way, with his iPhone applications ,and Lee Nelson has his successful website inetours.com. Many of our members are segueing their publications on to internet venues. BATW’s own website and excellent ezine edited by April Orcutt increasingly attracts a wide reading public and serves as a center for our own community.

Georgia Hesse, internationally recognized travel writer, founder of the San Francisco Examiner travel section and member of the BATW Editorial Board, recently gave BATW some high praise: “BATW offers so much to its members with its top quality monthly programs. I have gained information at our events that I can’t find anywhere else.” Coming from Georgia, who is a member of and speaker at key travel-writer organizations and events around the country, these words are a great honor to all of us in BATW. Thanks, Georgia, for your continuing support, ideas, and participation in our lively organization.

A sampling of our members’activities:

Susan Alcorn writes from Puente la Reina, Spain, on the 12th day of their recent hike near the Camino de Santiago route: “Coming out of France and over the Pyrenees was beautiful as has been the gradual descent through the foothills…The wildflowers have been incredible–especially the brilliant red poppies… We have been having a great time…We have now finished our Arles route–Somport Pass–Aragon route, 138 miles, some of it through rather deep mud, but we will probably walk on another four days, then get ourselves over to Bilbao for a day of two and fly out of there.”

Tom Wilmer is ecstatic that his new Livermore wine country book is at the printers and is already receiving top critical acclaim. BATW members Sandy Sims contributed to the content and John Montgomery the cover and other photos.

Morton Beebe, with a National Science Foundation Artists Grant, is planning another trip to Antarctica in November, leading an expedition to carry the Explorer Club Flag to the South Pole. Mort asks if we’d like to send a BATW flag south with him.

Laurie McAndish King and I were invited to teach travel writing seminars at the 26th Annual Central Coast Writers’ Conference on September 17-18, 2010.

I had fun at my Left Bank reading in Paris on June 1 from my award winning story about my experiences in Afghanistan.

We wish Marc Longwood a speedy recovery from his recent ankle injury and hospital stay.

Katherine Bruce recently returned from a year living and teaching in Japan.

News from the BATW Board of Directors:

The Board, along with website/ezine people and other active leaders, is planning its annual one day retreat in July. Among our topics will be fine-tuning a full schedule of on-going month-by-month tasks that must be done throughout the year, with listings of responsible parties. This will be useful for future and on-going leadership and coordinators. Our Policies and Procedures Handbook, created a few years ago by Suzie Rodriguez, and Members’ Handbook, created by Janet Wilson, both need updating. We welcome volunteers for these projects. These documents are available in the Members’ Only section of our website.

Our Annual Financial Report is distributed to all members at our Annual Meeting in January. Regular updates are presented throughout the year to the Board of Directors and available by request to Treasurer Susan Alcorn, as is the final financial report from the BATW Awards contest. Susan is seeking a person or persons to work with her in order to prepare for taking over as Treasurer in 2011 and to assist with our upcoming annual renewals procedures. Please contact her to volunteer.

Questions at any time regarding any aspect of BATW should be addressed directly to the Officer or Chairperson responsible, including Membership Tom Wilmer, Programs Sandy Sims, Treasurer Susan Alcorn, Website/Ezine/Newsletter April Orcutt, Webmaster Lee Nelson, Secretary Robert Kaufman or general questions to me, President Diane LeBow.

This organization maintains full transparency in all activities and urges your active participation and volunteerism.

Our ongoing success depends on working together as a community and all sharing responsibility for this terrific organization.

– Diane LeBow
BATW President

See you all in June.

Update:

Jetlagged in Jordan but typing to Arab wedding music:

This will be a speedy note just to say we are happily ensconced at the start of our month long Middle Eastern adventure. Twice postponed departure flights from SFO, finally we left SFO a couple of days ago, arriving in Amman at 2 am (19 hour transit).

Tonight we were the guests of honor at a hosted dinner with numerous Jordanians and ex-pats of various backgrounds who live near St. Georges Zomot Winery, prize winners in the international marketplace for their Shiraz and others. Fifteen years ago the owner decided that Jordan needed quality wine production and imported stock and so on.

Then after dinner we were swept into the midst of a dancing procession of a new bride and groom and gorgeously dressed friends and celebrants.

Interesting to see the various strata of a society from the outside: these were the beautiful elite of Jordan, in many ways their dress and behavior, as one friend who lives here said, reminiscent of the 1950’s in the US: strapless gowns, sports cars, and so on.

At lunch at the next table women in scarves and coverings while their children jumped around in Mickey Mouse tee shirts and tennis shoes.

Gorgeous Lebanese and Jordanian banquet. Too tired to describe right now.

Tomorrow we depart in late a.m. for Syria where we will be touring, researching, interviewing, photographing, meeting lots of new people for 10 days. Then on to Lebanon for similar 10 days, then back to Jordan, and ditto.

All our contacts in each of these countries are so enthusiastic about their country that they insist that we stay longer as each claims their land is “more interesting than the others.”

Certainly I’ve experienced the Middle East enough in the past to know of the people’s warmth, hospitality, generosity, and love of life, friendship, family, and an all round good time, so I’m not surprised to find all this in our first not quite 24 hours here. John was not sure what to expect but has been of course having a great time meeting new friends and clicking away–terrific light and weather, temps in the 60’s-70’s, clear and sunny.

Must catch some rest before the a.m. 10 hour time difference here.

Very happy to be on the road again,

– Diane LeBow
BATW President

Congratulations to so many of our members for their current successes in publications and awards. Check out the Table of Contents in the right-hand column for our many member-news announcements. We are especially proud of BATW member and former VP Laurie McAndish King for her photographic achievement in getting to the top five out of 60,000 contestants for her prize photo, “Hidden Frog,” in the Smithsonian magazine’s seventh annual photo contest. Cast your vote for Laurie on line as the voting is not over yet!

The BATW Board of Directors met on March 20, following our general meeting. Among the topics and decisions we covered: we’re planning a Board Retreat in July to work on the organization’s long term planning; current and annual program planning; a financial report on BATW Awards Contests (all the bills are paid with even a small surplus going to our BATW bank account); and  updates on Board assignments: Robert Kaufman, Secretary, and Emma Krasov, Board Member at large. See drop down box for full listing. Stu Wilson who is coordinating our Bylaws updating and revisions presented his recommendations. This is an enormous job, the Bylaws not having been revised since 1992, and we appreciate Stu’s careful work on the organization’s behalf.

BATW Director Marc Longwood along with our printer Hal Hammond will have the 2010 BATW Directories ready for distribution by the April meeting. The directories will be distributed at the next two general meetings and mailed to Associate members and others who are not able to attend our meetings.

Hurrah, our Treasurer, Susan Alcorn, is safe. I worried that perhaps she had been near the earthquake area as it occurred a couple of days after Susan and her husband flew down to Chile. The are publishers of two award-winning books: Camino Chronicle: Walking to Santiago and We’re in the Mountains Not over the Hill: Tales and Tips from Seasoned Women Backpackers. Susan and Ralph emailed from Torres del Paine, Chile. “We are thrilled to report that we completed the circuit–the notorious John Gardner pass, the 2,000´ descent down the other side clinging to trees the whole way, the ladders down into and out of river´ gorges, the calamity of the tent…. (I have to leave SOME suspense).”

John Montgomery and I will be off exploring Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, preparing material and photography for upcoming articles and lectures, as well as a visit to France where, in addition to visiting old friends, I’ll be participating in a reading at Village Voice on the Left Bank in Paris, from my story, “Tea in Kabul,” which is in the recently released Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010 (Travelers’ Tales).

Please address any urgent BATW matters to Marc Longwood, BATW Board member, or Suzie Rodriguez, Advisory Committee member and former BATW VP and Secretary.

Happy trails to all,
— Diane LeBow
BATW President

Hurrah for our very successful BATW Awards Presentations on February 20. Updates on our website and ezine, and looking forward to our March 20 program on Branding and Marketing as well as our many exciting programs throughout 2010, with even a spectacular holiday party already scheduled.
– - – - -

Our 3rd biennial BATW Writing, Photography, and Planet Earth Contests and Award Ceremonies went spectacularly well on Saturday, February 20, at Book Passage in Corte Madera. BATW extends our appreciation to Book Passage owners, Katherine, Elaine, and Bill Petrocelli, as well as to their excellent staff, for hosting BATW and helping make this even a success. Book Passage, as most of you know, is one of the top travel book stores in the world, and an international and local community center for writers and readers of all interests, plus host of the internationally known Travel Writers and Photographers Conference each August with faculty who represent the top people in the business.

Our special gratitude to Karen Misuraca, her team of volunteers, and all our judges for making this event once again a smash hit. Member after member raved: “What a great event!”

An enthusiastic crowd packed the event where over 40 winners received recognition and prizes from the approximately 150 top quality writers and photographers who competed for superb prizes.  The Planet Earth Awards attracted submissions from all over.  Cees Nooteboom, who’s from the Netherlands, won the Bronze book prize, is a frequent contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature, and David G. Houser, who won the Gold article/essay prize, is an award-winning photographer and writer from New Mexico. Our own Laurie McAndish King won the Silver article/essay award, and our David Page won the Silver book award.  David’s editorial director, Kermit Hummel (Countryman Press,Vermont), flew in from New England to receive David’s several awards because David himself was away on assignment. http://www.sierrasurvey.com

Some of the winners read excerpts from their stories, including multiple prize winner Bill Fink’s witty pieces http://www.billfinktravels.com, Natalie Galli’s elegantly crafted prose, and Robert Bone’s historic revisiting of Vietnam. http://robertbone.com Pat Arrigoni’s fine website http://www.travelpublishers.com took the gold, as did John Montgomery’s action photo of ziplining in Honduras. http://www.montgomeryphotographic.com.

The Rebecca Bruns Award for outstanding achievement in the field of travel journalism as well as significant contributions to BATW went to Lee Foster. http://www.fostertravel.com No one deserves this honor more.  (A complete listing of winners appears elsewhere in this issue. Winning essays and photographs will be published here over the coming months.)

Updates and Announcements:

The 2010 BATW Directory, which will be distributed to all members, is about to go to press, thanks to Marc Longwood, BATW Board member and graphic designer, http://www.longwoodpro.com and our printer Hal Hammond. www.halprints.com Special thanks to new BATW member Jim Shubin http://www.shubindesign.com and Emma Krasov http://www.artandentertainme.blogspot.com for their editorial assistance.

The website and ezine:

Recently those involved with our website and ezine met: Lee Nelson, Webmaster; April Orcutt, Website editor; Mark Longwood, Graphic Designer, along with Morton Beebe and John Montgomery, both of our Advisory Board, and myself. We discussed many aspects of BATW’s current online presence, especially issues of navigability, design, and interface between Members-Only and Public sections of our website/ezine. Following decisions taken at this meeting, Lee Nelson has proceeded with steps to improve these areas, as well as testing a different provider for our online payments.

Lee along with BATW Treasurer Susan Alcorn have been expending much time and effort on our behalf on updates and research into various payment systems.

We all owe much appreciation, especially to Lee, for volunteering his expertise to benefit all of us. http://www.inetours.com/

New Editorial Board for BATW on line magazine:

Georgia Hesse, founder of the S.F. Examiner Travel Section and internationally recognized travel writer, and Ginny Prior, former BATW Newsletter Editor, syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, and college professor, have agreed to work with our talented and hard working Web Editor April Orcutt as our official BATW ezine Editorial Board. For the past year plus, Laurie McAndish King and I were April’s ex-officio Editorial Board. All of us in BATW are very fortunate and privileged to have such well respected professional editors and experienced travel writers offer their services to our organization.

Belated thanks to Camille Bounds for once again sending out BATW’s annual cards to our Associate members and event hosts. Each of us volunteering to handle jobs like this contributes to BATW’s continuing success.

In the “It’s all relative” category that many of us are well aware of in our travels:

Recently I received an email from a young woman, now 22 years old, whom I met in 2000, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, where I was participating in a conference with Afghan women, assisting them in creating a document on the Essential Rights of Afghan Women, parts of which were signed by world leaders and included in the new Afghan Constitution. At the time, Lido was 12 and living with her family. Even though both her parents are now dead, she has managed to get a college degree, is helping support her younger siblings, and wrote to let me know that “Even though the past few years have been difficult, we are now fine and living in Afghanistan.”  Good friend Brad Newsham, author, human rights activist, and BATW member, http://www.bradnewsham.com/ pointed out the irony of her words. These young friends are seeking asylum in another country. Please contact me with any suggestions or contacts you might have to assist them.

Meeting with our ever energetic and creative Program Chair Sandy Sims yesterday for a planning session, Sandy summed up our organization with these words: “How strong we are getting, with new members and old timers, always a great mix for any organization, a growing website/ezine, great professional development programs by both our own members and guest speakers who are helping all of us understand the changing world of publishing.”

Indeed, thanks to all of you for your contributions and participation. See you at what should be a very informative March 20 meeting.

– Diane LeBow
BATW President

On February 20, our biennial BATW Awards presentations will take place at Book Passage in Corte Madera, thanks to Awards Coordinator Karen Misuraca and her diligent assistants, Pat Arrigoni, Lee Daley, Stephanie Levin, and Ellen Sarbone. BATW appreciates the generosity of our hosts, Elaine and Bill Petrocelli, owners of what’s often called the best travel book store in the world — and a community gathering center for many of us in the travel writing and photography worlds.

Over 150 people submitted top-quality entries to the numerous categories of travel writing and photography, competing for fabulous prizes ranging from multiple overnights and meals at luxury hotels and restaurants, whale watching and wine country trips, museum passes and theatre tickets, to Lake Shasta houseboat overnights.

The BATW Board of Directors met for our official “Annual Meeting,” at which officers are selected for the coming year. We welcomed new members of the Board: Robert Kaufman and Emma Krasov who will serve as VP. Also at the meeting was Lee Nelson, who has volunteered to be the BATW Webmaster, taking over the technical and structural aspects of the BATW website from Laurie McAndish King. Lee will coordinate his work with April Orcutt, our Web Editor, in producing our website functions and on line magazine.

Continuing in their positions are Susan Acorn, Treasurer ; Tom Wilmer, Membership ; Sandy Sims, Programs; Marc Longwood, Graphics and Directory; Lakshman Ratnapala, International advisor; and Janet Wilson, interim Secretary. I was asked to continue in my post as President.

Agreeing to serve on our Advisory Board are Morton Beebe , John Montgomery, and Suzie Rodriguez.

Assisting Sandy with Program and Event planning are Arvis Northrop and Erin Van Rheenen.

We are preparing a survey, similar to the general one we did in 2004, but this one will have a specific focus on BATW’s online presence. We will be requesting your suggestions, views, and ideas regarding the BATW website and online magazine (ezine). Look for the survey in your in box in the not too distant future.

Available now are our 2010 stickers to update Active members’ press cards. Marc Longwood, Board graphic designer, is distributing them at meetings. Those of you who won’t be attending meetings can send Marc a self-addressed stamped envelope to receive yours.  Send your SASE to Marc Longwood, 8103 Walnut Fair Circle, Fair Oaks, CA 95628.

Also in the works, thanks to Marc, will be the 2010 printed Membership Directory.

Our renewal process is complete this year. Many, many thanks to Susan Alcorn for the long hours and diligence it takes to complete this job. Big thanks to all of you who made this year’s renewal process a record breaker with almost everyone renewing! Normally there’s a significant drop off of membership at renewal time, with new members joining over the course of the year. Our membership is now around 180, an all-time high, and about 30% growth over the past 3 years. Especially significant are the extraordinary writers, photographers, and tourism professionals who are joining BATW.

Happy travels and writing to all and hope to see you at our February Awards Presentations.

Diane LeBow
— 2010 BATW President

————

Important: Please remember to renew your membership if you have not already done so RIGHT NOW by clicking on www.batw.org.  Also update your website directory entry and make sure you’ve uploaded a photo so that your data will be in our new printed directory.

It was fun visiting with so many of you at our fabulous holiday party at the new Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio of San Francisco. A very special thank you to Richard Benefield, Executive Director; Jessica Blake, Event Manager, Michael LaBrie, Director of Collections; Wolfgang Puck for a delicious lunch; and Silvarado Winery for their superb wines.

We appreciate that Morton Beebe and Sandy Sims followed through on our communications in making this beautiful event a reality.

Two very special treats were that Georgia Hesse shared with us her memories of meeting with Walt Disney during an interview she did years ago, and Morton his remembrances of his connections with the Disney family, particularly daughter Diane Disney. What a wealth of talent and experience we are privileged to share in BATW.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to our holiday collection for the San Francisco Food Bank. Susan Alcorn is sending them a check for $413, the amount contributed.

Much is in the works for BATW in the coming year. Among our upcoming programs are January 16 at the beautiful and historic Cavallo Point with its lodge and restaurant. Roy Stearns, Deputy Director of Communications for California Department of Parks & Recreation, will talk about current state of California State Parks. Several months ago, I met the director, marketing person, and chef and, at that time, mentioned to them that we’d like to hold a meeting at their lovely spot so I’m glad that Sandy has made this a reality.

Our third biennial BATW Awards presentations will take place February 20, 2010, at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Much appreciation goes to Elaine and Bill Petrocelli, owners of the best travel bookstore in the world and community center for writers, for hosting BATW again this year. We all need to tip our hats to Karen Misuraca, our Contest Coordinator, for once again doing a professional and top notch job pulling all the complexities of this contest together. This year there are more entries and glorious prizes than ever before. So mark your calendars and plan to attend.

Also in the 2010 planning are varieties of programs, including: a panel on Sustainable Travel, a discussion of “How I got my Brand,” report and photos from a very off the beaten track destination, and several surprises like a travel fashion and gadgetry show.

I’m always happy to hear from our members out there on the road—or in a rainforest somewhere. Costa Rica expert and BATW Program Committee member, Erin van Rheenen, writes in an email with the subject line: caimans, agoutis, and trips up and downriver.”

“Hi folks,

I’m on the road in Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica, researching the third edition of Living Abroad in Costa Rica, and (surprise!) I’m blogging about my trip. ”

Closer to home, I heard from author and photographer, Robert Bone, who reports that his December 7 open heart surgery was “a textbook success.” Bob is now undergoing a long recuperation period and would enjoy hearing from members via sara@cmrn.com. Humor apparently well in tact, he signs off: “Bob (Cracked-chest) Bone.” We wish Bob all the best for a speedy recovery.

Merry holidays to all as we look forward to our 2010 travels and on going BATW adventures.

– Diane LeBow
BATW President
(2010 Officers will be officially selected at the January 16 Board of Directors meeting, per the BATW Bylaws)

—————-

Some years back as I was wandering by myself through the ruins of the Temple to Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the World, located just outside of Ephesus in Turkey, to my surprise: what crossed my path? A flock of turkeys. This year as I chomped on my turkey drumstick, that odd memory crossed my mind. Point of information: indeed turkeys originated in Turkey, although the country’s name has nothing to do with our feathered friend.

Thanks for all your good wishes, cards, and visits. They must be working because my new shoulder seems to be settling in just fine. I’ve got two more weeks in a sling and then months of physical therapy. Apparently it’s good for my brain to learn to use my left hand for everything, so perhaps another positive result is in the works.

Many thanks to photographer Morton Beebe for an interesting presentation on his photography and publications about Antarctica and for hosting our meeting at his comfortable condo rec room on Russian Hill in San Francisco.

HOLIDAY PARTY: Sandy Sims has outdone herself this time as have our membership in their response to our upcoming December 5 holiday party at the new Walt Disney Family Museum. As many of you know, we were overwhelmed by the far greater than expected number of members who responded to the offer of holiday festivities, along with a buffet lunch and tours of this beautiful new museum in its gorgeous location in the Presidio. Thank you for understanding that we were unable to accommodate all of you who wished to bring guests. By the way, I understand it’s Walt’s birthday.

DONATIONS: This year the BATW Board of Directors voted that to support this season of giving, this year at our party, we will ask members to contribute to the San Francisco Food Bank. Ten-dollar donation is suggested but of course more is always welcome. A collection bowl will be on the check-in table.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS: Many of you, but not yet all, have successfully renewed your BATW membership for 2010. Please get your renewals in asap as this saves Treasurer Susan Alcorn, and the rest of us, the time and trouble with tabulating records and contacting each of you personally to remind you to renew. Early in 2010, a new print directory will be in the works. In order to ensure that your updated information be included, it is vital that you renew NOW and update your directory information on line as you do so.

I understand that some of you have experienced glitches with the Memberclicks automatic renewal process. Hopefully you’ve conquered the gremlins. If not, please contact Laurie King for assistance, or simply mail your check to Susan Alcorn.

Some people have contacted me about the tight publication market this past year. Please know that we are well aware of this. We don’t want to lose any of you as we value your membership and participation in BATW. So simply do the best you can with your pledge form, and we all must look at the larger range of your publishing career.

BOARD ELECTION: The election ballot for the 2010 Board of Directors will be emailed to you within the next weeks. The Board voted to follow the official BATW Bylaws this year which stipulate that after members are voted on to the Board, at the Annual Meeting which is held in January each year, the Board decides which Board members will be in charge of which jobs. So that’s the plan.

Thanks to all of us for being a vital part of BATW during this past year during which we have seen this organization we all value so very much prosper into an even more respected professional and vibrant one.

Happy and healthy holidays to all as well as lots of new adventures and creative ventures in 2010,

– Diane LeBow
BATW President

Over 65 BATW members enjoyed an excellent Associates meeting, our second event of this kind, on October 17. Terrific camaraderie, invaluable sharing of ideas and suggestions, as well as elegance and a delicious luncheon at the historic St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco were all part of the event.  We thank the staff and management of the St. Francis and the hard work and months long preparation by Program Chair Sandy Sims, Associate Board Member Molly Blaisdell, and BATW member Janice Nieder, as well as participation of our many valued Associate members, some of whom traveled many hours to join us. (A fuller description of the event appears elsewhere in this ezine.)

Sue Price, event participant and Associate member from Southern Oregon Tourism, writes: “Thank you again for the opportunity. I thought the event was put together wonderfully and was extremely beneficial for us. We would love to see it as an annual event. Safe travels, Sue.” Somarko@aol.com

Sitting with me at lunch was old friend from Paris and new BATW member, Hilary Kaiser. Hilary was very impressed by BATW members’ enthusiasm and willingness to share and assist each other which was evident during the panel presentations and subsequent discussions.

2010 BOARD ELECTION: The 2010 Board of Directors is in the process of being formed. We need your volunteer help and support to serve on the Board of Directors. While some of our incumbents plan to continue, BATW needs new energy and ideas so please consider volunteering to serve on the Board. Send your name to me or Laurie McAndish King. Call us to discuss how your interests and talents can help BATW to continue to move smoothly into the future.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS: Procedures for membership renewals will soon be in your email box. Renewals and payments will all occur on line again this year. Any questions can be addressed to Treasurer Susan Alcorn at  backpack45@yahoo.com. PLEASE, get your own renewal in as soon as possible. This is important both to avoid the necessity of our volunteers having to remind you and assuresyou place in the new 2010 directory. To encourage your speedy response, we are offering prizes (this suggestion by the ever creative mind of Jay Gordon) to a few of the first 50 people to renew. Names will be drawn from a hat.

I’m always happy to hear from BATW member Katherine Bruce, our far-flung correspondent in Japan, where Katherine is living and teaching this year.  She writes:  “I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be writing for Examiner.com . . . they just reviewed my application and liked what they read. I also applied to write as a contributing writer to a foreigner magazine here in Japan called Kansai Scene. So, I wanted to thank you for the little nudge you gave me a few months ago. It really helped me stay focused on writing and getting my work out there. So, this is my start, and hopefully I can build on from here.”

Hope to see you at our two fabulous upcoming events: Morton Beebe and Antarctica in November and our December 5 Holiday Party at the new fun and glamorous Disney Museum in the Presidio in San Francisco. Thanks, Sandy, for your continuing amazing planning.

Next time you see me I shall be even more the bionic woman. On November 5, I am having a total shoulder replacement, maybe with a bluebird sitting on it. No wild waving or heavy lifting for a few months but hopefully I’ll be able to type.

– Diane LeBow
BATW President

http://www.examiner.com/x-10684-International-Travel-Examiner

www.dianelebow.com

BATW continues to flourish in so many ways, and our 2010 planning is well underway.  A new president, vice president and webmaster are needed for the new year.

The September meeting was one of our best ever, as David Laws, among many other members, commented. Our panel – Laurie McAndish King, Erin van Rheenen and Edward Hasbrouck – discussed “How and Why I Built My Website and What It’s Done for Me Lately.” They covered a lot of extremely useful material and ideas and represented a creative blend of approaches and usages.  [Editor’s note: Detailed information about their presentations appear elsewhere in this ezine/website update.]

Sandy Sims along with her Program Committee of Erin van Rheenen and Arvis Northrop presented their 2010 program draft to the Board of Directors. It is a wide range of topics and talents. We can look forward to 12 months of valuable presentations and exciting speakers.

Please consider volunteering for the 2010 Board of Directors. We will need a new president and vice president for 2010.  Laurie McAndish King and I will be stepping down.

The president oversees the monthly meetings and all the organization’s activities with the help of the Board of Directors and volunteers. She/he delegates responsibilities, recruits members for various tasks, works on outreach to the larger community, coordinates planning and scheduling, hatches new ideas and plans, and, well – you name it. Very important is encouraging team work and our sense of community within our organization.

The vice president assists in all of the above.

We also specifically need a webmaster to take over from Laurie (this is a separate role from VP) in assisting April Orcutt, our web editor, with occasional technical tweaking to the site: revision of forms and similar. You do not need to be a programmer or tech whiz to do this. Everything is now in place. You just need to be able to follow guidelines, and can always count on assistance from the Memberclicks website Help Team.

These last several years have been quite a ride. It’s been very fulfilling to assist in BATW’s growth and developments. Back in January 2007, at our Board Retreat when I became President, we set some of these goals and visions which have now become realities. These included a new website and ezine (over a thousand different people looked at the site in August with nearly 1,500 separate visits and 3,600 “pageviews”), well organized and professional programming, approximately 30% membership growth which includes top quality professionals who are adding their energies and talents to our organization, and much, much more. Our reputation as a solid professional organization has traveled beyond the Bay Area, nationally and even internationally.

Perhaps one of our greatest successes is that increased numbers of BATW members are participating in running and contributing as volunteer coordinators, presenters, and taking charge of the innumerable tasks that make our organization successful.

We’ve all worked hard. It has not only been satisfying but also a lot of fun. What a great Board we have. We’ve all worked together harmoniously, learned a lot, enjoyed each other and made many new contacts, received so much from the experience. Now it’s time for a few new people to step up.

Remember as so much in life: it’s what you give, not what you take. (Thanks, Mom.)

– Diane LeBow
BATW President

For more work by Diane, please visit:
http://www.examiner.com/x-10684-International-Travel-Examiner
www.dianelebow.com

Some notes from our traveling BATW members:

Katherine Bruce responded to my email to say that she was far from the Japanese earthquakes and is enjoying her year living and teaching near Kyoto.

Susan Alcorn wrote from the Pacific Coast Trail in Oregon that “The amazing community of the Pacific Crest Trail is one of the remarkable rewards of long-distance hiking [this trail].” She raves about the incredible cache found in the middle of the trail – Oreos, Snickers, apples, and a ¾ full bottle of Black Velvet Whiskey. I now better understand why she has completed 2,150 miles of this trail. Well, almost understand.

Congratulations to Chris Baker for the upcoming release of his two latest books: Great Destinations: Dominican Republic and Eyewitness Travel Guide Top 10 Puerto Rico.

Associate member John Poimiroo of Poimiroo & Partners, sent an interesting note to my inbox with the lead, “Sex and a discount. What more could you ask for these days?  ELK RUTTING SEASON LOCKS HORNS WITH WHALE WATCHING.”  For more info, please contact John.

Call to action, please, from all you talented BATW members.

BATW needs:

1) A person or persons to become Laurie McAndish King’s helper(s) and take over some of the occasional postings and form updates for the BATW website. No high tech skills necessary – simple ability to follow a few steps on our site.  April Orcutt handles the website/ezine/newsletter content, but Laurie’s been taking care of the practical updates, like renewal forms, etc.

2) Some new leadership energy for the 2010 Board of Directors. It would be terrific to see some of our excellent new members join the team. Everything’s rolling along really well, but as of January, 2010, we’re all counting on a few new souls to step up to the plate or dish or whatever metaphor you prefer.

Also, please contact Sandy Sims with ideas for our December 5 holiday party.

Some sobering news from TravelDailyNews.com, but this must mean that it’s about to turn the corner, right?:

Economic Downturn Continues to Weaken Tourism Industry

Key statistics recently released by the Commerce Department for the first quarter of 2009 confirm that the current economic downturn has created the most difficult environment for the U.S. tourism industry since 9/11.

Total tourism-related employment decreased by 149,000 during the first quarter, settling at 8.35 million. This is the second largest quarterly drop on record and the worst since the fourth quarter of 2001. Job losses continued to accelerate, slipping from -4.0% to -6.8% (annualized) for the quarter.

If the industry continues to eliminate jobs at the present rate, this would translate into a loss of 581,000 industry-supported jobs for the year and would effectively erase over a decade’s worth of job growth in the industry.

Total tourism-related spending figures suggest that the U.S. tourism industry shrank by 15.4% during the first quarter; by comparison, current-dollar U.S. GDP contracted at the rate of 4.6% during the same period.

I’ve got to cut this short and get to the airport. By the time this posts, John and I will be off again to the lands of Tlingit and polar bears. We will be back in time for the September 19 meeting at the SF Main Library where our website whizzes will share their wisdom about how to survive and prosper during this upheaval in publishing possibilities.  Hope to see you there.

– Diane LeBow
BATW President