Fellow Skalleagues:

As we reflect on the past year and the current economic situation, we are encouraged by the consistent signs of economic recovery. Global and travel industry economic indicators are reflecting a steady increase in world trade and in the overall travel industry.

We are also looking back at a recent episode which saw the worst peacetime air travel disruption in history, as clouds of ash paralyzed European air space for six days, stranding millions of travelers across the globe.

As outlined and addressed in a recent repositioning document, SKAL INTERNATIONAL will need to redefine ourselves…..”WHO WE ARE” and “WHY SKAL EXISTS”.

It is the goal and mission of SKAL INTERNATIONAL CLUB of Atlanta to carry the torch for re-vitalization within our organization.

We plan to start with a survey to our membership in order to determine how we move forward. The survey will be sent out early July. We encourage all members to respond.

We need to show the value we bring to our membership! We will take your feedback and focus on specific recommendations as we have in the past.

Our plan for the balance of 2010 and beyond is to focus on our core value of developing innovative ways of fostering friendship in the travel and tourism industry worldwide.

Kathy M. Bedell

My Dearest Friends in Skal:

It is with great pleasure that I take the opportunity once again to write to you through our web-site President’s Corner.

We entered 2010 full of hope and with great expectation for a fruitful and successful year. So far most of the leading indicators have proven to be correct in forecasting a slower gradual increase in business culminating with a relatively strong second period. The economy in the United States appears to be on the ways to stabilizing which will again permit us to plan accordingly, although indicators like unemployment remain behind acceptable levels.

Regarding our Atlanta Club business, I am pleased to inform you that our Skal Youth Program is now structured to the point that in view of this market stabilization as a result, will see the growth of the new and future members of our Skal Youth Club.

In the process I am also very pleased to inform you that with the appointment of one of our own as SIUSA Region IV Vice President, Atlanta is well represented in our region which will permit us within time to be one of the leading clubs in the Southeast Area.

As you all know I have accepted management responsibilities in one of the Starwood family of hotels at the Sheraton Panama Hotel & Convention Center in Panama City, Panama, Central America. We have decided to maintain residence and the ownership of our home in Atlanta/Austell and this will give us the opportunity to visit you not as often as we would like to, but in due time.

Once my responsibilities as your President comes to an end this coming March, I will request transfer papers to the Panama Club and will explore the possibility of one day entertaining the thought of linking the Panama and the Atlanta Clubs as sister organizations.

It has been wonderful enjoying your friendship and a great honor for me to have being your President and I will never forget your kindness and support to Gisella and myself in our transition process.

Yours in Skal,
Cordially,

William A. Torresala

My dearest Friends in Skal,

This is my first opportunity to dedicate the President Corner message to all of you that have supported me with your friendship through out the years we have been together since my arrival into Atlanta.

For me it is 30 years of service as a member of our Skal club in four continents and once again I am humble to have the great honor of leading our wonderful Skal Atlanta team during the 2009-10 period.

These are very difficult times for the hospitality industry and based on current indicators it doesn’t appear we will have a respite in the immediate future.
Therefore it behooves us to strongly support each other as much as possible now that it is us who are in the front lines facing these complex economic developments.

A great part of my administration will be dedicated to enhance the Skal youth and the Hotel presence in our membership.

To this effect, I will ask our board to approve a plan to develop those two areas of importance by appointing two members of our team who will be responsible for this objective.

As you know in the past few years I have been responsible for maintaining our By-Laws and I have realized there are areas where our covenants could have been followed more precisely as mandated by our SIUSA rules.
To help us in this endearment, I will also ask our board to appoint a “Sergeant of Arms” to help us maintain cohesiveness and compliance in a humorous and fun way.

Finally, I thought of sharing with you a copy of my acceptance Speech which I had the honor to present to all of you during my installment as your President by Phelps Hope our Region IV, Vice President.

INNAGURAL SPEECH
Skal Atlanta Club
William Torresala
March 27 – 2009
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel

Good evening.

Ladies & Gentleman Distinguished Guest, Dear Friends.

It is a great honor for me and with much humility that I accept this appointment
to lead the Atlanta Skal Club through out the fiscal year of 2009.

When I look at you from where I stand I see the wealth of knowledge and
the great experience that collectively and independently you have contributed to the Hospitality Industry.

Many of you are Legends and your legacy is our benchmarks which allow us to serve with integrity and ethically.

The Skal organization is the only one in the world that have united all segments of the Hospitality industry, from Travel – (Agencies, Global wholesalers, travel distribution points of sale) to Airlines, Hotels and now Restaurants.

Back in 1932 our founders at the inauguration of the first Swedish Air Service between Stockholm and Paris invited a group of travel professionals to make an exploratory flight over the new Route. The welcome they received lead to some incredible Friendship. One of our Founders Florimond Volckaert conceived the idea of uniting them into and international organization thus the Skal club was born.

To this date we follow that legacy and we are proud to be parts of our communities were we serve our industry with the underlining values of Friendship and Goodwill through out the world.

Today there are 22000 of us through out 480 clubs in 90 major global cities from Amsterdam and Acapulco to Zagreb and Zurich.

It is indeed my great honor. Thank you

Our three official languages are English, French and Spanish and I ask that you join me in practicing our Skal toast in those three languages.

Would you please raise and stay standing for the invocation by Don Vellk immediately after.

Spring is here !!!! and that brings us to our Past President’s Ball on the 27th of March in downtown Atlanta at the Sheraton. This has always been the “travel event” of the year and will again be quite a night. We invite everyone to come downtown and enjoy the evening.

The Sheraton has extended a $99 rate and a $5 valet parking rate. We will have a hospitality suite open for after the Ball and also open for a bite in the morning. On April 30th we will have our Annual Auction at the Renaissance Midtown. I remind everyone to tap all their resources to find great items for the fun event. We already have airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rental, and other exciting items to buy. Invite your friends to come and find some deals from all over the world.

This is our one event that we call on you to support the on going efforts of the club – scholarships, educational trips and our charity efforts. Help your club make it a great success. SKAL!!!

I welcome all of our new members and invite more to come join our club. We continue to stay at 100+ strong even with the economy challenges. This conveys a strong message to you that aren’t members yet. We enjoy the networking and partnerships that we share and welcome you all with open arms.

This is my last time to speak as President – and what a ride it has been.. I could not have survived without the Board that was voted on by the Club. I thank you for the opportunity to hold such an esteem position and will be very proud to pass on the chains to William Torresala at the Ball. What a job he has done as Vice President – Best venues – Best meals and Best times have been had by all.

Debbie Arett, CTC

Regional Manager – Travel & Partnerships

Happy 2009. I hope you and your family enjoyed a fun and safe holiday season. As we move into the New Year we are assured that the travel industry will be challenged but as always, but certainly will survive – stronger and better. This is a perfect reason for being a part of SKAL as we all need to tap our resources for survival. I challenge you to reach out to a fellow Skaleagues for assistance and encouragement and potential new opportunities for business.

I remind you that two great events are in our future – the SKAL President’s Ball will be Friday night the 27th of March, location still pending but we hope to be at the New “W” in Midtown, thanks to William. And the Annual Auction is scheduled for the 30th of April at the Renaissance in Midtown. So please put these on your calendar and make plans to attend.

I welcome all of our new members to our club and know they will find the excitement and friendship rewarding.

I look forward to seeing you at our January Meeting on the 29th at the Sheraton Gateway – we Southside folks love it!!!. Best wishes for a great 2009!!!

Debbie Arett

SKAL and Happy Holidays!!  What a great year it has been so far and 2 wonderful events still let for us in 2008.  November 11^th will be our meeting at the Doubletree Buckhead with Skalleague Dave Rossman hosting the group.  We are delighted that we will have a guest speaker that night – Dave Daily who is the Atlanta Advocate for the Kindness Revolution.

Make sure you add the holiday luncheon on December 11th at Maggiano’s Cumberland to your calendar – we will start about 11AM with networking – lunch and fun at noon.   Make sure to bring your donations for the Atlanta Food Bank – Ray Sorrell is heading up the effort and  will deliver the food to the Bank.

Also bring along a door prize – We will be giving our extra drawing tickets for at least 10 items for the food bank and a door prize donation.  This is the travel event of the year, so make sure you are there.  If you know of a potential member, or want to bring a guest for the festivities, please add them to your E-Vite.

I was very proud to represent our club in Taipei in November at the SKAL World Congress.  We spent one full day voting on statutes and the current board and officers.

The Taiwan Club really made everyone feel very welcome and special.  Next year’s event is in Budapest, Hungary – the first week of November.  I hope you all will be joining us there.

At the same time I was in Taipei a group of 8 Atlanta Skaleagues were in Amelia Island celebrating their 40^th anniversary of their club.   They represented our club in style.   We hope to be able to attend other celebrations next year and also are planning some more trips as I write.

I wish you and yours a very special and safe holiday season and look forward to seeing you at the Doubletree and Maggiano’s in the near future.

SKAL!!!

Debbie Arett, CTC

SKAL!!!  Hope you have enjoyed a safe and fun summer – and traveled to somewhere new and exciting.  For those who attended our summer event at Fosters, yee-ha!!!  There were plenty of Cowboys who showed up.  Thanks for all those who brought books for the soldiers in Iraq.  We will continue to collect them through the end of the year.  Please feel free to bring any books that you have enjoyed and I will send them to Kuwait to my nephew who is an officer in the Navy and he will make sure they get to the troops.

I would like to welcome our new members- Jim Brock – President of Brock Tours and Travel, Catherine Tripplethorn – Sales Dir. For TravelGuard, Claudio Loretz – Managing Director – Interhome, Leigh Kalna – President-Kaltrav Intl, and Pat Duncan – Pres and CEO  – Clayton County CVB.  We welcome them to our club and hope you all will extend an open arm to them or a SKAL toast when you see them next.

We also welcome any new potential members to attend upcoming meetings this fall.  We have great venues and programs planned thanks to our Vice President, my right hand man and Program Chair – William Torresala.

I will be representing our club in Taipei, Taiwan in October at the SKAL World Congress.  What a privilege it is to be there representing the SKAL Club of Atlanta and being a part of a World Class event.  I hope to return with great ideas and stories to share with you all.

See you at our next meeting… SKAL!!!!

Debbie Arett, CTC

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer! Please plan to attend our family event at Fosters on the 31^st of July. Bring your spouse, partner, family or a friend – enjoy the fun.

There is no cost to attend, so make sure you make it. The theme for the evening is Country Western – we will have some dancing – fun and good food. Wear your boots and hat if you have one.

Bring a potential member if you can!!!

If you are not a member of our club, I invite you to join us for our family event. We welcome all new potential members to come meet everyone and find out what we are all about.

There are so many aspects of the travel industry represented by our club, which is 100 strong and the knowledge is abounding.

For members, please remember we have the Florida Conference in Orlando July 25-27 and the 40^th anniversary of our Jacksonville, FL club on the 18^th of October.

The Atlanta club will off-set some of the cost of these events, so let me know if you want to attend.

See you all at Fosters on the 31^st!! SKAL!!!

Debbie Arett, CTC