“An Overview of Current BATW News”
The autumn months are always the busiest time for BATW, with Travel Features & Photos in the works, as well as elections, re-credentialing, membership renewal and two parties (the November 29 Volunteer party and the December 10 Holiday party). This year we also have the BATW Best contest underway.
Here’s a brief overview:
- Re-Credentialing: In mid- to late-November we’ll send out notification to members who need to apply for re-credentialing (good through December 31, 2018). We are working on streamlining this process, which places a tremendous burden on our volunteers. Thank you, Janet Wilson, for serving as Credential chair.
- Board Elections:
- At this writing we have three new candidates for election to the Board, but there is still room for one or two more. If BATW has played a positive role in your life, right now you have the opportunity to give back to the organization. Serving on a Board is an opportunity to not only help the organization, but an opportunity to learn more about other members and even yourself. So if you want to serve on the Board, or just want to learn what it means to serve on the Board, feel free to contact me ([email protected]).
- Voting will begin mid-November. We’ll send you a link, where you’ll be able to read candidate statements and vote. Thanks to Marc Longwood and Donna Peck for taking care of the online voting angle.
- Membership Renewal: Dues remain the same as last year. We’ll be sending out information about renewal later this month. We are hoping to do the renewal from within Wild Apricot, but we may have to go one more round with MemberClicks. More information soon.
- Volunteer Appreciation Party: Jim Gebbie will send out invites early in November to the November 29 party (to be held at Morton Beebe’s San Francisco condo, just off the Embarcadero). If you volunteered during 2016 but didn’t receive an invitation, please let Jim know ([email protected]). The same unbelievably delish pizza as last year (the aptly-named Pizza Orgasmica).
- Holiday Party: This year’s party will be held on Saturday, December 10, from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Mourad Restaurant, 140 New Montgomery St. (at Minna), San Francisco. The party will be sponsored by Greater Palm Springs CVB. Expect modern interpretations of Moroccan food, holiday grog and a few gifts.
- Travel Features & Photos: Taste of Travel: Due to the huge number of excellent submissions, we’ll be splitting Taste of Travel into two volumes. Volume I will be published this year; Volume II in 2017. If you submitted more than one entry, your work will appear in both volumes. If you submitted only one entry, the publications committee will determine placement. Thanks to Susan Alcorn, who chaired this effort; executive editors Linda Castrone and Carole Terwilliger Meyers; and Jim Shubin, our talented book creator.
- BATW Best Contest: Entries are with the judges, and winners will be announced at our February 2017 meeting, which will take place at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Thanks to Karen Misuraca and Jim Gebbie for running the contest, and to Marc Longwood for his work on the website end of things.
As always, feel free to contact me with questions, concerns and offers to volunteer.
—Suzie Rodriguez, BATW President