New Membership Drive

 By Chris Collard

 Hello everyone and Happy New Year. I hope the upcoming year will find you in the midst of many adventures—hiking, fishing, hunting, or taking a drive in the backcountry. The prospects are looking good for all of the activities that drew us to the outdoor writing profession (well, unless you are also a sailor like me, and your lake may quite well be empty by July). 

Since joining the OWAC Board of Directors a few years ago, I’ve come to the conclusion, that for me, one of the key benefits of membership stems from the other members. It might sound odd, but here’s the skinny…in my humble opinion.

The epiphany revealed itself during my first conference. I knew no one when I arrived. However, by the end of three days of kayaking, fishing, hiking, dining, and tossing back a few coldies with other OWAC members, many felt like good friends. Since then, time spent together at additional conferences has strengthened these ties.

People working in the same profession and sharing the same passion can’t help but to energize and motivate each other. With any organization, strength is in the numbers.  

For 2012 we’ll be starting a new membership drive. The details are simple, the OWAC member who recruits the most new members before each conference will have their registration fee paid ($110 value). We’ll have some other great schwag for runner-upprizes. Contest closing date for the Morro Bay Spring conference will be April 20^th, and it is VERY IMPORTANT that the new applicant puts your name in the “sponsor” section of the application.

If you are not a regular conference attendee, I highly advise breaking that streak this spring, bring in a few professional members and your Morro Bay experience will be on us.

QUESTIONS?  Contact either Chris at chris@adventurearchitects.com or Yvonne at owac.director@gmail.com