8 February 2008

Executive Committee Meeting
Hosted by the Jordan Interline Club, the 1st EC Meeting of 2008 is scheduled to be held on 7/8 March in Amman, Jordan. Member Clubs are requested to contact their respective Regional V.P.'s if there are any issues they would like to be included on the agenda.

WACA Manual
Part I - Constitution and Bylaws
Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws adopted at the 40th Annual General Assembly have been incorporated. This latest issue of the Constitution and Bylaws is dated February 2008 and it replaces the February 2006 issue.
Part II - Procedures and Guidelines
Amendments to the Procedures and Guidelines agreed upon at the 40th Annual General Assembly have been incorporated into the document. This latest issue of the Procedures and Guidelines is dated February 2008 and it replaces the May 2006 issue.
Should any Member Club need to print out a complete Manual, you are reminded that both parts can be found in the Forms and Reports section of the WACA Web site: /waca/forms.

International Events and Special Projects
The following is being communicated to you by the Acting V.P. International Events and Special Projects, Elaine Miller.
We are still in the early weeks of 2008 and I would like to see us get off on the right foot. Since, in the Chinese calendar this is The Year of The Rat, which I understand represents prosperity, that is what I wish for all our Member Clubs and WACA as a whole.
Calendar of Events
There are many opportunities for travel listed in our current Event Calendar and I hope each one of you will take the time to look at them and share the possibility of seeing the world through our interline packages, thus supporting our individual local Clubs who work very hard to organise and present them to us. Please post these Event Calendars in obvious places so that our current members and interested interliners can see what good value they present. Coming up very soon are the Taste of Israel; the Thai Tours to Cambodia, Laos, China Capitals and Vietnam; Snow/Sun/Fun 2008; Golf/Tennis tournaments in Portugal; Egypt and Nile Cruise; European Spring Get Together; New York Extravaganza as well as The Fraser Valley Wine Secrets Tour. That is only from February to May and many more are to follow for the rest of the year. I would like to mention, regarding the Egypt and Nile Cruise deadline, the Jordanian Club has had to move the registration deadline up to 20 February due to the cruise booking agents deadline. Please be advised that should you be contemplating this tour you need to contact them as soon as possible.
Regional Meetings
Concerning the arranging of Regional Meetings, I am unhappy with the way we have gotten away from our guidelines set out in the WACA Manual and urge each Regional Vice President and individual Member Clubs to please re-read the WACA Manual, Part II - Procedures and Guidelines, pages 42/43. As I see it, we need to get back to basics and this is what I would request of each of you so that we can better schedule our events, especially Regional Meetings, throughout the year. It is suggested in the Manual that, since there is only one meeting outside the AGA, the meetings should be scheduled for March/April. While we can be flexible on this, there are certain criteria I would like to see take place. First of all, I would urge the Regional V.P.'s at their forthcoming Regional Meetings to ask their Member Clubs if any of them are able or considering hosting their respective Regional Meeting in 2009. Next, they need to be informed to please prepare a proposed package and indicate this on their credential form prior to the AGA. There should be some flexibility in the dates in case of duplicate dates being chosen. At the Regional Meetings held prior to the AGA, the location of the 2009 Regional Meetings can be voted on by the respective Region and presented at the AGA. Hopefully, this would avoid the problems we have encountered this year.
Grand Venture Bonanza
I am pleased to announce that so far the Bonanza has a prize of one free package to the AGA in the Bahamas and, also just as appealing, a free package to the Dodo’s Nest in Mauritius in June. There are also monetary draws, so – sell, sell, sell those Bonanza tickets. Don’t forget, it is the right hand stub attached to the membership cards. These can be sold as part of the membership fee (new or renewals) or sold separately and the stubs forwarded to WACA Headquarters. This is an important fund raiser for WACA and we need your help from all regions. Remember, it's only USD 1.00 per ticket!
41st Annual General Assembly (AGA)
Don’t forget our 41st AGA will be coming up the end of September and it would be wise to start your Club's planning for this event.  Before you know it, it will be time to fill out those credential forms, so familiarise yourselves with them and what decisions have to be made so you are prepared in time.
If you have any questions please contact me or WACA Headquarters.

Events Calendar
New Listings
Interliners worldwide are invited to a "European Spring Get Together" (which includes the European Regional Meeting) from 1-4 May in Lisbon being organised by the Interline Club of Portugal.
Being organised from 2-7 June by the Paille-en-Queue Social Club of Air Mauritius, the ever popular Dodo’s Nest makes a welcome return to the WACA calendar. This will be followed from 8-13 June with a Marvellous Madagascar package which will be hosted by the Indian Ocean Islands Interline Club.
Interliners wishing to stay in Cairo following the Nile Cruise can now take a "Package B" programme for the 2008 WACA Get Together. Being organised by the Jordan Interline Club, the dates are from 28 April to 6 May.
The industrious Jordan Interline Club will also be offering three separate packages to form a "Golden Triangle". The first package from 21-27 October is "Ancient and Historic Syria", the second from 27 October to 2 November is the "Jordan Adventure" and the final package of the triangle from 3-10 November is a "Cairo and Nile Cruise".
Update
An updated brochure has been produced by the Hong Kong Interline Club for its exciting tour "Discovery China 2008 - From Cathay to Tartary; From Beijing to Ulan Bator".
Postponement
The Hungarian Interline Club has, unfortunately, found it necessary to postpone until 2009 its WACA Jamboree that was scheduled to take place from 18-21 April.
Details on all the above events can be found in the Event Calendar section of the WACA Web site: /waca/events.

Yours in interlining,

Keith Miller
Manager, WACA Headquarters
World Airlines Clubs Association
Tel.: +1 (514) 874-0202 (ext. 3243)
Fax: +1 (514) 874-1753
info@waca.org
www.waca.org