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IFWTWA - Int'l Food Wine & Travel Writers Association

Information

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.

Website: http://www.IFWTWA.org
Location: Diamond Bar, CA
Members: 127
Latest Activity: Sep 14, 2021

About IFWTWA and Various Trips we offer.

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.

Discussion Forum

Started by Tripatini Aug 1, 2012.

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Comment by Maralyn D Hill on January 20, 2010 at 12:13pm: What a great auction item. We just discussed at our Board Meeting, offering something like a complete vacation in order to raise more revenue for our non-profit association.

Comment by James Morris on January 20, 2010 at 11:41am: We have this luxury travel item listed on eBay that we thought you might be interested in:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220540774082&...

Comment by Maralyn D Hill on January 1, 2010 at 9:29pm: The dues currently are $120 per year membership and $50 one time registration fee. So, the total is $170. After our board meeting January 18, I believe the dues will be raised to $140 or $150 plus $50 one time registration fee. We've not had an increase in decades, and with all we are doing with the www.ifwtwa.org website and the www.global-writes.com site, it is a necessity. I'm not sure if you checked out the members profile page or not, but it allows you to post profile, blogs, websites and clips. It is a fantastic tool for writers to use when dealing with PR firms and CVB's. Members keep there clips as current and selective as they want. If you look at Michelle Winner or my profile, you'll see profiles that are very complete. This was introduced in April 09, so all of our members have not updated profiles. However, they need to be updated to participate in 2010 press trips.

We are in the process of redoing our Membership Application pages.

The trip to Rockland, Maine will probably be posted next week with itinerary and application. It will be June 6-10.

Trip to Temecula, CA will be posted within 10 days and that is May 16-19.

Switzerland will be September 11-18 and Nova Scotia September 27-Oct 1. I will have the itinerary from Switzerland within the next 3 weeks and Nova Scotia shortly after. Then, just need to put everything together and send to our webmaster.

Postings are a little slower than usual, as he tore the ligament in his right arm.

There are a couple of other things Michelle and I are working on, but not finalized.

When we do a press trip, we charge $100 early registration fee and $150 late registration fee. When guests are allowed, the guest charge is $50 more per person.

This year we have also started collecting an gratuity amount approved by the host with registration. That avoids awkwardness and allocates responsibility equitably. Plus, our members will know up front what their expenses are. Being a non-profit, the registration fees enable us to keeping seeking out and securing these trips and the additional time/costs that go with them.

I hope this answers some questions for you. Thanks for asking. Feel free to ask me ask more questions if I've overlooked anything.

Comment by Maralyn D Hill on December 28, 2009 at 6:57pm: Hi Linda,
I appreciate your comment. We just sent the post for the Rockland, Maine trip to our webmaster to be up by 1-1-09 I hope. We figured out the gratuities and are charging it with registration. It won't always be the same as some hosts have the budget to cover more than others. But, our members will know what expenses are.

I especially like your comment on allocating responsibility equitably. Michelle and I have picked up the slack too many times and it will be equitable going forward.

Thanks for commenting.

Comment by Linda Fasteson on December 28, 2009 at 6:37pm: Hi Maralyn,
Dealing in advance with associated fees, particularly gratuities, avoids awkwardness, allocates responsibility equitably, and makes for a much smoother trip. As you mentioned, much better to take care of the money issue once and be done with it.

Comment by Maralyn D Hill on December 28, 2009 at 4:42pm: http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/Tuna-Melt-1000079473 IFWTWA Scholarship Finalist Warren Bobrow achieved #30 in Saveur's top 100. Congratulations Warren for a great job.

Comment by Michelle M. Winner on December 5, 2009 at 3:05pm: Great idea Mary Jo!

Comment by Maralyn D Hill on December 5, 2009 at 2:30pm: Thanks Mary Jo. I did not mind the questions. I've only been on the Board 3 years this month. They never used to spell everything out. When I agreed to handle press trips, a clear fee structure is what I've worked towards and Michelle agrees. I think we'll have as explanation on application and/or website. I like that.

Comment by Mary Jo Manzanares on December 5, 2009 at 2:16pm: Hi Maralyn --

I hate to raise the pricing issue, because it always makes people feel defensive, and that is not my intention here. I well know the amount of work that goes into putting this together, and in no way dismiss the efforts in that regard.

This information may be common knowledge to long time members, but as a newbie (a year), I would have made erroneous assumptions about what the fee covered. Let me state most emphatically -- I think it's a reasonable fee! An explanation posted on the website might prevent others from making erroneous assumptions.

I will contact you directly with other questions and issues that I have.

Comment by Maralyn D Hill on December 5, 2009 at 1:48pm: I guess this should have been started on the discussion wall, but, next time I will. Thank you for your comments. I also believe in full disclosure.

As a non-profit with low annual dues (120), we need to make budget. Rather than up our dues to cover our lean budget, we charge a registration fee. Putting these trips together are a tremendous amount of extra work, time and expense for our one Ex Director plus committee members. So, it makes sense to have the members who are able to participate in the trips, cover the extra expenses.

We charge $100 for early registration, or $150 for late registration. The registration fees help us meet an annual budget covering EX Dir, Webmaster, etc. We need to bring in $4,000 to $6,000 per year to cover budget gap. And, the people we do pay are members and we are getting an extremely discounted rate.

The reason for the increase for late registration is to encourage members to register early as the hosts prefer to know who wants to come. The people that register late, generally take more work. The other benefit for the registration fee is a commitment of showing up. The registration fee is simply for IFWTWA. It takes Michelle and I a minimum of 40 to 120 hours to arrange a media trip (no pay), and then it takes Patty time to do all the registrations, feed all the e-mails and questions, print certificates of appreciation, etc. I'm not complaining, I just think it is important for our members to know who money is spent.

Now, as to single supplement, that is in the case of a cruise or a train where they are counting on two people to a room. We've no control over that.

When we start with the gratuities, which will be in the spring, they will be spelled out. It is quite a challenge and extra work, but neither one of us like asking for money all the time. Plus, we both feel our members should know what the entire cost of the trip will be so they can budget accordingly.

I hope this answered some of your questions. Our trips are fantastic and hope to meet you on one soon.

When we do a cruise or a train trip like the Copper Canyon, there was a base cost. We negotiated the lowest rate we could. Because the Conference at Sea is expensive by the time port charges, etc. are added in, we lowered the registration charge to $75.

Since I took over this committee 2-1/2 years ago and Michelle joined me in Jan 09, we have learned a lot. Both of us agree that full disclosure on our charges is important.