Pink Banana Media & LGBTBrandVoice.com

Ah, the convention is now in full swing... everyone has reconnected and yet the schmoozing and networking never seems to stop!  On Friday, everyone is hustling and bustling along, starting with the opening breakfast where David Whitaker of Tourism Toronto welcomes us all to Toronto.  The day is then a mix of various workshops and a great lunch sponsored by Air Canada. The real highlight of Friday is yet to come... the consumer travel trade show held in the gay village at Maple Leaf Gardens.  Although the lighting was dim, the event was a complete success.  Various IGLTA members were able to exhibit their companies to both the other IGLTA members attending the convention as well as the hundreds of gay travel consumers to marched through the aisles.  Along with a Brazilian Samba performance that blew everyone away with some very HOT dancers and performers (OK, the drumming did last a bit long... my ears are still recovering), the night was a complete success.  This was the night most of ...

So here we are, Thursday morning... our only moment of reprieve as the board meetings are now over and the members are all arriving in waves.  The main event begins at 2 pm, but as I go down to the registration area, everyone is doing exactly what they do best... reconnecting, schmoozing and networking.  It's a frenzy as old friends who sometimes only see each other during these conventions get together and catch up.  I love this moment in the IGLTA conventions each year... this and the opening reception are always the most energized moments of the convention. The convention opens up with our presentations by John Tanzella and a board of directors Q&A.  Perhaps because this Q&A was positioned at the very beginning of the convention is the reason the participation and interest from the membership as to where the organization is going was so energized... it was great!  We received feedback ranging from a re-orientation as to what it means to be truly "international"...

What an incredible whirlwind of a week!  For me, it all started a bit early as I flew into Philadelphia on Saturday, May 2nd to attend the Equality Forum Dinner that Saturday night.  As Malcolm Lazin of Equality Forum has always been such a great friend personally and such a great supporter of IGLTA over the years, I really wanted to attend this event prior to arriving in Toronto for the IGLTA Convention, and I'm so glad I did.  The evening's reception was such a pleasure and I had the opportunity to hang out with Bruce Yelk and Jeff Guaracino of the GPTMC, as well as run into old friends also flying in for this event such as Janice Mahlmann of the NGLCC-NY, John Kenyon of Proud FM in Toronto, and Rodney Hameroff of Columbia Fun Maps. That evening, Gavin Newsom, our potential future governor of California, got up and gave an eloquent speech to cap off a truly remarkable evening. The next day, after waking up with a Philly cheesesteak sandwich still in my stomach (I ordered a ...

Check out the PDF of the upcoming article "New Face of Gay" from Refresh Magazine, out in newstands this week. As excerpted from the article: Matt Skallerud, owner of Pink Banana Media and founder of GayWired.com, has compiled one of the most comprehensive reports on the buying power of the gay community entitled the Gay Market Report. Included in the report, which helps businesses and individuals better market themselves to the gay community, is the fact that there is a $712 billion-a-year market with LGBT consumers. These results are some of the first available to modern-day business owners seeking to expand their market reach into this niche community. His figures come second to the research done by Witeck-Combs and Harris Interactive, which have conducted research into other areas of the LGBT community. Check it out at http://www.pinkbananamedia.com/pdf/rf56_New_Face_of_Gay.pdf

The first step in the social network marketing process is to develop your primary “Touch Points” , including a Facebook Business/Fan page and Twitter account (see this link for more information:  http://gaybizreport.blogspot.com/2009/04/social-network-marketing-updates-for.html ) . Touch Points need Connections/Friends in order to make them work for your business.  To get started, follow GLTBT travel individuals and businesses on Twitter (use the SEARCH function on Twitter to identify new connections to follow).  Also, invite GLBT travel contacts in Facebook to join your Facebook Business/Fan page.  You may also want to consider advertising with Facebook on a CPC basis (cost per click) in order to drive more traffic and get more people to connect with you on your Facebook page.  Your ad can target "gay" and then keywords such as "travel" and "vacation".  This ad can be set to target travelers in specific regions (thus focusing on your destination’s “fee...

We had a wonderful evening reception at the Custom Hotel in LA, hosted by an incredible staff. Over 75 people were in attendance for our first event bringing members together from LAGLCC ( www.laglcc.org ) and IGLTA ( www.iglta.org ) and sponsored by GayTravelocity.com A few words about the Custom Hotel... it's a gorgeous boutique hotel located very near LAX.  Every other Wednesday night is Crush, their local gay night they promote to the GLBT community living on the westside of LA. Links to photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattskal/sets/72157617138719277/

Help wanted.  Seeking energetic, enthusiastic and goal-oriented candidate for the position of Business Operations Manager for the Dallas and Houston Clubs ( www.theclubs.com ). Tasks  Oversee local management team in Dallas and Houston  Develop staffing programs to focus on and improve overall customer service  Ensure accounting processes established by company are implemented, verified and routinely audited  Oversee marketing initiatives from conception to implementation, based upon set marketing budgets  Interact with local organizations, contractors and local authorities Background 10 years of hands-on management experience Online marketing experience, including understanding of current social networking and Web 2.0 trends Staff training experience desirable, with the ability to motivate, evaluate and direct employees Accounting experience with Quickbooks Previous management experience in hospitality industry a plus Requirements  BS or greater, preferably in business, management and...