I
thought it would be a good idea for you to know a bit about me and my
motivation for putting this event together. My
name is Francin and for those of you who do
not already know me, I am the Head Admin for the BG
Masters backgammon ladder. By profession I've been a Travel Executive for over
25 years and have managed many major travel houses including branches of
Ask Mr.Foster, Carlson and Thomas Cook agencies in Canada. In addition I have
been a
Travel Director for the Federal Government Of Canada's
Travel Office at Foreign Affairs in charge of
the travel
requirements of federal ministers, diplomats and diplomatic couriers
worldwide.
I
am a travel editor for a Canadian newspaper as well as have written freelance
travel articles for such magazines as Redbook, Canadian Living, Cosmopolitain,
Travel and Leisure and Cruising. I've participated and been a
contributing editor in numerous "Travel Travel" televison
specials in Canada and am in the process of writing a book on the best hotels worldwide
which is due out in 2002.
My
travel specialty has always been the cruise industry and I am the
President of my
own travel consulting firm, The Grand Voyager, which handles mainly upscale and
specialized luxury, leisure travel focusing primarily in corporate and
incentive group cruises. These center around social-interest groups, executive business
meetings and sales campaigns, and professional continuing education at
sea in the fields of medicine, law and finance. Based in Montreal we handle any venue,
whether it be an Around-The-World cruise, yacht charter in the
Galapagos, Trans-Atlantic crossings, barging in France to a luxury
Caribbean Cruise.
Personally
I have taken over 52 cruises both for business and pleasure to the
Caribbean, Bermuda, Antartica, Alaska, Europe, Mexico, the Mediterranean,
Russia, Scandinavia, Egypt, South America, Canada & US, Asia and Africa.
A
few years ago I discovered Backgammon online. I made many friends
playing this fabulous and frustrating game and thought it would be great
to finally meet them in person. It was then that I got the idea to
organize a
group cruise for my Backgammon friends. I thought this would be a great way for me
to combine my two favorite pastimes, backgammon and cruising while having fun
finally meeting my internet friends while on vacation. Last year several of us met on a cruise and it
was fabulous !
Thus
began the concept of the yearly Backgammon At Sea Tournament.......
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