by Lakshman Ratnapala, BATW International Advisor

Travel is the unsung hero of today’s America, being one of the few bright spots in the fledgling economic recovery.

Last year, 2011, was one for the record books in the U.S. travel industry, which welcomed 62 million international visitors and generated $152.4 billion in exports, eclipsing the exports of both machinery and computer products as well as agriculture.

This upward trend in travel is being pushed further with the announcement of a first-ever national strategy to boost travel to the U.S. and set goals for the volume of visitors to the country. The strategy aims to make the U.S. the world’s top travel destination, in an effort to spur job creation. The initiatives include the appointment of a Task Force on Travel and Competitiveness to develop new policies to increase U.S. market share worldwide. Other actions include new rules for visa processing in China and Brazil, expand the Global Entry Program to make it permanent, and the admission of more countries to the Visa Waiver Program, the largest source of inbound travel to the U.S. in 2011 — more than 18 million visitors, nearly two-thirds of all overseas visitors. While here, they spent $69 billion, supported 525,000 American jobs and generated $13 billion in payroll and $11 billion in government tax revenues. The number of travelers from emerging economies with growing middle classes such as China, Brazil and India is projected to grow by 135 %, 274 % and 50 % respectively by 2016.

The uptick in international and national travel is also reflected in our own city of San Francisco, which welcomed 16.35 million visitors in 2011. They generated $526 million in taxes for the city and supported 71,500 jobs with an annual payroll of over $2 billion. On average there were nearly 130,000 visitors in San Francisco each day, last year. Most stayed in other Bay Area locations, but spent their money mostly in the city. Visitors spent over $23 million per day in San Francisco, which equates to $10,411 visitor spending per San Franciscan.

Looking ahead to trends next year, 2012, the U.S. Tour Operators Association forecasts that experiential travel, or the E Factor, will be a priority for travelers, with Baby Boomers (age 46 to 65 years) being the largest group seeking E Factor vacations. Italy was named the destination offering the most experiential travel options, with France closely behind. Thus, tour operators will expand their E Factor tour portfolios featuring culinary tours, culture, nature, adventure, photography and job tours. The USTOA said the most popular emerging destinations in 2012 will be Vietnam, India, Ecuador and China.

For our June meeting, we are being generously hosted by the Larkspur Hotel in downtown San Francisco for a presentation given by the Idaho Department of Commerce – Tourism Development. The morning’s event will include our regularly scheduled general meeting, and then we’ll segue into Karen Ballard‘s presentation on what the state of Idaho has to offer visitors beyond potatoes. Following that, members wishing to view the hotel will have an opportunity to participate in a short, guided tour.

Venue:
Larkspur Hotel Union Square
524 Sutter St., San Francisco
415-814-6322; http://www.larkspurhotels.com/hotels_listing/LHUnionSquare 

To RSVP, click here. (Note: Monica Conrady is assisting Program Chair Erin Caslavka with reservations and cancellations. Contact Monica at MonicaConrady@sbcglobal.net with any questions about your reservation).

For the last year BATW’s Professional Standards Committee has worked closely with the Board to develop a meaningful Code of Professional Conduct for our organization.

In developing the “Bay Area Travel Writers Code of Professional Conduct,” we examined standards of conduct developed by the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA), and similar organizations.

We took the best ideas we found and adapted them to our own smaller organization. Thereafter, the draft of a new Code underwent a series of five revisions, comments and changes by the Board, and vetting by a lawyer.

Now it’s your turn to have a say. Revision 5 of BATW’s Code of Professional Conduct is available for you to study online. You have until May 30 to pass along your comments to batwwebeditor@gmail.com. Web editor Carolyn Koenig will collect comments in a folder, and on May 31 will forward them to the Board. On June 2, during a phone conference, the Board will discuss comments. If there are no revisions, the Board will vote at that time to adopt the new standards.

I am very grateful to the members of the Professional Standards Committee—Stu Wilson and Stephanie Fermin, as well as alternate member Lee Daley—for their hard work and sensible advice. I’m particularly grateful to Stu Wilson, who has the eyes of an eagle when it comes to detail.

Thank you, and we look forward to your comments.

Suzie Rodriguez
Chair, BATW Professional Standards Committee

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED CHANGES
The proposed amendments employ the legislative amendment style using strike-out and underline to denote, respectively, removal of text from, and addition of text to the existing bylaws. In this manner it is possible to see how the existing Bylaws read, and how they will read if proposed amendments are adopted. Following is a summary by Article:

ARTICLE 1. OFFICES
The changes to this article are non-substantive but serve to update and streamline existing provisions.

ARTICLE 2. PURPOSES
The Objectives and Purposes are updated to reflect earlier changes in BATW Policy and Procedure Manual and to elaborate on the objectives.

ARTICLE 3. DIRECTORS
Among the substantial revisions proposed for Article 3 are: authorizing a variable number of directors that may be changed from year to year; making appointed directors optional; and, specifying that elected directors must be members. The term of office would change from one to two years, with half of directors elected each year, and directors would be limited to three consecutive terms. Directors could be removed for failure to attend meetings. The Board would be required to adopt a conflict of interest code and directors would be obliged to follow it. Some streamlining and updating of the Article is also proposed.

The idea behind the staggered two-year terms is to foster some continuity on the Board, so that not everyone is learning from scratch at once. Term-limits would ensure some turnover and opportunity for members to serve on the Board. The ability to alter the size of the Board increases flexibility to respond to increased or decreased interest from members in serving on the Board.

ARTICLE 4. OFFICERS
Proposed changes in this Article streamline and update current provisions, although one change would preclude one person from holding more than one office at a time.

ARTICLE 5. COMMITTEES
Minor changes are proposed for clarification.

ARTICLE 6. EXECUTION OF INSTRUMENTS, DEPOSITS AND FUNDS
No changes proposed.

ARTICLE 7. CORPORATE RECORDS, REPORTS AND SEAL
Minor amendments would eliminate some irrelevant language, including reference to the “corporate seal”, and the phrase “if the corporation has members.”

ARTICLE 8. FISCAL YEAR
No change.

ARTICLE 9. AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
Proposed minor updating and changing an incorrect statutory reference.

ARTICLE 10. AMENDMENT OF ARTICLES
Minor updating proposed.

ARTICLE 11. PROHIBITION AGAINST SHARING CORPORATE PROFITS AND ASSETS
Minor clarification.

ARTICLE 12. MEMBERS
Issues surrounding the definition of membership, qualification for membership, and maintenance of membership status were among the initial impetus for Bylaws revision. After many lengthy discussions surrounding these matters, the Board generally agreed that the preferred approach involved granting the Board sufficient discretion to deal with these issues, but not try to deal with them directly in the Bylaws.

The proposed language would retitle “Active” Members to “General” Members and would slightly alter the definition of the class from one open to “members of the public,” to one open to “travel journalists.” The language, however allows the Board to adopt specific eligibility criteria, as is now the case, so the membership criteria will not necessarily change. The Board decided that the issue of ongoing publication credits should be a “credentialing” rather than a membership issue. The proposed language would allow the Board to undertake such a program by, for example, issuing press passes only to General Members who meet minimum publication requirements. It gives BATW the chance to address the “professional” issue without having to significantly restrict membership or force members out of the organization.

The two existing membership categories would continue with the proposed language, but non-member affiliations by individuals or other organizations would be expressly authorized, subject to Board approval. This could be used, for example, to allow for aspiring travel journalists to affiliate with BATW as provisional or apprentice, without gaining voting rights or permanent member status. Another change would authorize the Board to limit the number of BATW members. Other, minor changes would update language in this Article.

ARTICLE 13. MEETINGS OF MEMBERS
Relatively minor changes to this article would update the language and allow the Board to set the date of the annual members meeting during the month of January each year rather than being obliged to hold it on the third Saturday in January at 10:00 A.M. The option of proxy voting would be eliminated as it has not been the practice to allow this.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
When you study these Bylaw revisions, consider that these amendments have been discussed and debated by a Board membership that has changed twice over the last three years. “They have received the wisdom of different opinions and points of view that are endorsed unanimously by the current Board,” says Stu Wilson, who has graciously spearheaded this lengthy process.

The review period ends May 30. Comments should be sent to Carolyn Koenig, webeditor@batw.org, for compilation. After the review deadline, Carolyn will turn the comments over to the Board, which will meet in early June to consider all feedback and any final revisions before setting the amendments for a vote of the membership.

"Shaketown" by Joanne Orion Miller

Joanne Miller has just published Shaketown, a historical novel available on Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/146328), Kindle, Nook and most other e-readers, and in PDF directly from her website (www.joanneorionmiller.com). Set in San Francisco’s Victorian underworld, the novel follows the intertwined lives of an “accidental” Madame who chooses freedom over respectability and a Chinese scholar who defies a city bent on destroying him. This unusual family saga is based on real people and events: the experiences of her Chinese relatives and a real-life Irish girl who became a notorious–and unapologetic–Madame during San Francisco’s wide-open gilded age. Sex, murder, clever women, true love of every stripe, and an earthquake—that’s Shaketown.

And here’s the deal: She’ll send the book (in PDF format) free to the first five people who respond as reviewers (jmlr34@comcast.net).

Also, Joanne’s latest travel guide, Little Black Book Maui-Kaua’i, is available in hardcover and Kindle edition on Amazon. The publisher (Peter Pauper Press/Little Black Book Travel Series) has recently hired her to write the app for these popular destinations, encompassing both islands and “Maui Nui” (greater Maui), including Moloka’i and Lana’i.

The BMW NorCal rally attracts over 500 participants in Mariposa, California, the gateway to Yosemite, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. For more info on this event, click on http://bmwnorcal.org/49er/or http://carlaking.com.

Don’t miss Carla’s picks for the 10 best motorcycle roads in the U.S., in this Lonely Planet post:  http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/travel-tips-and-articles/77139. “The top 6 were easy,” Carla says, “but after that …”

Greetings from San Francisco. At our April meeting in Berkeley, Ginny asked me to tell you something about Kickstarter and how it might help monetize your work. Here we go…

In December, I published Skiing the Edge, an ebook of brilliant ski writing from many of the finest ski writers on the planet, plus me.

Great reviews — here’s one: http://www.snocountry.com/index.php/snonews/ski-resort-news/snonews-featured-stories/entry/jules-older-wants-to-save-ski-writing-you-can-help-.html — tepid sales. Yeah, I’m losing money on it.

That would be ok — it’s hardly my first get-rich-slow scheme — except that I’m dying to publish Skiing the Edge, Volume 2. The world needs great ski writing, and outlets for it are ever shrinking. Al Saracevic, sports editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, pretty much nailed it here:

http://blog.sfgate.com/ski/2012/03/30/wanted-money-for-ski-publishing-venture/

As he notes in that article, I’ve found a potential source for funds to support that Volume 2. It’s Kickstarter, a highly regarded, safe, trusted site for micro-philanthropy. They’ve accepted Skiing the Edge, Volume 2 as a project, and I had 30 days to fund it. If I succeed, the modest $11,000 will ensure there is a Volume 2. If not, all pledges revert back to the pledgers.

Note that Kickstarter doesn’t fund projects but provides a platform where others can do so safely and anonymously. And get gifts for their generosity, in the National Public Radio tradition.

In my case, it strongly looks like I won’t make my goal. But don’t let that discourage you.

The implications of Kickstarter and other micro-philanthropy crowdfunding sites for writers/videographers/artists and other creators are enormous. We may be able to birth our creations without investment bankers, sugar daddies or tame billionaires. That’s a Digital Age miracle.

So check it out. Here’s Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com

Here’s my project: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/410340366/skiing-the-edge-volume-2?ref=live

If you have questions, just let me know (jules@julesolder.com).