From: ISGLMP Date: Thu, 1 Jan 1998 15:52:39 EST Subject: ISGLMP MONTHLY E-MAIL, vol. 2, no. 1a (January 1, 1998) ISGLMP MONTHLY E-MAIL, vol. 2, no. 1a (January 1, 1998) 175 Fifth Avenue #2172, New York, N.Y. U.S.A. 10010-7703 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- HAPPY NEW YEAR! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- Tel.: 212-388-0588; Fax: 212-388-0681 E-Mail: ISGLMP@aol.com Website: http://www.ISGLMP.org (touch to access) Int’l Society of Gay & Lesbian Meeting Professionals - 519 strong! INDEX A. 1998: The Year of ISGLMP by Jim Luce B. Upcoming Events: Kansas City! C. Outreach Education Committee Update D. Advice Needed on Give-Away & Website PR E. Members Dialogue F. Elections Soon, Candidates/Chairs Wanted by Jeff Tendean G. Public Relations Committee Update by Jeff Wahl H. CVB’s Looking to Seal of Approval I. Help! E-Mail Addresses Missing... J. ISGLMP Seal of Approval Application K. ISGLMP Charter Membership Application Form ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------- A. 1998: The Year of ISGLMP by Jim Luce Happy New Year! Just one year ago ISGLMP was but an idea conceived on the way home from a FAM in Ft. Lauderdale. Today, you are reading Volume 2 of our electronic newsletter, are one of more than 500 members from almost half a dozen countries, are part of an almost monthly presence in our industry’s press, have access to our exciting website and are helping us create new committees and launch local chapters. How do we explain such rapid growth? One explanation is simple: there was a vacuum and ISGLMP simply filled it, becoming the lesbian & gay voice of what the New York Times has labeled “the largest industry in America.” Perhaps the world. My explanation is even simpler. ISGLMP is where it is today because of one person: you. Without you, ISGLMP is an unpronounceable group of letters. But with you, ISGLMP is as powerful as the oceans that unite us as meeting professionals around the globe. We have much to be proud of this new year: for having acknowledged our orientation or having decided to stand with those who have, for being members of a dynamic and vibrant industry, and for having united across international boundaries to create an organization for education and networking. Help us make 1998 the best year possible! B. UPCOMING EVENTS - NEXT WEEK IN KANSAS CITY! Note: for a complete list of upcoming industry events, please check our website “Industry” page. Thanks! PCMA: Kansas City, January 7 - 10 Those members planning on attending to date include: Jim Daggett, CAE, CMP (JRDaggett@aol.com) Bob Dallmeyer (rdall@compuserve.com) Joan Eisenstodt (Jeisen@aol.com) Brian Hile (Bhilefair@aol.com) Tamar Hosansky (thosansky@mail.aip.com) Dan Mendelson (dmendels@shrike.depaul.edu) Ronald F. Olejko (olejko@rheumatology.org) Rick Osmanski (RickO@rtnda.org) Lee Pomerance, CMP (Lpomerance@compuserve.com) Russ Ruston (MeetinMan@aol.com) Carol Wilke, CMP, CEM (cwilke@aad.org) If you are planning on making an appearance in Kansas City, please let us know! Due to ‘holiday madness,’ we have had no offers for a reception, but we will send out the invitation by e-mail if such an offer is received in time... MPI-PEC: Orlando, January 25 - 27, 1998 David Cantalupo (dcantal@eatright.org) Jim Daggett, CAE, CMP (JRDaggett@aol.com) Joan Eisenstodt (Jeisen@aol.com) Brian Hile (Bhilefair@aol.com) Mark Israel, CMP (israelm@mindspring.com) Lee Pomerance (Lpomerance@compuserve.com) Andre Valk (avalk@hinton-grusich.com) IACVB/Destination Showcase: Washington, DC, Feb. 26, 1998 ACME: Washington, DC, Washington, DC, Feb. 26-27, 1998 MPI-PEC/Europe: Copenhagen, April 19 - 21, 1998 Gay & Lesbian Bus. & Consumer Expo: New York, April 25-26, 1998 Jim Luce will be staffing table; other volunteers needed to “people” booth. Last year’s show was great - join us! C. OUTREACH EDUCATION COMMITTEE UPDATE Peter J. Quintin, CMP, conference manager with the American Society on Aging in San Francisco, has joined the committee (Pjqcmp@ aol.com). Bob Dallmeyer, chair, may be reached at rdall@compuserve. com. Joan Eisenstodt will be discussing PCMA’s Annual 1999 Meeting in Kansas City. Anyone wishing to contact join should do so at Jeisen@aol.com. D. ADVICE NEEDED ON GIVE-AWAY & WEBSITE PR To promote our website, the Public Relations Committee will soon launch a campaign, both in the industry and community press, featuring vacation-for-two in warm and gay-friendly places! Possible press-release text is as follows: “Attn: Gay & Lesbian Meeting Professionals - 1998 is here! Celebrate with ISGLMP! If you are the 1,998th contestant to reply to one of our sponsors, you will be a winner in the ISGLMP “Getaway-for-Two!” Each prize features three days and two nights at the destination, with local goodies thrown in to make you feel at home! Options include airport meet & greets, sightseeing tours, drink tickets for the best bars in town - and even snorkeling! Transportation is offered compliments of _________ airline. Let _________ airline handle your next meeting! Destinations include [possibilities]: Key West, Florida and Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. Enter the contest by logging on to the International Society of Gay & Lesbian Meeting Planners at http://www.isglmp.org! Your vacation for two may only be a mouse click away! Contestants must be over 18 and employed in either the association or hospitality industry. Participation by an individual does not imply anything concerning the individual’s sexual orientation.” Question: how can we make this perfect? Anyone with 1) give-away experience, 2) additional prizes and/or 3) press contacts, please contact Jeff Wahl, committee chair (JWahl@miamiair.com) and cc: ISGLMP@aol.com. E. MEMBERS DIALOGUE Note: ISGLMP reserves the right to edit all submissions. FLORIDA KEYS RECEPTION IN CHICAGO “I will be in Chicago for a Florida Keys Sales Mission/Reception at the OMNI Ambassador East on Wednesday Jan 28. ISGLMP members from the Chicago area could e-mail me for an invitation. There will be chefs flown up from the Keys, a Hemingway look-alike, a conch shell blowing contest, door prizes, and an opportunity to meet reps from major properties up and down the Florida Keys.” - Steve Smith (smithmurra@aol) FIRST TURKISH MEMBER JOINS ISGLMP “I live in Istanbul, Turkey and recently came across your website while surfing on the net. Herewith enclose membership form completed in accordance with your application.” - Nevzat Yücel, General Coordinator, Parasol Holidays (versus@superonline.com) SOCIAL WORKER SEEKS REASSURANCE “Please place me on you newsletter subscription list. I am a social worker who is gay and I need to be reminded from time to time that its okay.” - Gary MORE AND MORE CVB REPS JOINING ISGLMP... “I feel this is a very important organization to be a member of. Please send me any information you may have regarding ISGLMP. Thank you and happy new year.” - Armando F. Zambrano, Conv. Sales Manager Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau (zambrano@austintexas.org) ...AND AN OCCASIONAL PIECE OF HATE MAIL “I just read the article in MeetingNews and I have only one thing to say... Sinners! Sinners! Sinners!” - NAJAK 1@aol.com F. ELECTIONS SOON, CANDIDATES/CHAIRS WANTED by Jeff Tendean So much has happened in so little time. Anyway, the terms of our Advisory Council will expire in June 1998. At that point we will attempt our first ‘electronic election!’ However, in the interim, there are several committees that are in need of chairs. According to ISGLMP’s Constitution, committee chairs are appointed by the president. Each committee chair, to a maximum of 12, will sit on the Advisory Council, as will the head of each local chapter. The number of Council “members-at-large” will be dropped from the present 36 to 24, so that the additional 12 seats may be accommodated. Jim Luce will be stepping down as President, so all positions will be wide open. All candidates are requested to send in a fifty word essay on why they wish to serve ISGLMP & what they have done for ISGLMP. (The Board of Directors have indicated that Jim Luce will be asked to become Director.) Anyone wishing to suggest someone to chair a committee or local chapter, please contact Jim Luce at isglmp@aol.com. Each committee and chapter chair will have access to website and newsletter space. Please note that although our Constitution allows for the president to appoint local chapter chairs, if needed to initiate a local group, these chairs must receive a majority of the local vote after one year to remain in office. Those committees is formation include: Corporate Directory Comm., Editorial Comm., Membership Recruitment Comm., Memorial Comm. (Alexander Lichtenstein, Chair), Outreach Education Comm. (Bob Dallmeyer, Chair), Public Relations Comm. (Jeff Wahl, Chair), and our Welcoming Reception Committee. Please see the website for a complete description of each of these committees. Chapters in formation with local contacts include Metro Baltimore, Metro New York (Jim Luce), Metro Philadelphia (Vince Grandinetti) and Metro Washington (Matt Mueller) in the Northeast; Metro Atlanta, Metro Fort Lauderdale, and Metro Miami (Jeff Wahl) in the South; Metro Chicago (Andre Valk), Metro Dallas (Garret Schwab) in the Mid-West and South-West and Metro Los Angeles, Metro San Diego, and Metro San Diego and San Francisco on the West Coast. Outside the U.S. we have Metro Montréal, Metro Toronto (Barry Birnberg), Metro Vancouver in Canada, Metro Amsterdam, Metro Berlin, Metro Istanbul and Metro Moscow in Europe; and Metro Hiroshima, Metro Hong Kong, and Metro Tokyo in Asia! Criteria for chapters includes the specification that each chapter in formation must have at least twenty members registered with ISGLMP by the end of the chapter's first year. Ideally, each chapter should strive to maintain an equal division between meeting planners and suppliers, as well as between lesbians and gays. The officers of each ISGLMP chapter shall include a president, vice-president and secretary. There shall be no treasurer, as local chapters are not authorized to collect nor distribute funds. G. PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE UPDATE As a tool to promote our new website, ISGLMP wishes to create a “Give-Away Box” filled with supplier-supplied goodies which will be awarded to the 100th e-mail response to a particular supplier. The give-away will be available to ISGLMP members only, however complimentary Charter Membership is available through June 30. Any supplier wishing to supply a give-away item should contact Jim Luce directly at ISGLMP@aol.com. The “Give-Away Box” will be used to promote our new website starting in January, when we send out press releases to the industry and community media. H. CVB’S LOOKING TO ISGLMP SEAL OF APPROVAL The Tampa Tourist & Visitors Bureau has requested an application and invoice for becoming an ISGLMP-approved “gay friendly” corporation. As of 1998, each newsletter will include a corporate application for our Seal of Approval (see below). To date, Philadelphia, Madison, and several other cities have applied for or are applying for our seal. I. HELP! E-MAIL ADDRESSES MISSING... We have lost e-mail contact with the following Advisory Board members. If you happen to know any of these addresses, please contact the National Office: Paige Dunn, Director of Sales & Marketing, The Hotel George; Paul Romero, Manager, Sales & Service, Mexicana Airlines, New York, NY; Charlie Rounds, President; RSVP Travel Productions, Minneapolis, MN; Ed White, CMP, Vice President, Christine Boylan & Assoc.; and Mike Smith, Vice President of Sales, Portland, Oregon Visitors Association. Thank you! J. CORPORATE SEAL OF APPROVAL APPLICATION Note: Please mail or fax back your response with a check for $475 to cover processing. Allow four weeks for approval and website listing. Invoice for purposes of billing will soon be available on our website. Does your company provide: 1) Outreach to lesbian & gay community as customers (incl. targeted advertising, guides, etc.); ___ yes ___ no (please provide xerox copy/ies of example/s) 2) Corporate Equal Opportunity Employment (EOE) statement specifically including “sexual orientation;” ___ yes ___ no (provide xerox copy of statement) 3) Domestic Partnership (DP) health benefits; ___ yes ___ no (provide xerox copy of policy) 4) Sanctioned and supported lesbian & gay employee group; ___ yes ___ no (provide zeroed correspondence, etc.) 5) Significant contributions to the lesbian & gay community (incl. AIDS service organizations). Includes gifts-in-kind. ___ yes ___ no (provide xeroxed correspondence, etc.) Company Name: Size of Company (big, medium or small): [Fortune 500, 'medium' or less than 10 employees] Submitting Individual Name: Title: Address: Telephone (Voice): Fax: E-Mail: Date: K. CHARTER MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION (FREE) Name: Title: Company: Address: Telephone (Voice): Fax: E-Mail: Website: Do you wish to be listed publicly? Would you like to be considered for 1998-99 Advisory Board? Would your company like to be considered as “Gay-Friendly”? (please mail documentation on five criteria under separate cover) Where did you hear about ISGLMP? Other professional membership? If meeting planner, how many room/nights do you coordinate annually? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Note: Charter Membership, open until June 30, 1998, is complimentary. Charter Members may apply to have their qualifying corporation approved with the ISGLMP "Seal of Approval" on a complimentary basis. As of July 1, 1998 annual dues will be invoiced at U.S. $110 per annum and all gay-friendly approval will require a $475 documentation processing fee.