Voting Closed Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 5pm EDT.
Dates set for TMAC 2025 AGM
Election of National Board of Directors
The AGM will be held on May 21 at 1:00 pm EDT via Zoom, please register before May 14, 2025.
February 26, 2025
To all members of TMAC:
Your National Board has begun planning for our Annual General Meeting. As in recent years, it will be held virtually, with the election of officers also happening virtually, prior to the AGM.
It is important to note that your Board initially hoped to hold the AGM in person at our conference in June, in a hybrid model that would also allow non-attenders to participate. But our bylaws preclude this, since they dictate that everyone participating in an AGM must have equal opportunity to participate, including being able to communicate with all other members, and we do not have the capability of accomplishing this effectively. The Board therefore has voted to hold the 2025 AGM and election of directors virtually, to allow every member to participate, regardless of their attendance at conference. In addition, there will be an in-person question and comment session with board members on Saturday morning at the conference in Saskatoon. Here is the time-line concerning our AGM and election:
Wednesday, March 12, 1 p.m. EDT – Virtual Information Session re. serving on the board of directors.
Thursday, March 13, 12 noon EDT – Nominations for National Board of Directors open.
Nominations will only be received by completion of this form. These will be received by Lola Brown, Secretary, TMAC National Board and Christine Painter, CAO. If you have questions relating to nominations, or membership status of a nominee, please email christine.painter@travelmedia.ca.
Wednesday, April 2, 12 noon EDT – Deadline for nominations for National Board of Directors.
Monday, April 7, 1-3 p.m. EDT– Virtual Meet the Candidates.
Elections
Elections, if required will be conducted electronically, with voting taking place between Tuesday April 8, 12 noon EDT – Wednesday April 16, 5 p.m. EDT.
Wednesday, April 23: AGM package distributed electronically to members, including 2024 financial statement; 2025 budget; minutes from 2024 annual meeting; statement from accountant re. 2024 financial statement; committee reports; results of election of directors.
Wednesday, May 21, 1 p.m. EST: Virtual AGM.
At this time, five members of the eleven-member TMAC National Board of Directors will continue to serve for the next year, in 2025 – 2026:
President: Jerry Grymek becomes President of TMAC. (Note: according to our bylaws, TMAC’s President is not elected to that position; the vice president, a position that is elected, becomes President after serving a two-year term as VP).
Board members: Wendy Nordvik-Carr and Rod Charles continue into the second year of their second two-year term. (Note: Directors have a term limit of two consecutive two-year terms; at this point they must step aside for at least a year before running again. The exception to this rule occurs if a director, having served two terms, is nominated for the position of Vice President).
Lola Augustine Brown and Andrew Hiscock continue in the second year of their first two-year term.
Retiring from the board because of term limits are President Paul Knowles and Director Yashy Murphy, along with Tracy Ford, who was appointed to the board to complete one year of the term of a Director who resigned from the board in mid-term.
Three Directors have completed their first, two-year term on the Board, and are therefore eligible to be nominated for election to a second, two-year term or as a candidate for vice president: Katie Conklin, Tania Kedikian and Diane Selkirk.
In all, six positions on the Board must be filled by election: five Directors and the position of Vice President. The new board will take office at the conclusion of the 2025 conference – as of June 8, 2025.
As retiring President of TMAC, I am confident that I know better than most, the dedication and commitment of our volunteer Directors. They devote countless hours to TMAC, simply because of their appreciation of our organization, and their love for this unique family of travel communicators. I cannot thank each one of them enough for the positive contributions they bring to our association.
TMAC continues to be in great shape, with a healthy membership including folks from the entire spectrum of travel media, as well as a terrific group of national and international industry representatives. And the success of TMAC rests in many ways on the work of your National Board.
I encourage each member of TMAC to consider serving as a Director on the National Board. March 13 will bring your opportunity to be nominated as a candidate for election to the Board. Please consider nominating a colleague, or standing for office.
Prior to the opening of nominations, there will be an information session concerning the role of TMAC directors. We will also be sharing this information on line. More details will be forthcoming about the schedule and the process of nomination, election, voting, and attending the AGM.
Paul Knowles, National Board of Directors President,
Travel Media Association of Canada
BEFORE YOU NOMINATE, OR ACCEPT A NOMINATION…
Please review the full information package prior to nominating a member – or accepting a nomination. You can find these details within the link below.
As you consider potential nominees, please review the position responsibilities carefully. You can review all position descriptions on our website here:
- Governance and Leadership Expectations
- Board of Directors Code of Conduct
- Mandate of the Board of Directors and all position descriptions
- National Committees for which each Board Member shall chair one committee
- TMAC By-Laws which guide TMAC
POSITION DESCRIPTIONS FOR CURRENT CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Director-at-Large includes the following responsibilities:
- Elected by the membership for a two year period, for the term of 2025-2027, effective June 8, 2025 (the final day of the 2024 Conference) with official office being assumed at the first meeting of the Board of Directors.
- All directors are expected to attend monthly and special meetings of the National Board (typically via Zoom with up to two meetings in person per year).
- All directors are expected to chair a National Committee, and are responsible for executing the strategic plan for the National Committee they are leading.
- Directors will attend the National Conference and take on key leadership roles and responsibilities for the duration of the conference.
Benefits
As part of the Volunteer Engagement Program, National Board Director-at-Large members receive:
- Membership Dues waived.
- Conference Registration Fees waived, and subject to budget approval accommodation and travel expenses will be reimbursed.
- Media Members receive seven (7) – ten (10) Volunteer Points Per Year towards re-qualification depending on their roles.
Vice-President includes the following responsibilities:
- Elected by the membership for the term of 2025-2027, effective June 8, 2025 (the final day of the 2024 Conference).
- Serves as a Vice‐President and Director for a two‐year term
- Executes the leadership responsibilities as outlined in the Directors Code of Conduct.
- Keeps abreast of all ongoing items
- Serves on committees set up by the TMAC Board, as required
- Attends all National Board meetings
- In the absence or disability of the President, perform the duties and exercises the powers of the President
- Any other duties as shall from time to time be imposed upon him/her by the TMAC Board
- Board Liaison and/or Chair at least one National Committee
- Familiarizes themself with all the duties of President, and assumes that role of President when the current President completes their duties.
Benefits
- Membership dues waived
- Eight volunteer points towards re-qualification
- TMAC Conference Registration Fees waived, and subject to budget approval accommodations and travel will be reimbursed.
Your current Board of Directors can be found here on our website.