January 31^th, 2010

In response to the requests made by several members and partners, the executive office of the IGLCC decided to change the dates of the 2010 Global Summit and Annual Congress. The main goal is to accomodate the unveiling of the results of the International Business Equality Index and the holding the Annual Congress.

Please note that the 2010 Annual Congress will take place in Amsterdam from June 9 to 11, 2010 while the Global Summit will be held in Buenos Aires from July 25 to 27, 2010.

The IGLCC welcomes LAN and is proud of this association with an airline who is dedicated to working with the LGBT community and promoting our goals of equality in the business world.

For our 3^rd Global Summit which will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina from July 25-27 LAN has become our official airline. We invite all members of the IGLCC to join us in welcoming them and to contact us for more information on how to book your tickets with LAN.

A word from our new Corporate Member

It is a great honor for LAN Airlines to partner with the IGLCC as the Official Airline of IGLCC’s 3^rd Global Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina in July 2010.  This partnership is a natural fit, since LAN calls Buenos Aires home and operates ones of its key hubs there, with dozens of daily flights to destinations in South America, North America, Europe and domestically within Argentina.

LAN has also been a pioneer in reaching out to the LGBT community.  In 2009, it launched its “Diversity” advertising campaign, the first of its kind for a Latin American airline targeting the LGBT community.

IGLCC, for its part, is a global champion of diversity in the workplace, constantly working to promote equality and create opportunities for the international LGBT business community.  With its Global Summit coming to South America for the first time in 2010, LAN saw this as the perfect opportunity to join forces and support the important work of the IGLCC. 

As a continent, South America holds great promise for the LGBT community – both as an exciting tourism destination and as a great place to work and live.  The economies of South America are growing at a record pace, along with opportunities for the gay and lesbian community, as LGBT civil rights also multiply across the continent.  LAN looks forward to working with the IGLCC to champion this growth and promote diversity throughout the region.

Paolo Dina
LAN Leisure Market Manager, North America & Caribbean

Fondation Émergence announces that the 2010 Campaign for the International Day Against Homophobia is aimed at the sports world. The purpose of the campaign is to make athletes, those closely or loosely involved in this community, the media, and the general population more aware of the need to combat homophobia linked to both amateur and professional sports.

The IGLCC is proud to support the celebration of this very important day on May 17, 2010 and invites all its members and partners to promote the efforts to end homophobia in all parts of the world.

For additional information or material, we invite you to visit the Fondation Émergence’s website.

A Booster Shot for Gay-Owned Businesses
GLBT certification from the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce is "a channel to business opportunity". Supplier Diversity information with IGLCC Board members Irwin Drucker and Stephanie Blackwood.
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Source: BusinessWeek

Lula lança programa que inclui união civil gay
Durante o lançamento do programa, Lula lembrou da Conferência Nacional LGBT promovida pelo seu governo. "Olha, foi a maior aula de cidadania contra o ...
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Source: AthosGLS

Year of Gay China
By Christine Laskowski (China Daily) As the year 2009 comes to a close, it does so having been a monumental year for China's LGBT community. ...
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Source: China Daily

Colombia, en el año 2009, dio importantes pasos hacia la igualdad
Por lo que se refiere a los derechos humanos para la población LGBT colombiana es grato comentar que 2009 dejó buenas noticias. Sobre todo, el mensaje de ...
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Source: Dos Manzanas (blog)

51% - Are women better leaders?
Human rights fans and LGBT folks across the globe are hopeful the victory of Houston Mayor-elect Annise Parker will mark a new era for equality. ...
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Source: San Diego Gay & Lesbian News

LGBT mayors around the world
California and New York are tied as the states with the most LGBT mayors (four each). Massachusetts and Maryland each have three. Texas has two. ...
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Source: Dallas Voice

Antwerp será la sede de los Outgames 2013
... de Antwerp como una atractiva sede para esta clase de actividades, no solo para nuestra comunidad LGBT sino para todos los habitantes de la ciudad. ...
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Source: SentidoG

Article – PrideAtWork
Des tentatives antérieures visant à former un GRE LGBT au sein de votre ... Identifier de nouveau produits/services et occasions de marketing au sein de la ...
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Source: Fierté au travail Canada

Metlife Recognized for Commitment to LGBT Community
The Advisory council provides support and guidance for MetLife's ongoing GLBT marketing strategy, while the Resource Committee recommends best practices and strategies to increase recruiting in the GLBT market. ...
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Source: By admin

Obama appoints trans woman to Department of Commerce
US President Barack Obama has appointed a trans woman to the role of senior technical advisor to the Department of Commerce. Amanda Simpson is on the board of directors of the National Centre for Transgender Equality and has worked in the aerospace and defence industry for 30 years.
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Source: Pink News

Un nouveau site pour l'ILGA
L'International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), qui rassemble des associations LGBT de toutes les régions du monde, vient de se doter d'un tout nouveau ...
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Source: Yagg

LGBT Charities Make Chase Community Giving Top 100
Our three organizations have worked together for years to create a safer and better world for LGBT youth. Because of this partnership and the scarcity of ...
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Source: Passport Magazine (blog)

India's First LGBT Shop Opens
India's first LGBT-store has opened in Mumbai, a little over a year since their first gay-pride parade. The pride shop is called Azaad Bazaar, ...
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Source: Passport Magazine (blog)

Laurence Bernstein is the managing partner of Protean Strategies, and is one of Canada's best known and respected strategic planners. A graduate of Cornell University, he is a regular contributor to Marketing magazine and has published articles in numerous business publications in Canada, USA and Germany.

Internal Branding

Your organization, large or small, is experienced directly and indirectly by people in many different ways. But the most impact on potential customers, ambassadors, and allies, results from one-on-one interactions between people: your associates talking to other people, professionally and personally. The degree to which these interaction result in positive or negative judgements depends on how well your associates understand the vision, mission and values of the company and how authentically they feel the company lives up to these promises.

This is important in the LGBT context for two reasons: First because diversity, including LGBT Diversity, is increasingly fundamental to the values of organizations, and secondly, because organizations that have Lesbian and Gay Employee Groups (GALAs) have a secret branding weapon waiting to be unleashed.

Diversity as a brand attribute

A year ago it might have been enough to be known as diverse among the affected communities (although, for the record, I never subscribed to this limited approach). That is to say, it was enough for the Gay community to know about an organization’s GLBT strengths. Now, as a result of socio-economic and cultural factors, the importance of authentic diversity as a mainstream brand attribute is much more important.

The fastest and most efficient way of building this attribute is by ensuring that everybody in the organization understands and celebrates the diversity inherent in the organization. When associates interact with customers and their friends, they intentionally, and unintentionally, boast about their workplace, telling stories about the company, focusing on what they want others to believe about their workplace and themselves.

You can ensure that these stories include “TALES OF DIVERSITY”  by focusing on LGBT (and other diversity strengths) in internal branding programs.

Unleash the power of GALA

The fact that somebody joins an employee association, in most cases, indicates they are comfortable with their employer, interested in their careers and anxious to work together to make the workplace a better place and the company more successful. These positive feelings can be translated into positive buzz about the company and the brand – not only in the Gay community, given that lesbians and gays are involved in the broader community as much as, if not  more than, they are within the LGBT community.

Make sure these potential brand ambassadors have the tools they need. This is not about turning GALA members into a stealth sales force (which, for the record, I am vehemently against), but rather the opportunity to ensure that these specific team members are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about all of the organization’s attributes, so they can create universal buzz to help build the brand.

The IGLCC invites you to participate in its 3^rd Global Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
For more information:
cesar.maschmann@iglcc.org

Sexuality/Diversity in the workplace survey launched by GLOBE
Access the survey here
For more information visit GLOBE Website

Dinner with state secretary Christine Marek from the Ministry of Economic Affairs
For more information visit Agpro’s website

IGLTA’s 2010 Annual Global Convention
For more information: www.igltaconvention.org

Curitiba, Brazil
For more information: http://www.ilgalac.grupodignidade.org.br/

Wirtschaftsweiber & WyberNet, the national associations of lesbian managers and entrepreneurs of Germany and Switzerland have initiated an European online survey about "The L-World in Business".

Access the survey here
For more information: http://sites.google.com/site/thelworldinbusiness/Home

The IGLCC and the Company Pride Platform invite you to participate in IGLCC's 3^rd Annual Congress in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
For more information:
cesar.maschmann@iglcc.org

Equality Bill – A fairer future
Guest speaker: Emma Reed (Head of LGB and T policy, Government Equalities Office)
One of the most controversial and talked about Bills in the UK surrounding all the strands of Diversity.

For more information: http://www.gba.org.uk/events.htm

LGBT HISTORY MONTH - national event about the history of gay rights and business, how this impacts on today’s society
Gay Travel / Internet and Social Networking / The Changing Market
The meeting is open to everyone - colleagues, clients, friends - especially prospective new GBA members!

CIVIL PARTNERSHIP ACT - 4 years on
Explore the impact Civil Partnerships have had in business and on a personal level.

FUNDING & FINANCE - ready for recovery?
A chance to find help with business planning, legislation, trends and opportunities.
For more information: http://www.gba.org.uk/events.htm

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