Archive for January, 2008

Clinton v Obama on SIRIUS OutQ

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Michelangelo Signorile will be hosting Sirius Satellite Radio’s first LGBT Presidential caucus today from 3-5 EST on The Michelangelo Signorile Show on SIRIUS OutQ.

Hillary Clinton will be represented by Hilary Rosen, President of OurChart.com and former Chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America while in Barack Obama’s corner will be Stampp Corbin, National LGBT Liaison for the Obama campaign, and Co-Chair of the National LGBT Leadership Team, Obama for America ’08.

Last summer’s Logo-TV forum may have been a symbolic breakthrough but I hope this radio debate aimed directly at a gay and lesbian audience will be more fiercely fought and will prove to be a more intense media grilling for the candidates on the issues compared to the TV version, albeit without the candidates themselves.

The mutual love-in that was the Logo-TV Democratic Presidential "gay" forum this summer was more reminiscent of a sofa-style chat with Oprah than a fully-fledged political battle of ideas. When rank outsider Dennis Kucinich announced that "I love all of you" in his final comments I feared the "debate" would descend into spontaneous collective rendition of Over the Rainbow accompanied by panelist Melissa Etheridge on acoustic guitar.

Since then there has been relatively little attention paid to LGBT issues on the mainstream campaign trail. There have been sporadic questions in debates and occasional references in mainstream stump speeches.

To some this is a good thing. The differences between the remaining candidates on the Democratic side on the key issues is not significant in many peoples’ eyes and it allows gay and lesbian Democratic voters to focus on other issues affecting their lives. An article in the New York Times this week says,

“….gay voters in New York are looking past the issues that have long guided them toward a candidate. They are talking about the conflict in Iraq, universal health care and whether it is more important to have a president with experience or exuberance.”

I am glad that in a tightly fought contest gay and lesbian voters will be offered another opportunity to truly test the mettle of these candidates in another debate in the gay media.

| January 31st, 2008 No Comments »
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To be or not to be

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J0314269_pink Randy Lovely, who has played a key role in transforming The Arizona Republic from a traditional newspaper into a multi-platform news organization, was named Friday to the top news post at the newspaper and its Web site, azcentral.com.

That’s a pretty unassuming lead paragraph in the recent promotion announcement of Lovely after six years at the Gannett publication.

The announcement contains the customary endorsements by company executives and details Lovely’s boyhood in southern Michigan where his career was formed through journalism classes and experience on school newspapers.

It’s not until the story hits industry publications and blogs that we are told that Lovely, who On Feb. 1 becomes editor of the nation’s 10th largest newspaper, is gay.

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| January 30th, 2008 No Comments »
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A Publisher’s Perspective: Q&A with JR Pratts of Instinct

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Jr_pratts_instinct_photoWe talk a lot about gay media on this blog and refer often to leading publications in the industry. I’m pleased to start this year’s Q&A series with the publisher of one such publication: JR Pratts of Instinct Magazine. I met JR at the Gay & Lesbian Market Symposium in New York last fall and wasted no time in asking him to agree to a Q&A with us. Fortunately, he said yes. As you’ll see, JR has lots of good advice for marketers and communicators interested in reaching gay male audiences. Full Disclosure: I’m an Instinct Magazine subscriber and consider myself a fan. After reading what JR has to say, I think you’ll see why.

Ben Finzel: I’m not sure many people realize that in ten years you have grown Instinct Magazine into one of the largest circulation gay men’s magazines in the world. How have you done that and what have you learned along the way?

JR Pratts: Yes, after 10 years, Instinct Magazine is the largest Gay Men’s magazine in the US—it’s a great milestone. When we started the magazine in 1997 our main focus was survival. We just wanted our audience to give us a try. 

Instinct Magazine grew its audience through our readership. As soon as we received our first issue from the printer, we took it on the road. We attended a lot of gay events nationwide prompting people to subscribe, and lucky for us, they did! Soon they were persuading their friends to subscribe as well. I think one of the reasons why our editorial focus clicked with our audience was that we offered a different perspective on being gay. When we started Instinct we did our research and found out that the readers wanted to have a magazine that is unapologetically gay but at the same time aesthetically pleasing.  Since we had nothing to lose, we came out with a bang. Yes, our advertisers are Fortune 500 companies, but we are aware of the balance necessary to serve our audience as well as our advertising partners.

I have learned a lot about the business and our community in the last 10 years. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from this experience is not to assume that you know what your readers want just because you are gay. Ask your audience directly what they want to see and provide it for them.

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| January 29th, 2008 2 Comments »
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Fort Lauderdale: Gay Spring Break Destination

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Beach_2Last week when I was walking to get lunch, a car drove down 42nd Street with a trailer in the shape of a glass house. Inside the house was a mini beach complete with a palm tree, beach balls, mannequin in a bikini, and fit male lifeguard mannequin. It was likely not a coincidence that this Fort Lauderdale beach scene was driven around New York City on one of the most frigid days of the year.

This was not the first time I craved being in Fort Lauderdale. While it’s the first time I noticed Ft. Lauderdale marketing itself to a broad community, I’ve been hearing about Ft. Lauderdale for months through gay channels.

Steve blogged about his Ft. Lauderdale vacation and their gay and lesbian marketing initiatives such as buying ads in gay publications, launching their own "rainbow travel" site, appearing at pride festivals, and marketing themselves as “the” destination for gay commitment ceremonies. Recently there seems to be a sharper focus on targeting the young gay male demographic.

The night before I saw the mobile beach scene, the city of Ft. Lauderdale partnered with Out Traveler to host a beach-themed party at NYC bar Splash where they gave out free trips and ran videos of beach scenes. This coincided with the bar’s college night.

I’ve also noticed ads on gay blogs and the gay social networking sites that I visit and I’ve been at three bar parties where trips were given away (sadly lost each time!).

The Advocate most recently reported that Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild! (the sequel to Another Gay Movie) will be set in none other than Ft. Lauderdale. I can’t tell if product placement played into the creative decision, but I am confident that seeing the Another Gay Movie boys’ hijinks in Southern Florida will likely make Ft. Lauderdale a mecca for gay spring breakers.

GayFtLauderdale.com (and many other sites) is a robust resource for bars, outdoor activities, and lodging (including a chart that points out cheaper hotels and ones closest to the gay beach). Publicizing these aspects and making these resources available in multiple online channels will no doubt help to continue drawing younger crowds.

So how can Ft. Lauderdale continue to attract the younger generation? How about inviting young bloggers to talk about their experience and post photos, creating Facebook and MySpace groups for young gays to plan trips and get discounts, and I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to more chances to win a trip.

The city is a perfect case study for the rewards of marketing to the GLBT community. As Steve noted, Out Traveler chose them as the #1 vacation destination and the Ft. Lauderdale Convention and Visitor Bureau estimated most recently estimated 950,000 gay and lesbian travelers each year who spend approximately $1.2 billion.

Faced with more low New York City temperatures and lack of palm trees, Ft. Lauderdale’s campaign has effectively made me start looking at flights – turns out American Airlines is the "official airline of the GLBT community in Greater Fort Lauderdale." 

| January 28th, 2008 1 Comment »
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Buenos Aires es Muy Bueno

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J0382912Buenos Aires has done it again. The sophisticated city with heavy European flare has once more catered to the LGBT community. Just recently luxury Hotel Axel opened for business… for gay business.

Buenos Aires is vigorously attracting the LGBT community, just last fall the inaugural gay and lesbian soccer world cup was held there and it is the first Latin-American city to have approved same-sex Civil Unions. For time in the late 70s and early 80s, the city was ruled by the military, which was not friendly toward gays. To even think of being gay would have landed you in jail. Immediately following the end of military rule, the first gay bar opened in Buenos Aires, and just years after that, in 1992, President Carlos Menem signed a proclamation which guaranteed protection to the rights of homosexuals.

Moving on from a brief lesson in Buenos Aires’ history, communicators and media have, of course, played an important role in placing Buenos Aires as a top destination and comfortable city for LGBTs to visit and live in.  Journalist and author Osvaldo Bazán wrote a book titled “The History of Homosexuality in Argentina” (Historia de la Homosexualidad en Argentina).

Television and novelas accept and portray gays in better fashion than Mexican sensationalist scandal stories. For example, Florencia De La V
is a transsexual actress who played a transvestite role in “Los Roldán,” a 2004 telenovela. A year later a television show called “12 Corazones” was the first gay dating show which even showed contestants kissing on the screen from time to time. The Telemundo version of this show features straight couples.

According to an article on SentidoG, a Latino LGBT forum, travel agencies have been promoting Buenos Aires as gay friendly. Gay tango and wine bars are showcasing a “friendly card” which allows tourists to determine LGBT-welcoming establishments. They even have a “G Map” which lists all attractions for LGBTs. Approximately 20 percent of Buenos Aires’ tourists are gay, and I don’t blame them, apparently in the Axel Hotel lobby, guests are entertained by an aquarium ceiling with welcoming swimmers inside.

If you have been to Buenos Aires or have seen “Los Roldan” or “12 Corazones,” I would be most interested in your perspective. I invite you to comment below.

| January 25th, 2008 2 Comments »
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