Dear GaYBOR Members, Friends and Fans,
This has been an exciting year. We have seen the GaYBOR District Coalition grow and expand across Florida. So much of what we have accomplished could not have occurred without the generosity of the GLBTA community. We have members from Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Atlanta and all three sides of Tampa Bay! GaYBOR has been able to meet many of our short and long term goals this year. None of which would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our members, board and volunteers, who have demonstrated their belief in GaYBOR in countless ways. We would like to take this opportunity to say, “Thank you!”
This has been an exciting year. We have seen the GaYBOR District Coalition grow and expand across Florida. So much of what we have accomplished could not have occurred without the generosity of the GLBTA community. We have members from Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Atlanta and all three sides of Tampa Bay! GaYBOR has been able to meet many of our short and long term goals this year. None of which would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our members, board and volunteers, who have demonstrated their belief in GaYBOR in countless ways. We would like to take this opportunity to say, “Thank you!”
In our Mission Statement and input from our members the main goal is to promote GaYBOR to the Universe!
Here are some of our accomplishments that we achieved this year together:
– Conducted 12 monthly free and open meetings, with an average attendance of 70+, and discussed over 500 events and offers in the community.
– We’ve auctioned pianos for charities from our nationally recognized “The Pianos of Ybor” event.
– We’ve printed and distributed over 40,000 GaYbor community maps to promote our community, printed hundreds of event posters, and designed and branded custom GaYBOR hats, lapel pins and beads.
– We’ve sponsored a community Thank You Luncheon for Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.
– We’ve participated in three major parades this year, including The Santiago Knights Parade, St. Pete Pride Parade and The Orlando “Out With Pride” Parade, and with the help of Festive Floats we now have our signature permanent float complete with custom GaYBOR signage!
– We’ve extended our advertising reach in HOTspots, Watermark Magazine, OMG Magazine, AYP Pages, double center pages of St. Pete Pride brochure, What’s Happening Magazine, and National Distributor Fun Maps. GaYBOR was also in South Tampa News, La Gaceta, The Tampa Tribune, St. Pete Times, Creative Loafing and other papers. We were also featured in countless program guides throughout Florida. We were heard on Radio: WMNF, Jamming 106 and Gay Safe Haven.
– GaYBOR’s online presence was extensive this year. On MySpace, we have 23,631 friends. The weekly blog is read by over 1,000 across the world. On Facebook, our main page has maxed out with 5,000 friends and our fan page is at 6,324 fans and growing daily. Online banners may be found at MCFILMFEST.com, FindADragShow.com, MyQmunity.com, Gaysafehaven.com and more.
– Our directors and members continued our efforts to promote our organization and educate the LBGT and non-LGBT community of the positive impact we have in Ybor and beyond.
– Our Presidents, Carrie West and Brenda Halloway of the Hampton Inn and Suite Ybor, represented GaYBOR on the very first LGBT Media Cruise which was totally underwritten by AlandChuck.travel; members of GaYBOR.
– Our Vice President D. Stephen Moss represented us at LGBTA events in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and New York City
– Many of our members have volunteered on local government and non-profit boards and GaYbor events to promote GaYBOR’s mission. A special thank you to all our volunteers; your support is important to our success.
– We sent representatives to the National LGBT Travel Conventions in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas.
– We continued our membership commitment to The Key West Business Guild, The Gulfport Business Guild, IGLTA, Tampa Bay Business Guild and the Tampa Bay & Company.
– We brought the first National Drag Pageant to GaYBOR with economic impact of $600,000+ and have signed two national pageants for 2011.
– We had another successfully GaYBOR Days week of activities, educational sessions, health fairs and events in July.
– We supported St. Pete Pride, the Tampa Film Festival, The Gasparilla Classic Softball Tournament, The first annual Pride on 7th, and the National Softball Playoff Tournament in Ohio.
– We held our 3rd Annual Holiday Decoration Contest and Holiday Party, which has continued to be a success and is anticipated in Ybor!
– We participated in two University of South Florida events with booths.
– We hosted a Meet The Candidate Forum
– We donated to MCC Tampa, St Jude’s Helping Hand, USF and others.
We want to give a special thank you to: The Hampton Inn & Suites Ybor, The Florida Entertainment Group, Hamburger Mary’s Tampa, HOTspots Magazine, AlandChuck.travel, MC Film, Chelsea Nightclub and AYP. These organizations and business have helped GaYBOR throughout the year.
