TR AVEL
IGTA holds
first co n ve n tio n
San Francisco, April 30 — More than 100
delegates from Morth America convened in
San Francisco recently for the history­
m aking First International Gay Travel Associ­
ation Convention.
IGTA, in less than six months of existence,
drew together delegates representing all sec­
tions of the industry, from travel agents to
hoteliers to tour operators to airlines. A Rus­
sian River resort familiarization trip, a travel
trade show, keynote speakers, mayoral con­
gratulations and seminars punctuated the
conclave for those interested in promoting
gay travel worldwide.
The association, which has more than 200
members, elected a board of directors to
expand and espouse its aims and purposes.
Directing IGTA for the next year will be seven
board members and several committee
coordinators.
As president, IGTA has a prominent Cana­
dian travel agency owner and gay business
guild officer. Isabel Smyth, President of CHAT
Travel in Toronto and President of the
Board of Directors. Bottom (l-to-r) Herb Harris, Dee Farrall, Roger Bullis, Isabel
Smyth. Top (l-to-r) Frank Freese, Jack Sroka, and Sam Meeker.
Lambda Business Association, accepted the
mandate “to take IGTA to the world and
quadruple the membership by its second
convention in April 1985.“
Assisting her will be Roger Bullis as Vice
President of Membership. Bullis, from Port­
land, Oregon, owns one of the largest travel
agencies in Oregon and operates a gay divi­
sion called In Touch Travel. He has com m it­
tee members assigned for domestic and in­
ternational membership drives.
Sam Meaker, a partner in Mark Tours and
Travel International of San Francisco, was
named Secretary of the association. He has
res ponsibility for the Industrial Relations com ­
mittee, which will handle ethics and griev­
ance issues brought by the membership in
by Douglas Bloch
In early June spring gracefully yields to
sum m er’s onset As the gentle winds scatter
flowering seeds to distant lands, the sun
journeys through the mutable air sign
Gemini.
While Aries defines itself through its ac­
tions and Taurus through its possessions, the
Gemini native identifies with its ideas.
Endowed with an inquisitivechild’s insatiable
curiosity, it acquires knowledge quickly and
easily. Its facile intellect is by no means a
complete blessing, however. In its studies, the
versatile Gemini will often skip from topic to
topic, gleaning only superficial smatterings
of each. In order to avoid becoming an eter­
an attempt to m onitor standards of its own
member agencies and hotels.
Treasurer and Visual Communications Di­
rector is Jack Sroka, Marketing Manager for
RSVP Productions in Minneapolis. Sroka also
serves as treasurer of his local gay business
guild. He will host the first board of directors
meeting set for July 14-15 in the Twin Cities.
The board is also comprised of three di­
rectors with responsibilities in the areas of
print com m unication and information dis­
semination.
Dee Farrell, of Denver’s Going Places
Travel Club and President of We re Going
Places, Inc., was elected Director of Network­
ing and will produce a membership listing
and advertising directory called “ IGTA Con­
nections.” Terry Bryant, President of the Rus­
sian River Gay Business Association, was
elected Director of Communications and will
edit IGTA’s quarterly newsletter and handle
press relations.
A new position titled Director of Education,
Tour Information and FAM Trips is filled by
Frank Freese, President of Forex Travel,
Boston. Committees have been established
to perform outreach to the gay and industry
media about IGTA purposes and benefits,
one to collect and disseminate commission-
able tour information to IGTA members, and
another to design and promote FAM Trips to
gay destinations and resorts for any travel
agency with interest in serving the gay or
lesbian traveler.
Although a small percentage of the dele­
gates, several women members voted to
meet in Chicago this September for discus­
sions about gay women in travel and better
serving the lesbian travelers with specialized
tours.
nal dilettante, the native must balance its
need for diversity with a lifelong focus.
Many twins find this focus in the world of
language. While Taurus grounds itself be­
hind the plow, Gemini feels most at hom e'
beside the podium. The zodiac’s finest com ­
municators often find their niches in the pro­
fessions of writer, teacher, orator, translator,
reporter, and editor. No wonder that poets
Walt Whitman, William Butler Yeats, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Allen Ginsberg and Bob
Dylan were bom under the sign of the twins.
To many astrologers, it would come as no
surprise if a Gemini coined the phrase “ vari­
ety is the spice of life.” Reacting against the
inertia of Taurus, the mentally restless twins
demand constant stimulation and change.
Though the outsider may label it capricious
and flighty, the Gemini knows that it must
seek diversity or become hopelessly bored.
The sign of the twins is portrayed by the
Roman numeral II, signifying that the
dualistic Gemini mind can see two sides to
everything. Thus, it often feels pulled in two or
more directions. Rather than deny its natural
schizophrenia however, the Gemini must
acknowledge and nurture each of its many
selves. A Gemini friend successfully inte­
grates its two personalities in the following
manner: It leads continental bus tours for
retired people half the year and spends its off
season in the country writing children’s
stories.
Anatomically, Gemini rules the brain and
nervous system (they control our thought
and speech): the hands (a direct extension of
the brain); and the lungs (the organ that ex­
tracts oxygen from the air we breathe).
Just Out, Mav 25-June 8