by Aimee Vitrak

Dust off your Qadaffi carpets, Albanian belt buckles, Barbie burkas and any other “liberated” items from overseas postings for the OPC’s second Tchotchke Party on Friday, March 8. The evening will have cocktails, dim sum and a Foreign Correspondent story night.

This event is also a membership recruitment effort. Next year, the OPC celebrates its 75th anniversary; every member of the international reporting community should be encouraged to join an organization that supports press freedom, and journalists, around the world.

The first Tchotchke Party, held in March 2011, went over so big that it was featured as a “Talk of the Town” piece in The New Yorker. Ben McGrath wrote that the party was “an élite form of war-zone show-and-tell, which prompted questions from participants like ‘At what point is it looting?’ and ‘Who else has stolen the ashtray from the Rex Hotel?’ (in Saigon).”

What will this year’s Tchotchke Party feature? It’s up to enough raucous correspondents to RSVP and bring a potential OPC member. OPC member Yvonne Dunleavy and husband Joost Schiereck have generously agreed to donate $30 toward the $100 memberships for Young members (under 35 years of age). New members will also have an extended time since we are more than half way thru the billing cycle. So a New Young Member will pay $70 for a year and a half membership.

The event will be hosted again by OPC Board member Minky Worden and Gordon Crovitz on March 8 at 7 p.m. RSVP is essential. RSVP by e-mail or call the OPC at 212-626-9220