Jason Gewirtz will begin working on May 19th as the managing editor of SportsTravel.

A 13-year veteran of daily journalism, Jason worked the past eight years for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, where he started as a staff writer and was promoted to the position of city and business editor. He spent the last two years as the executive editor in charge of city and business coverage for the Press-Telegram.

Jason graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has won numerous awards as both a writer and editor.

By combining his love of writing and editing with his passion for sports, Jason will help us continue to increase the depth and breadth of the editorial content of SportsTravel.

He can be reached by e-mail at Jason.Gewirtz@SchneiderPublishing.com or toll-free (beginning May 19th) at (877) 577-3700.

The scale of human suffering that has resulted from the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China highlights the critical role that charitable relief organizations play in aiding those affected by disaster. I encourage you to consider supporting organizations such as the American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and World Vision during this time of great need.

The July issues of Association News and SportsTravel will include a special section produced in conjunction with the Destination Marketing Association International titled “Why DMOs Matter: Helping Local Communities and Meeting Planners Understand the Vital Role of Convention Bureaus and Destination Marketing Organizations.”

Convention bureaus that advertise in this special section will receive a discount of 40 percent off our regular rates and bureaus that are not currently members of DMAI will receive a complimentary one-year membership. The deadline is June 2, 2008, so e-mail me today for more information.

Tim Schneider
Schneider Publishing Company

Lisa Furfine will be in Pittsburgh, May 19-23; Lisa Furfine will be in Jacksonville, May 23-27; Ilana Edell and Suzanne Craven will be in St. Louis, June 1-3, for the Missouri Association of CVBs Annual Conference; Lisa Furfine will be in Memphis, June 4-8, for the Stanford St. Jude Championship; Ilana Edell will be in Dallas, June 7-11, for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Annual Convention; Andy Lamedman, Suzanne Craven, Tim Schneider, Tom Pitofsky, Yvonne Garcia and Ilana Edell will be in Long Beach, June 11-12, for Affordable Meetings West; Lisa Furfine will be in Boston, June 19-23; Ann Shepphird will be in San Francisco, June 22-24; and Yvonne Garcia will be in Gainesville, June 25-27, for the Florida Association of CVBs Destination Marketing Industry Summit and in Miami, June 28-July 2, for the Association of Luxury Suite Directors Conference & Tradeshow.

WE’RE HERE TO SERVE YOU AND WE LOVE TO SEE YOU WHEN WE’RE TRAVELING! Please call us toll-free at (877) 577-3700 or e-mail us if we can be of service in any way or if you’d like to schedule a meeting with us when we’re in your area. Until next month, thank you for supporting the communities we serve!