TBEX [20]10 was sold out. TBEX11 will be in Vancouver, BC, on the weekend of June 11-12. Preregistration is sold out; regular tickets will be released on September 5th.

We expect the app to be available in a month or so; in the meantime, here’s a link to the Facebook page we set up to let people know what we’re up to and gather ideas about the best places to include. We’d sure appreciate it if you’d visit the page and “like” us. Thanks!

Ed will be giving two presentations (I’d love to hear both!) in Orlando: “one session for travel bloggers on Working with travel marketers and p.r. agencies, and a reciprocal session for travel agencies, suppliers, and p.r. agencies on How to work with travel bloggers.”

The Peace Corps will be 50 years old in 2011. What better way to celebrate than to volunteer?

Become a grassroots entrepreneur in one of 77 countries as a Peace Corps volunteer. RSVP now and come to this Marin County orientation session to start your journey:

Tuesday, September 14, 2010
6:30PM to 8:00PM
Fairfax Library
2097 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard
Fairfax, CA 94930

Contact: Peace Corps San Francisco Regional Office:
(510) 452-8444 or sfevents@peacecorps.gov

The Mechanics’ Institute will host a panel discussion Tuesday evening, June 29 at 6 p.m.: Bay Area writers will discuss the dramatically changing directions and paradigms of the book publishing industry. Explore traditional publishing routes and take advantage of innovations like e-books, self-publishing, social media, and the Web. Panelists include writing coach Lisa Alpine (leader of the Self-Publishing Boot Camp), travel writer/journalist Laura Fraser (All Over the Map), internet to print scientist/writer Ransom Stephens (The God Patent) and Twitter to print author Matt Stewart (The French Revolution).

MODERATED by: Constance Hale, book editor and author of Sin and Syntax.

LOCATION: Mechanics’ Institute, 57 Post Street, San Francisco

TRANSPORTATION: Montgomery BART/MUNI station

RESERVATIONS & Information: 415-393-0100   •    Reservations by email:  rsvp@milibrary.org

Free for Mechanics’ Institute members   •   $12 for the general public

Photo: Creative Learning

Here’s an organization that’s working to promote peace by supporting American volunteerism in mostly-Muslim parts of the world. That’s a cause worth supporting!

And they have  announced an essay contest and a video contest. If I had done anything that qualified, I’d definitely enter this contest. The prizes are real ($2,000 for the 1st place video; $1,000 for the first place essay) and my guess is that there won’t be a huge number of competing entries. Deadline is July 15, 2010.

“America’s Unofficial Ambassadors

Did you teach English to villagers in Morocco, deliver disaster relief in Indonesia, or train women candidates to run for election in Kuwait?

Were you a medical volunteer in Uzbekistan, an art teacher in Afghanistan, or a mediation trainer in Niger?

Did you coach a basketball camp in Mali or run a photography workshop in Jordan?

If you are an American who worked or volunteered in the fields of education, unmet human needs, justice and rights, or creative expression in a Muslim majority country in Africa, the Middle East, or Asia please take a few minutes to join our Community of America’s Unofficial Ambassadors. Read more

We are excited to announce our first annual video and essay contests, with prizes that include cash awards and publication! The contests run along the themes of the impact of service, representing America, and remarkable local partners. The deadline for entry is July 15. Please click here for full details.”

More about AUA:

“AUA is based upon the premise that traditional diplomatic efforts and official development assistance are not sufficient to combat the root causes of the major challenges that face the United States and the Muslim World, ranging from failing states and the spread of extremist ideologies to the harmful stereotypes of the “other” that exist on a popular level.

“In addition to top down governmental approaches, a key to building and sustaining peace between America and the Muslim World are efforts that foster people-to-people relationships and help to alleviate human development challenges at the grassroots level where they receive the least dedicated resources. There is untapped potential among American citizens to support the initiatives of local leaders throughout the Muslim World with their volunteer service, technical expertise, and resources. At the same time, such high impact service dissipates negative stereotypes between Americans and Muslims and improves relations between the United States and the Muslim World.”

AUA is a program of the Washington, DC-based non-profit Creative Learning, which is another organization that looks like it’s worth checking out.

• David Page’s post on Matador
• C-Monster.net‘s take
• The Writing Coach’s tips from the conference
• More TK (the post is titled Writing for the Screen)

And a perspective on writing for free, this one from Advertising Age.

Check out the comments after the articles, too.