National Vacation Matters Summit

From our friends at Take Back Your Time:
Mark the dates and make your reservations now for THE NATIONAL VACATION MATTERS SUMMIT
MONDAY, AUGUST 10 TO WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12, 2009
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

SPACE IS LIMITED. REGISTER BEFORE MAY 1 FOR A TOTAL
REGISTRATION FEE OF $95, AND $45 FOR STUDENTS.

MEDIA PASSES AVAILABLE (email jodg@comcast.net)

If spaces still remain after May 1, registration fees will increase to $125 and $65.

Tickets will be available from Brown Paper Tickets:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/62819

You are also welcome to register directly with TAKE BACK YOUR TIME. Simply send a check payable to TBYT/VACATION SUMMIT to:

Take Back Your Time
PO Box 18652
Seattle, WA 98109

Add your email address for confirmation. Otherwise, we will have a name tag and conference materials waiting for you at the registration desk at the beginning of the Summit.

WHY THIS CONFERENCE? WHY NOW?

Studies show that vacations are essential to physical and mental health. They provide the strongest of family-bonding memories. They improve workplace productivity and prevent burnout. They increase international contact and understanding. They offer opportunities for spiritual growth and joyful play. They provide employment and business opportunities in the travel industry. But the United States is the only industrial country that does not guarantees some vacation time by law and Americans get less vacation time than people in almost any other country of the world.

Times of economic crisis like the one we face today are also opportunities to envision the kind of economy and life we really want and to ask what really matters when it comes to quality of life. Just as the Great Depression led to the forty-hour week and the expansion of the middle class, these new hard times can lead us to new choices that honor the need for balance and leisure in our lives.

The Vacation Matters Summit is about learning and sharing what we know about the value of leisure travel and vacation time. We’ll be bringing together more than three hundred experts, researchers, advocates, stakeholders and interested citizens for the first-ever national gathering about the importance of vacation time. The program starts Monday evening with a welcome and reception and continues until early Wednesday afternoon. It includes eight plenary speakers and at least fifty workshop presenters.

We are still looking for workshop presenters and will be accepting proposals. Let me know if you are interested in presenting and I will forward the information to our workshop committee. Registration fee for presenters will be $25.

Here’s a sampling of some of the presentations you’ll hear:

The Business Case for More Vacation Time
Vacations: A Matter of Social Justice
Vacations and International Understanding: the Case of Hosteling
Simple Vacations
Volunteer Vacations
The Impact of Vacations on Workplace Stress and Health
A short History of the family vacation
Vacations and Family Memories
Why do Americans give up so much vacation time?
Labor’s stake in more vacation time
Using the Economic Stimulus to guarantee more vacation time
The Economic Crisis as an opportunity to re-think what matters
Vacations and Nature Deficit Disorder
Culture Shift: From Valuing Stuff to Valuing Time
Pilgrimage and the Spiritual Value of Vacations

And many more…

ACCOMMODATIONS AND FOOD

Please let us know whether you will need meals and accommodations while in Seattle. Seattle University offers single and double rooms in both residence halls and residence suites at modest prices ranging from $26 to $55 a night. Email me at: jodg@comcast.net

Residence halls—1 person in room: $31 per night; 2 persons in room: $26 each per night
Residence suites—1 person in room: $55 per night; 2 persons in room: $43 each per night

There are also a number of hotels in the immediate area.

Seattle University also offers a meal plan at $30 per day or you may purchase food in the dining area separately. There are also many restaurants in the area.

Please let us know your preferences. Space at Seattle University is limited and first-come, first serve.

Total conference costs including lodging, food and registration (but not travel costs) ranges from approximately $137 (presenters in residence halls) to $265 (non-
presenters in single room residence suites).

Summit begins at 6 pm Monday, August 10 and ends at 2 pm, Wednesday, August 12.