Archive for March, 2009

The Values Proposition: Q&A with Mitchell Gold

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We’ve now conducted Q&As with about 30 people in the two and half year history of the Out Front Blog. I have many favorites among them – Billie Jean King was a real highlight – and this one will definitely join that list as an outstanding example of clear, decisive leadership and vision both for business and the future of our community.

Mitchell_headshot Today, we’re starting a two part Q&A with Mitchell Gold, eponymous founder of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. For the uninitiated, Mitchell’s company makes stylish, sustainable, fabulous furniture. We’re fortunate to have a Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams store in D.C. and I love shopping there.

But Mitchell Gold is more than a furniture impresario. He’s a business leader, author and community activist. And his community is more than just his home in North Carolina (although he’s active there as well) – it’s the LGBT community across the country. Mitchell is active in a number of organizations and frequently participates in LGBT events in cities across the country. It was at one of those events that I met him last year – the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NLGJA) holiday party in Washington. Ever gracious, Mitchell not only stopped to talk with my partner and me at the party, but remembered me when I followed up with an e mail to ask him to conduct this Q&A with us.

Mitchell will be back in D.C. this week to accept a lifetime achievement award from PEN – the local LGBT chamber of commerce. It’s a richly deserved honor. Take a look at our conversation today about consumer loyalty and business values and you’ll see why. And come back tomorrow for the conclusion of our conversation along with a little breaking news from Mitchell that may make you want to run right out and buy a copy of his book, CRISIS (if you haven’t already).

Ben Finzel: We often blog about the importance of loyalty to our community by marketers seeking to reach our community. The premise is that companies that are loyal to us will reap the benefits in loyalty from us, particularly in tough economic times when customer loyalty and brand power can make a difference in economic performance. How important do you think that is now, given the dire state of our economy? 

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| March 31st, 2009 No Comments »
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GLSEN Celebrates 2009 Safe Schools Advocacy Summit

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J0439467In previous blog posts, I’ve shared my personal passion for the lives, struggles and triumphs of LGBT youth. After all, I was once a high school girl trying to find my place amid the decade old textbooks, Doc Martens and lunchroom popularity contests.  

Last week, GLSEN, the leading organization for LGBT youth, hosted its 2009 Safe Schools Advocacy Summit  (SSAS) in Washington DC. The four-day program provided the 35 LGBT student leaders, teachers, and community members interactive and educational activities. Additionally, delegates had an opportunity to meet with the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. That week, the 35 representatives from 25 states made 82 visits, including 13 of their elected representatives or senators. The purpose of the summit is to provide youth with the tools necessary to shape change at a local and national level.

Students, like those who attended SSAS, serve as role models not only for their schools but our community as a whole. These students reiterate the importance of civic engagement – to educate our communities and our elected officials about the LGBT community and the need for equal rights. This fight goes beyond the classroom and playground. It transcends into our workplaces, healthcare services, senior services and through our lives. GLSEN and these youth leaders are working to ensure an open and honest dialogue remains on a local, state and national level about LGBT youth and their safety. Through leadership training programs, like GLSEN’s, more and more people are gifted with the ability to change behaviors, perspectives and lives. To me, nothing could be more fulfilling.

| March 30th, 2009 No Comments »
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My Games Rock!

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Synergy1 “With these games and the procession of the arts, we hereby serve notice that we are fully vested citizens of this world with a thriving and bonafide culture and that we are worthy of the respect and the esteem of every other citizen in this world. Today and for this week, we see ourselves as we really are…active, productive, creative, and healthy!! Let the games begin.”
Dr. Tom Waddell, GGII, 1986
San Francisco

Every four years since 1982, the LGBT community has joined together in the athletic and cultural celebration known as the “Gay Games.” From San Francisco in 1986 to Cologne, Germany in 2010, thousands of athletes, artists and spectators descend upon a host city to bring a fresh perspective and insight into our community.

The pulsating excitement and lasting memories generated at these Games are truly life-changing to all involved. Fleishman-Hillard had the great opportunity to serve as the communications agency-of-record for the Chicago Gay Games in 2006, and I still hear about how rewarding and impactful the project was for my colleagues around the network.

Last week, the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) announced that Boston, D.C. and Cleveland were the finalists to host the Gay Games in 2014. The LGBT media and social media channels were abuzz with coverage on this announcement, and message boards were on fire with ongoing debates about which city will be the best host for the LGBT community.

Let me provide a little behind-the-scenes perspective on the Cleveland bid. In October 2008, a local TV station (yes, local news still exists!) reported on a press conference here in Cleveland announcing the Cleveland Synergy Foundation’s (CSF) announcement that the organization was pursuing the opportunity to host the ninth Gay Games in Cleveland in 2014. My mother (pause for dramatic effect…) called me and told me about the news segment. After I picked myself up off the floor for how far she and I have come in our mother-gay son relationship, I reached out to the CSF team to see if we could help in the process.

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| March 27th, 2009 1 Comment »
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The LGB Money Myth?

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Dollar SignJames Withers, over at the 365 Gay Blog, posted an interesting commentary today about the recently published study entitled, "Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community." The study, published by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, sheds light on the presumption that members of the LGB community are, generally speaking, better off economically than their heterosexual counterparts and have more disposable income.

The introduction to the study states:

This report undertakes the first analysis of the poor and low-income lesbian, gay, and bisexual population. We find clear evidence that poverty is at least as common in the LGB population as among heterosexual people and their families.

The executive summary of the report continues:

After adjusting for a range of family characteristics that help explain poverty, gay and lesbian couple families are significantly more likely to be poor than are heterosexual married couple families.

I must admit… up until reading this study (I'm not a researcher and can't comment on the validity of the study and the methods employed in conducting it), I have been prone to believe that members of the LGB community must be better off during these times of economic crisis than their heterosexual counterparts. Since the majority of LGB folks don't have kids, I've simply assumed that they must be able to dedicate more of their financial resources to themselves versus spreading them across a family that includes children.

Indeed, a piece of research from 1987 states:

Many homosexuals may be more financially able to take early retirement than heterosexuals. Gays often have more disposable income than non-gays.

What to believe given the new Williams Institute study?

Regardless of the truth, I think this is one of those beliefs that is constantly reinforced through word-of-mouth.

As professional communicators, we often create and plan word-of-mouth programs for our clients. This new study is making me think about how many times I may have repeated the statement above… and the power of word-of-mouth in establishing awareness and assumptions.

What do you think about the new study and its findings?

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| March 25th, 2009 1 Comment »
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Love Who You Love

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Despite attending most of high school and college in Texas, my knowledge of country music is limited to Dolly Parton, The Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks and Wynonna. I know the names of many of the big country acts, but couldn’t name any of their songs or recognize their band members. That is changing today thanks to our friend Jeremy Hooper at goodasyou.org. In a post today, Jeremy recounts an interview Rascal Flatts singer Gary LeVox gave to Country Music Television recently about the band’s new single “Love Who You Love.”

Here’s an excerpt from Jeremy’s post – from the interview on the CMT blog:

We actually have some gay people that work with us, and we have a lot of friends that are gay, too, and I know that this song [“Love Who You Love”] has inspired them,” said [Rascal Flatts] singer Gary LeVox during an interview at CMT earlier this month. “I know that coming out was tough on their parents and on them and the whole entire family. For a long time, some of them didn’t get to hear ‘I love you’ from their dads or be accepted in that way. … It’s helped a lot of our friends.”

“That’s what’s cool about our music,” says guitarist Joe Don Rooney. “You can interpret (it like) that. If you get that — it’s perfect. If you are someone who’s gay or someone who’s straight, you still feel something from the song, and that’s what we want.”

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| March 24th, 2009 No Comments »
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