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Happy October...fall has arrived for most of the country, except here in South Florida where the first cold front seems a distant future wish.  Though the commencement of the holiday season is but a month away, we have been busy planning the event calendar so, you can "Save the Dates" in your Outlook/Blackberry's!  We have some great events ahead so, don't miss out on the education, the networking or the FUN!

MDGLCC 4th Quarter Event Calendar

Wednesday 10/10

MDGLCC, The Pardo - Wilson Group & Oppenheimer & Company present The First in a Series of Financial Life Planning Seminars "Important Lessons for Your Financial Walk through Life" @ Café Tu Tu Tango 3059 Grand Avenue, (Coco Walk) in the heart of Coral Gables, from 5:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. with a cocktail reception following the presentation. Guest Speakers include: Damian Pardo, Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Jenny Tola of Prudential and Barry Young of Riviera Realty; Target Market: College juniors, seniors and Grad Students; Young Professionals (20-30 year olds) and anyone starting over are encouraged to attend this first seminar.
Those interested or, to RSVP are urged to call the MDGLCC office for further information at 305-573-4000 or email: info@gogaymiami.com.

Thursday 10/18

Thursday 11/1

Women’s Networker from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. presented by MDGLCC and Ultra/Pandora Events.  This is a great way to network and meet professional women in our community.
This month we meet at Chamber Member Catering by Maribel near Shorecrest/Upper Eastside; 647 NE 79^th Street (driveway is one block before Magnum’s on the same side of the Street) parking across the street behind Adams Veterinary Hospital; our host Maribel will wow everyone with samples of her catering menu and, will provide wine and sodas.  Afterwards, everyone can head over to Magnum’s for cocktails and entertainment at the piano bar.  Members $5; potential members $10. For more information call (305) 573-4000 or (305) 495-6969.

Tuesday 11/13

MDGLCC, Macy’s Florida, OUT and Care Resource invite you to attend our November Networker at Chamber Member Macy’s South Beach…this event will benefit Care Resource and, kick-off the 23^rd Annual White Party Week).  Miss Elaine Lancaster will emcee the INC Men’s Fashion Show.  This event will be a fully catered affair with great music and Svedka sponsored open bar.  Attendees will enjoy many event surprises from the cosmetics department to chair massage to great Gift Bags containing lots of goodies.  Macy’s South Beach is located at 1675 Meridian Ave Miami Beach, FL 33139.  There is plenty of metered parking or, you can park in the City of Miami Beach Parking facility behind Macy’s on Lincoln Lane. A suggested donation of $10 per person is requested…all proceeds will benefit Care Resource!  For more information, visit the Chamber website at www.gogaymiami.com or, call us at 305-573-4000!

Thursday 12/6

Women’s Networker from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. presented by MDGLCC and Ultra/Pandora Events.  This is a great way to network and meet professional women in our community.
This month we meet at Chamber Member FVR Group; 2601 NE 2^nd Ave. #5a Miami, FL 33137.  Kick-off the holiday season in style as FVR provides creativity, food and refreshment on their office balcony overlooking the arts district north of the Carnival Center. Members $5; potential members $10. For more information call (305) 573-4000 or (305) 495-6969.

Friday 12/14

MDGLCC Monthly Business Networker and the Miami Gay Men’s Chorus at Chamber Member Napapirji; 1008 Lincoln Rd. Miami Beach, FL 33139 (305-695-7301).   Enjoy hors d'oeuvres and drinks during this special evening.  There will be a raffle for a special prize.  AND, Chamber Members get 20% off store merchandise. A suggested donation of $10 per person is requested…all proceeds will benefit the Miami Gay Men’s Chorus!  For more information, visit the Chamber website at www.gogaymiami.com or, call us at 305-573-4000!

Bits of Background and other Announcements

Clarity Newsletter – its at the printer, folks and it looks GREAT!  We expect to put our first edition in the mail by the end of the week to our 400 members…expect your copy sometime next week.  For everyone else, a full readable copy of the Clarity Newsletter will be posted to GoGayMiami.com shortly thereafter, including all the inserts.  Thanks again to Joe and Tana and ENV for their assistance and support.

Directory, Directory, Directory – As many of you know, last year’s edition was derailed for 2 HUGE reasons; first, our graphic designer lost his mother and brother while we were building the book.  Second, our printing cost exceeded our income (ad sales) by 3 times.  We are in the process of finding a more competitive bid for our book so we can begin pricing our ads.  We hope to have our 2008 Directory in your hands prior to the end of the year.  Since our last book, our membership has almost tripled and, we have many more community resources to detail.  PLEASE SUPPORT THIS YEAR’S EFFORT.

Real Estate Affinity Group Website – We have begun work compiling the rest of this site…it was a much bigger (and more expensive) process than we imagined however; it will be a great resource for our Chamber/Group.  In addition, the work done on this site will create the foundation for the 3 other Affinity Sites (Health Care, Hospitality and Financial Services).

Educational Programming – It has been a strong desire of this Chamber and its President to provide seminars that would be not only educational but, immediately applicable to our financial lives.  We commence our first such event on October 10^th with a primmer to building a solid financial foundation.  Check out our calendar on the website (and our eblasts) for more details about the seminar. 

More next week…Enjoy!

September 24, 2007
 

Thanks for all the nice comments on our BLOG!  In the coming weeks and months, the Chamber will make great strides to streamline our communications outreach to coincide with your time-compressed reading schedules.  After the release of The Clarity Newsletter in early October (should be in the mail October 4^th), the Chamber will split our Weekly E-Information into 2 strategic pieces.  Every Tuesday our distribution will include Chamber Events and non-repeating Chamber Member programming.  To plan your weekend/weekday social calendar, we have created a new Thursday distribution for our Community Cultural Calendar.  The twice weekly format will allow for a quicker read and, better visibility for our Member Events.  Look for the exciting roll-out during mid-October!

Speaking of the Clarity, I have seen the first draft/layout and, I must say it is quite impressive.  The look is fresh and modern and, the articles/information will be easy to read and retain.  As inserts, the Chamber will include a quarterly calendar of events and, an updated directory roster of new and renewing members.  All members of record will be mailed their personal copy.  Additional issues will be available at our events and online at www.GoGayMiami.com. 

The Chamber will launch ad sales for the annual community resource guide, aka THE DIRECTORY the second week of October.  We have roughly 6 weeks to sell ads to cover the publication cost of this important resource guide for an early December distribution so, please make your necessary plans to advertise in The Book!  Only you, our members can make it happen.  Pricing and advertising specifications will be available online beginning October 1^st.  For more information, you may call the office (305-573-4000) or, Joe Robertson @ 305-866-4886!

For those of you at our Networker this past Thursday (at the fabulous Victor Hotel on South Beach, you had an opportunity to meet our new office associate, Daniel Gomez.  Danny is an FIU student and is assisting Michael in getting the office whipped into shape for a busy next few months.  As for the Networker, we stopped counting at 150 persons…what a great turnout and, a huge round of thanks to Joel Spalding for being the host with the most.  Next month’s event is at The Setai on October 18^th so, mark those calendars.

See you on October 4^th @ Paco Camp Salon for our Monthly Women’s Networker!  Have a great week!

Most of us read blogs.  Many of us even have our own.  We felt is was high time to initiate our own MDGLCC blog as a means of filling the information gaps and, reaching out to some of you we might be missing via our other forms of communication.  At first, this will be a work in progress, building on itself...some content from me and, hopefully quite a bit from you our Members!  So, for the first blog post, I am going to provide some "Did you know's" about what we are working on here at MDGLCC!

Did you know....?

• MDGLCC is working on providing a low-cost basic Health Care Program (Primary & Dependent Coverage w/o hospitalization).  Our Health Care Affinity Group will be reviewing the program with an expected roll-out before year end.
• MDGLCC offers a job posting page on the website (Job Posts) for our members and community groups offering employment opportunities.  In the future, MDGLCC and the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce will offer a one-site location to post resumes, job opportunities and interviewing tips.  We hope to have this in place by 1Q08!
• MDGLCC will announce Directory 2008 in October with a delivery date of early December 2007.  Be on the lookout for information on how to advertise in this valuable resource (ad revenue covers the cost of publishing the book so, please budget to participate)!!!
• MDGLCC posts event pictures on its site within days after a networker.  Thanks to Robert Figueroa for his photo snapping achievements!  You can find the pictures @ Photo Gallery.
• MDGLCC is currently forming its Hospitality Affinity Group.  This amalgamation of Chamber Members in the Hospitality field is anticipating the roll-out of our Gay Friendly Hotel & Restaurant Certification Program (in January 08).  This ground-breaking program will revolutionize the way we promote our destination.  If you are a member and hotelier and would like to participate in the initial stages of this program, please contact us @ info@gogaymiami.com.

There is more so, tune in next Monday!  We encourage your participation so, let us know what you think!  Also, as a Member Benefit we will list your blog link on this site so Gayber Members (Gay Chamber Members...Richard Murry of Treister Murry PR came up with this name) can easily keep tabs on your thoughts and best business practices.

Have a great week everyone...thanks for blogging along!

Steve