Today was the final day of the conference. After a mostly enjoyable evening at the Gala Awards Dinner, we awoke refreshed and ready for the last round of workshops and the final plenary.
Unfortunately, that refreshing feeling did not last long.
The conference rooms were incredibly cramped, and before long, I was getting so hot that I felt nauseous. I had to keep going back to the hotel room in preparation for losing my morning coffee. Thankfully, I was able to maintain my composure long enough to get through the morning.
The lunch plenary, which ends the conference, featured a guest presentation from Brian Graden, President of Entertainment at MTV and President of the Logo channel. His presentation was very entertaining, and included clips from many shows he helped create, GLBT target advertisements he championed, and important takeaways about following your dreams.
Oh, before I forget, again the hotel served chicken for the meal.
Finally, they announced the location for the 2008 Summit - Austin, TX. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Austin, but I do not love Texas. It’s a ridiculously RED state, with a tiny sea of blue around the Austin area. I have been there many times on college recruiting trips and I really do like the city - but I really don’t see how a GLBT person could stand to live in that state.
The passing of the torch, or in this case some kind of fairy wand, happened, and the chairpersons for the 2008 Summit did a little song and dance presentation about their wonderful city.
The 2007 Summit wrapped up with the entire O&E staff coming up on stage and singing some song I’d never heard before that was apparently inspirational.
All-in-all, I’m not sure if this summit was better than 2006 in Chicago. Some parts were very interesting, some workshops were very good, but it feels like the event is getting so big that it’s not able to accommodate real learning. I really hope next year’s event gets back to workshops that are insightful and inspiring, and give tangible action plans we can use at our places of work.
Tomorrow, Sunday, we fly back to Sacramento.
Oh, and it’s my birthday today.
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October 1st, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Funny you should mention Texas. I’m currently unemployed - I’m waiting to hear if I can get a contract to work in Denver. I’ve had several recruiters ask me if I’d be interested in moving to Dallas (they need people with my software experience). And I can honestly say, there isn’t a chance in hell. Texas scares me. I have a feeling I’d be beaten up and killed within months, either for being gay or for having black or hispanic friends. That is not a state I’d want to visit, let alone live in.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Yeah - I really can’t imagine GLBT folks being willing to compromise their lives to live in places like that - really anywhere in the south where it’s still pretty much illegal to be GLBT.
October 1st, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I just did a quick Google search for “gay in texas”. Doesn’t look the gay community is in the closet in Texas. Maybe Texas deserves another look. Seems a little harsh to brand Texas this way, especially when there are places in the world where being gay truly is a capital offense.
Gotta love SNL’s response to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
October 1st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Point taken. I actually changed some of the wording when I posted this internally…my experiences in other parts of the state have not been all that positive, especially in terms of the very strong republican presence. It’s just not somewhere I would choose to live. Perhaps the communities that are active are active “in spite of”, which is a kudo to them. And as I said, Austin is a great place - I love the feel of the city, the liveliness, the culture….but it’s a tiny puddle of blue in an ocean of red.
I feel similarly about NC where I’m from. I love NC, it’s a beautiful place, I have many friends there, but I would never live there again. The lifestyle is too slow for my current temperament, and the mindset is just not as progressive as what I’m used to here. I don’t feel like taking a step backward.
October 1st, 2007 at 9:38 pm
I agree. My best friend lives in NC (I moved from Winston less than two years ago), but I would not want to move back to NC. It can be a strange place and not very welcoming.
As for Texas, Brent is right. I shouldn’t judge a place I’ve never been. But I really don’t want to live there (or even visit). For whatever reason, that state scares me.