Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/10149
correct – it was great! Everyone young and old enjoyed the weekend. A big Thanks goes out to everyone at Disney that made it a T here comes a point in your life when you realize: Who mat- ters, Who never did, Who won’t anymore and Who always will. So, don’t worry about people from your past, there’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future. Give flowers to everyone you don’t want to lose in 2010. Hope you all had Happy Valentine Day! Hope all is well with each and every one of you. Can you believe it’s 2010 and we are already in the third month of the year. Hopefully this will be a very productive year for each of you. TPOC has several things planned for this year and we hope you will attend as many of the events as possible. Our first Friends and Family Weekend at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida was a great Success! We had over 75 individuals in atten- dance. Some of the highlights of the weekend was when we met Mickey and Minnie Mouse during our char- acter breakfast, then of course our private meeting with Disney’s First Black princess, Princess Tiana. Boy was she beautiful and if you could have seen the sparkle in all of the lit- tle girls eyes once the Princess arrived. It was a great moment. Then the finale of the weekend was the outstanding fireworks display at Epcot Center. One of the three-year- old little girls made a statement “Wow this is fantastic” And she was great event. Our next Friends and Family weekend will be in the Big “D” (Detroit) in either July or August of 2011. The Weekend details will be announced at this year’s con- ference. This is a chance for all mem- ber enrolled in the Heritage Program to earn points toward Heritage Certification. We are pleased to have Lynda Garrison-Carlton, president and owner of CASH Partners Interna- tional as a new Associate Member. We also thank Linda Simmons, director of Marketing with the La Porte County CVB for joining us again as an Associate member. I would also like to welcome Robert Triplett, Mary Ward and Patricia Clair all from the Chicago area, along with Suzette Holmes of Lithonia, Georgia as new agents in the TPOC family. We look forward to a long and lasting relation- ship with all of our new members. We ask that you especially support all of our Associate and Corporate mem- ber’s whenever possible! The 8th Annual Conference and Trade Show is fast approaching. It will convene in Nassau, Bahamas at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort on April 22-25. The theme for this year’s conference is “Opportunity: Recognize and Embrace Its Power” There are sev- eral items that you have been asking about concerning the conference. Please note the following: Hotel Reservations – MUST be reserved on or before March 21st if you want to receive the conference rate. So please DO NOT procrasti- nate. The conference rate is $199.00 per night for a single, $214.00 per night for a double and $279.00 per night for a triple. In addition to the above rates, each person will have to pay a ONE TIME ONLY Bellman’s fee of $6.00. If you go to our web site at www.tpoc.org, go to the Home Page and scroll down to TPOC organization then click on TPOC Conference Reservation. This will automatically take you to the Sheraton’s site were you can reserve your room. Conference Registration – You still have time to register for this year’s conference. Please make sure you get your registration into us ASAP. This is going to be one of the best confer- ences ever! The Bahamas’ tourist board, like all other cities, is anxiously awaiting our arrival. Pre Conference Activities – The pre conference activities will convene on Wednesday, April 21st. The island tour will take place around 1:00 p.m. So please make sure you inform us if you plan to take part in this event. Air Fares – American Airlines is offering us 7% off their lowest fare to Nassau from any gateway. Go into our web site “Conference/Discount Air.” We have also looked into other carriers and currently this is the best offer we have been able to receive. Post Fams – We finally have infor- mation on the educational post fams. You will have the opportunity to visit the following family islands – North Eleuthera (Harbour Island), Exuma and Grand Bahamas. The trips to each of these islands are only sched- uled for Monday, April 26, so you will have to make a choice. All of the trips will take the entire day. I will send the itinerary and prices for each island in a separate email. 34 Black Meetings & Tourism March/April 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com