|
|||
|
|||
|
Copyright 2010 - TMAC All Rights Reserved 55 St. Clair Avenue West - Suite 255, Toronto, ON M4V 2Y7 Tel: 416-934-0599 Fax: 416-967-6320 |
home | sitemap | search
2010 Conference & AGM
Cardiff, Wales
March 7 – 11, 2010
THE WORD ON WALES IS . . . HWYL*! (*GOODBYE.)
It began with a visit from Willy Wonka and ended with Mary Poppins, Tom Jones and the entire Welsh regimental marching band. Yep, let's just say that TMAC's 2010 Conference & AGM in Cardiff has raised the bar for all future conferences.
Some 200 TMACers (including 101 media members, the biggest number ever, and a handful of at times bemused companions) gathered in sunny Cardiff from March 7 to 11 to celebrate The Word on Wales. We were warmly welcomed by the extraordinary Visit Wales team - not to mention Cardiff's Lord Mayor, in full regalia - at a casual Roald Dahl-themed reception on Sunday night where we all drank far too many James and the Giant Peach bellinis.
The conference proper got underway on Monday morning with an entertaining presentation by our keynote speaker, the award-winning author David Aaronovitch, who not only rekindled our passion for words, but also taught us how to get out of a kayak in an English canal. (An activity that is, by all accounts, best avoided.)
After that afternoon's local tours around the city of Cardiff, Visit Wales threw a huge welcome party in the neo-baroque splendour of Cardiff City Hall. Who knew that rugby and ballet could come together so beautifully in interpretive dance?
Tuesday was media marketplace day, where we welcomed our guests from the UK media and enjoyed a lunchtime birthday party, hosted by Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, to celebrate the 400th birthday of Cupids. Later, after all that networking, we were ready for a good laugh, and that's just what we got that evening at the lively banquets held in Caerphilly and Cardiff castles.
On Wednesday, we all headed out on full-day tours, then returned home for a casual pub night where TMACers got to test their knowledge of trivia against locals, with sometimes mixed, but always hilarious, results.
Thursday, the final day of the conference, was also the busiest day, starting with professional development seminars, continuing with lunch hosted by next year's conference destination, Tourism Ottawa, and going on to the AGM. And still we weren't done, for after that we had the awards and finally the gala closing reception at the spectacular National Museum of Wales.
To those of you who were there, we're thrilled you made your way across the pond for this once-in-a-lifetime experience. To those who missed it, we'll see you next year, when we're Coming Home to Ottawa.
Finally, it's impossible to hold an event of this scale and complexity without the generous support and hard work of countless people and organizations, so we'd like to send out a great big thank you to everyone who made this conference such a huge success.
First and foremost, we'd like to thank Eirlys Thomas and Robert Lewis Jones of Visit Wales and their staff, volunteers and partners for putting on a truly magnificent event. They in turn were supported by Visit Britain, so bouquets go to Paul Gauger, Meredith Pearson and the rest of their team as well.
We are also grateful to our conference sponsors: Ottawa Tourism, Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, Tourism Saskatoon, Parks Canada, Waterloo Regional Tourism Marketing Corp., New Brunswick Tourism, Travel Alberta, Tourism London, Tourism Niagara and Le Quebec Maritime.
And a big thank you also goes out to our awards sponsors: CN Tower, Quebec City, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Days Inn, Tourism Niagara, Tourism Saskatchewan, Barbados Tourism Authority, New Brunswick Tourism, Tourism Oxford, Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism and Starwood Hotels.
In addition to our hosts and sponsors, there are many other people who spend countless hours making a conference like this a success. They include: TMAC's professional development chair, Sandra Phinney; the awards committee chair, John Masters; Glenn Cameron, who compiles the annual report, minds the clock at the marketplace and takes on myriad other tasks; and, of course, our absolute lifelines at T.O. Corp., Tina Hutchinson and Leya Duigu.
To all of you, our sincerest thanks - we appreciate everything you do for TMAC.
Copyright 2010 - TMAC All Rights Reserved
55 St. Clair Avenue West - Suite 255, Toronto, ON M4V 2Y7 Tel: 416-934-0599 Fax: 416-967-6320
