IFWTWA is a global network of journalists covering the hospitality & lifestyle fields & those who promote them. IFWTWA is a non-profit organization run by & for the benefit of its members. Group membership is not association membership.
The International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA.org) is a global network of people involved in the hospitality and lifestyle fields and the people who promote them by informing others about them. We are a non-profit organization, run by and for the benefit of our members.
This is a link to our Members' Benefit Brochure. This spells out what we offer plus we keep adding new features all the time.
One of our latest benefits is our Members Profile Page. This allows hosts, pr firms, etc. to see our members' profiles to determine if they are suitable for press trips. It also gives our members a place to showcase their bio, books and clips. It provides are Associate Members a spot to do the same.
This year we offered a WiFTy scholarship award for the first time. It was so well-received, we hope to be able to offer more than one for 2010. Naturally, we depend on the hospitality industry and suppliers for assistance. In turn, we promote them with press releases and a lot of coverage. Plus the items are promoted on EBay.
Check out IFWTWA and see what we're about. Members and non-members are welcome to join the Tripatini Group and learn more about what we do.
This is just 2009 and does not cover it all. The Copper Canyon is not shown yet as we just returned. Plus, we've many more chefs.
We'll start 2010 with our Conference at Sea on Holland America's Eurodam in January; Rockland, Maine in June; Switzerland in September; and we are confirming dates for Nova Scotia, Alabama and Temecula, CA.
We are an organization on the move. Our journalists are expected to produce if they go on ANY trip--and we are in the 90+ percentage. If they don't produce and send clips, the hosts do not need to invite them. Our hosts have the final say on attendees. We aim to please and get great stories at the same time.
This is one of several videos we will have from our November 09 visit to the Copper Canyon area of Mexico.
IFWTWA visits Charlottesville, Virginia. We took in the history, culture, wine and food. Recipes and more videos will be featured on www.whereandwhatintheworld.com. You can find out more about Charlottesville at www.charlottesville.org.
While the Tandem Tasters, Maralyn Hill & Brenda Hill were on an International Food, Wine & Travel Assoc. (IFWTWA) trip, they were fortunate to have brunch at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, VA www.BoarsHeadInn.com, and met the talented Executive Chef Terrence Sheehan. You can check http://WhereAndWhatInTheWorld.com for recipe posts from Chef Sheehan While the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association(IFWTWA.ORG) was visiting Richmond, www.visitrichmond.com, they got a jam packed overview of how much the city has to offer. It is vibrant, growing, historical, active and just plain interesting. Thornton Winery, Temecula, CA www.ThorntonWine.com was gracious enough to host an IFWTWA Regional Luncheon for members and prospective members. President Steve Thornton, along with Winemaker Don Reha and Executive Chef Steve Pickell welcomed us into the Champagne Caves. We started with champagne followed by Roasted Tomato, Artichoke Proscuitto Tartine served on Grilled Sourdough with Herbed Ricotta Cheese & Baby Arugula Salad paired with Thornton 2006 Sangiovese & 2006 Thornton Sauvigon Blanc. Dessert was Giger and Peach Tartlet with Moscato Sabayon & Blackberries paired with Thornton 2008 Moscato. It is easy to see why they have award winning wines and Cafe Champagne is a 5 star award winning restaurant. Recipes will be on the Where & What in the World Blog on www.NoraLyn.com by the 8-24-09 Special Thanks to Linda Kissam for arranging, and our welcome gifts from Thornton and Temecula Olive Oil Company. This shows inside and out of the Woodstock Farmers Market in Woodstock, Vermont. If you go to June Blog posts for the Where & What in the World Blog: http://bit.ly/vxVTw it will post mid month and feature the story and the recipe for the Bow Thai Pasta salad. As Patrick Crowl says, "I think what sets up apart is we really take this job of 'bringing the food to the people' very seriously. We're concerned about the process: what we charge for our products, what ingredients we use in our food, how clean we are, who our vendors and farmers are, where our fruits, vegetables and ingredients come from and how e treat each other an our guests." Retailer of the Year for 2009. www.woodstockfarmersmarket.com. They have a great mail order business. 802 457-3658. This is a Where & What in the World Production by Maralyn D. Hill, www.noralyn.com. Music provided by Fred Haas, from "Telling Stories" album, segment of "Infite Vista." You can reach Fred at www.interplayjazz.com Manager/Owner Amy Martsolf prepares Chef/Owner Teresa Tan's Lychee Ginger Ice Wine Martini for The Tandem Tasters, Maralyn D. Hill and Brenda C. Hill at Mangowood at The Lincoln Inn, Woodstock, VT. www.mangowood.com. The recipe is posted on the Where & What in the world blog in a June post. The Deer Brook Inn dates back to 1820. The hosts, David Kanal and George DeFina, exceed expectations with their decor, food and overall experience. The recipe for blueberry muffins is on www.noralyn.com/blogger/blog1 posted 5-25-09. The music is a portion of "Midnight Whispers," from "Telling Stories," by performing and recording artist & clinician, Fred Haas, www.interplayjazz.com. Chef/Owner Teresa Tan and Manager/Owner Amy Martsolf prepare Teresa's Leek and Mushroom Goat Cheese Brulee for The Tandem Tasters, Maralyn D. Hill and Brenda C. Hill. This is a favorite dish at Mangowood at The Lincoln Inn, Woodstock, VT www.mangowood.com, www.lincolninn.com. The recipe for this dish is featured in a June 2009 post on the Where & What in the World Blog.
IFWTWA has a new quarterly flip-page, digital magazine. Check it out here:http://FWTMAGAZINE.comWe would love to hear your comments!Cheers,John…Continue
Hi Maralyn! I've just joined this group and I'm looking for some direction. I am going to Tucson, Chicago, and Kenya this year, what's the best way to seek out possible assignments and/or invitations? I've done some travel writing, and have been published. Recently retired from a 9 to 5 job, I'm seeking to push more into the travel writing. Any help would be greatly appreciated, from you or anyone else that's been this route.
1. Here is a link to the IFWTWA Members Benefit Brochure. If it does not work from this site, it is located in the lower left corner of the www.ifwtwa.org home page. That would be wonderful for you to get the word out in Germany. We do have a few members from Germany. Patty could give you there names.
2. When an article is published on Global Writes, our webmaster, Timothy Lack, sends the press release to TravMedia.com and Food4Media.com (if it is a food story). On the TravMedia.com website, they are all listed. TravMedia/Food4Meida send it to about 10,000 media professionals. (This is what they have told me--I've not seen their list.) We stopped sending for about 6 weeks and readership dropped. So, they are coming through.
When possible, the same day or if I'm traveling within a week, I share it on Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Digg, Publish2, Delicious, etc. That is why our rankings are increasing so much. We encourage all of our members to share their articles the same way. That all brings more traffic to Global Writes. I'd also encourage you to post the link to your article on Linkedin by going to News Discussions, Add new news, and pasting the url and adding your comment. I try to do this for some of our members some of the time, but I'm already doing quite a few time consuming things and this is something they can do themselves to help promote their stories.
As you can see, Tripatini, also uploads our RSS feed which sends them the new content from Global Writes.
3. Michelle and I are working on Australia for 2011 now. We are not even close to getting a date as we've not connected with the right contacts. It averages 12 to 18 months to get something going. Sometimes it seems like it will be faster, but rarely does that seem to happen.
So far for 2010 we have Temecula, CA; Rockland, Maine; Switzerland and Nova Scotia which will be up for registration I hope this month. We are working out some final details. It is very time consuming and difficult to pull this all together, but we are working hard to try to make a lot of great trips continue to happen on a regular basis.
Hope this helps. I'm at Rancho LaPuerta in Tecate, Mexico this week giving two writing workshops and writing an article. It's a great experience.
Best Regards,
Maralyn
Comment by Maralyn D Hill on February 11, 2010 at 1:47pm
IFWTWA (ifwtwa.org) has two press trips coming up in May and June. Registration for them is over near the end of March. Check our our home page for details.
The itinerary and Registration form are posted for both trips. We hope to see some of you.
Temecula Wine Country Tour is May 16-19, 2010.
Rockland, Maine is June 6-10, 2010.
Both have exciting itineraries. East or West coast, we have you covered.
Watch our home page as we've got great trips coming for the fall.
Wow the Temecula trip looks fantastic especially the balloon ride over the gorgeous vineyards. And I love Jazz. I can't attend so I will be awaiting your articles and videos! Have a great trip everyone- me
IFWTWA Temecula Wine Country Tour May 16-19, 2010
This trip is limited to 10 writers (no spouses) so sign up early. It will be a great trip including:
Temecula Creek Inn
Smooth Jazz event & dinner at Thornton Winery
Iron Chef Cooking Adventure at Baily Restaurant
Hot Air Balloon Adventure
Too much to list here, see the itinerary at http://ifwtwa.org/mediatrips/temecula1.html.
Early registration ends 2-28. Regular registration ends March 15. Be sure to check this out.
The International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association is proud to announce that member Doug Pike’s book, “Gone with the Wine,” has been named “Winner in United State of America” in the GOURMAND WORLD COOKBOOK AWARDS 2009 in the category: BEST WINE PHOTOGRAPHY ILLUSTRATION.
“Gone with the Wine…The Wine Cartoons of Doug Pike” has a forward by Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Mr. Parker says, “Doug has a real feel for the psyche of the serious wine nut (and his/her long suffering spouse) and never fails to poke fun at them with a deft hand and his own trademark brand of humor.
Doug Pike, the acclaimed cartoonist of eRobertParker.com, the website of wine-czar Robert M. Parker, Jr., wields his rapier wit at the native inhabitants of the wacky world of wine in this collection of 100 of his best-loved works.
Topics include (by chapter):
The Merchant of Vinous: The Retail Experience
Silence of the Lambruscos: The Uneasy Consumer
Beauty and the Yeast: The Waiter’s Lament
Ben-Hermitage: The Winemaker at Work
Saving Private Rhine Wine: The Domestic Front
Lord of the Rieslings: Wine and Life
Doug Pike’s wine cartoons are a regular feature on the on-line version of Robert M. Parker Jr.’s, The Wine Advocate, the most highly trafficked wine-related site on the Web. His cartoons that take a poke at the business world have been used by Forbes, former CNBC anchorman Ron Insana, The Munder Fund, Dick Davis Digest, GE Private Asset Management, Standard & Poor’s and many others.
Doug is now in the competition for the BEST IN THE WORLD COMPETITION. The Winner’s of this competition will be announced at the Paris Cookbook Fair and on www.cookbookfair.com site.
I'm interested in doing a story for my newspaper column on a Caribbean island getaway that offers the most value for the dollar. My readers are in the Midwest so I'll need air access from Chicago or St Louis. Anybody have any ideas or contacts to get the ball rolling? I would like to visit there personally in late February.
Comment by James Morris on January 21, 2010 at 8:16am
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