Monday Morning Memo

Good morning Chamber Members:

Welcome to the Monday Morning Memo.

I hope and pray this is the last time (at least for a while) that the week begins with a hurricane . . . . or any disaster. There are LGBT chambers in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Fort Meyers, and Orlando. I am certain Irma has touched all of these organizations and their members. While we cannot forget Houston, we all need to find a little love for our friends in Florida.

Today is also Patriot Day, a National Day of Service and Remembrance in memory of those killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001. (More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Day)

Last Week (September 5)

• • Late last week we quickly shared some information about the Equifax security breach and how to check to see if your information may have been compromised. Our leading expert on consumer credit, LeAnn Daniel, with White Jacobs & Associates, also provided us with this number 800-493-1058 for placing a fraud alert on your credit file. The number is to Experian, not Equifax. You will be asked for you social security number and zip code, from there choose option # 2 and #2 again.

 

• • You may also want to check out this article in today's Dallas Morning News: http://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?artguid=5cb3cff7-1b54-418c-b280-b43617dba4a0

 

• • Learn more about White Jacobs & Associates and for LeAnn Daniel's contact information log in to the Member Information Center (Member Login) and search "White Jacobs"

 

• • Last Thursday was Brewing Up Business. Normally Phil Hobson with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services - PenFed Realty Texas runs BUB, but since he was traveling, I decided to jump in and do it myself, just like the old days. It was NOT like riding a bike, but at least I didn't fall off. Big thanks go out to Clean Slate Addiction Treatment Centers for sponsoring BUB, and to our host, Zephyr Bakery Café.

 

• • Following BUB our Chamber Ambassador co-chairs, Marsha Thomas (TNT Promotions) and Armando Ramirez (Supreme Lending) held our first meeting of the new Ambassador program. If you want a good reason to connect with new (and existing) Chamber members, you should consider the Chamber Ambassador program. Call me; we'll talk.

 

This Week (September 11)

• • At the Chamber, we will have our first meeting of LGBT Chamber Executives. National calls like this are always informative. We also have the ACCE (Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives) Diversity and Inclusion Division call.

 

• • Thursday is our Business Connections Mixer at Nikkei. More information is online at www.GLBTChamber.com

 

• • Every week is Pride Week at the Chamber. However, this is Dallas Pride Week! There are some special events you should know about:
    • • Friday, September 15: 9^th Annual Red Party, presented by Ray Scott State Farm and Stoli; benefitting Legacy Counseling Center

     

    • • Saturday, September 16: Festival in the Park https://dallaspride.org/

     

    • • Saturday, September 16: A Night Out for Trevor: Dallas Pride, presented by Toyota, benefitting The Trevor Project

     

    • • Sunday, September 17: Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade

     

     

 

I hope you all have a great week!

Good morning Chamber Members:

Welcome to a special Tuesday edition of the Monday Morning Memo.

Last Week  (August 28)

• • We participated in several calls regarding the ongoing disaster in Houston and Southeast Texas. We are working with the US Chamber, Texas Association of Business, Small Business Association, and others to make sure businesses in the area can get the help they need.
    • • If you know of a business in Southeast Texas (or Louisiana) in need of assistance please refer them to the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce Hurricane Resources page https://www.houstonlgbtchamber.com/hurricane-relief. This page is updated with new information as it becomes available.

     

    • • TAB and the Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives Association have created a Business Resource Center http://www.txbiz.org/2017/08/25/hurricane-harvey/ This site allows businesses in need as well as those who may be able to provide assistance to register. TAB/TCCE will then match businesses in need with ones that can assist.

     

    • • Finally, as rebuilding begins, the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce will be working with officials to make certain their members and LGBT certified businesses are included in the bidding process. We will be working to connect our members with businesses in the Houston area who may need assistance winning new business. We'll keep you posted!​

     

     

 

On to other important items . . . .

• • A big 'thank you' to everyone who read last week's Memo and wished me luck on my haircut. It's nice t know you read the email.

 

• • I had lunch and a great tour at Toyota in Plano. The statistics on solar power generated, and rainwater collection arefascinating.

 

• • Coincidentally, immediately after Toyota visit, we attended a volunteer meeting at Texas Campaign for the Environment. The group had a lot of good questions on corporate involvement in Pride celebrations, parades vs. protests, and mandatory recycling for businesses. It kept me on my toes.

 

• • After years of working together on the Visit Dallas board of directors, I finally met one-on-one with Joyce Williams, Associate Vice Chancellor, Workforce & Community Initiatives at Dallas County Community College District. Who knew what an amazing resource DCCCD could be? Joyce and I agree we can do great things together!

 

This Week (September 4)

• • This week we have BEN I on Tuesday, BEN II on Wednesday, and Brewing Up Business on Thursday. If you like in-person networking, I hope to see you at one or more of these.  If you don't know what BEN is, give me a call, or check out https://www.glbtchamber.com/business-exchange-network

 

• • Besides these programs, I expect this will be an "in services" week preparing for our Board of Directors meeting, working on Spooktacular, Texas Business Equality Conference, and the 2018 Annual Dinner.​

 

Thank you for the time, talent, and financial resources you provide to make our Chamber and our community successful.

Best wishes,
Tony

Good morning Chamber Members:

Welcome once again to the Monday Morning Memo.

This morning I am certain we are all thinking about our sister-chamber, Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, its members, and community. Naturally, we stand ready to assist the Chamber's leadership in any way we can.
Disasters like this bring out the best in us. Unfortunately, it often provides scammers with clever ways to separate good people from their money. For now, the safest place to make financial contributions to assist our neighbors to the South is the American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/local/texas/gulf-coast/ways-to-donate.

Last Week  (August 21)
The situation in the Houston area makes everything else pale in comparison. Still, here is a recap of the Chamber's activities last week . . .

• • Internally, the 2018 Dinner Committee as did the Chamber Foundation Board. We funded our 2017-2018 scholarships last week, $15,000! The Business Exchange Network (BEN) group III met at the Warwick Melrose Hotel.

 

• • The Uptown ER Ribbon Cutting was super! Kudos to Darren Roberts and his staff. Also a huge 'thank you' to Mike Jackson (CLVR Agency), for photographing the event.

 

• • The Richardson Chamber of Commerce hosted a TAB (Texas Association of Business) Round Table with Congressman Pete Sessions. (Thank you Richardson Chamber President, Bill Sproull.) While it was interesting to hear from 'inside' I have to admit, a little voice in my head kept singing The Country's in the Very Best of Hands from the musical Li'l Abner.

 

• • We met with Chery Richards, VP Diversity & Inclusion at Visit Dallas. Little known facts:
    • • Visit Dallas is the first organization of its kind to have a D & I division.

     

    • • Our Chamber has had a partnership with Visit Dallas 2005.

     

    • • Since 2009, we have also had representation on the Visit Dallas Board.

     

     

 

• • My lunch at Zephyr with Marnese Elder, president of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, was (as always) fun and informative. I think it is safe to say Marnese and I have similar views on the importance of chambers as conveners of diverse people and ideas.

 

This Week (August 28)

• • It is a bonus week! A month with five weeks feels like a gift.

 

• • The North Texas Chamber of Commerce Executives (NTCE) meets today for a Lunch & Learn on Diversity & Inclusion.

 

• • We will be meeting with Stephen Lewis with Toyota Financial Services.

 

• • Later in the week, we meet with Joyce Williams, Associate Vice Chancellor, Workforce & Community Initiatives at Dallas County Community College.

 

• • And I get my hair cut. (I just threw this in to see if you were paying attention.)

 

Please keep all of our fellow Texans in your thoughts and prayers.

Best wishes,
Tony

Good morning Chamber Members:

Welcome once again to the Monday Morning Memo.

Eclipse Update: Did you know Royal Caribbean is hosting a "Total Eclipse Cruise" featuring none other than Bonnie Tyler who will sing (what else) Total Eclipse of the Heart. Tell me gay man is not responsible for that! Moving on . . . .

Last Week  (August 14)

• • Wednesday morning felt a lot like Christmas; waking up to find the best-gift-ever, the end of the 85^th Legislature's Special Session (one day early). A big thanks to Speaker Straus, Texas Association of Business, our fellow Keep Texas Open for Business Coalition members, and the many, many businesses and individuals who made their voices hears.

 

 

• • We met with leadership at Toyota to learn about the Toyota Financial Services Diverse Business Mentorship Program. You will hear more about this in the coming months. For now, our Chamber is greatly honored to participate. Oh, and the Toyota lobby has that 'new car' smell. Really!

 

• • I had a chance to re-connect with one of our Corporate Partners, Hard Rock Café, and its new(ish) Sales Coordinator, Blake Smith. Hard Rock Café has been a Corporate Partner since 2013. Be on the lookout for more Hard Rock Café activities in the near future.

 

• • I was a guest at the Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Lunch. I gathered some very useful information from the Chamber's president, Erin Carney, Programs & Marketing Manager, Ryan Abrey, and all of the Ambassadors. Thank you, Marsha & Bill Thomas, for the invitation.

 

• • On the 3^rd Wednesday of each month, I attend Mayor's LGBT Task Force meeting. Prior to the meeting the Quality of Life Committee (which I co-chair) meets to discuss issues in our community and along Cedar Springs. Please let me know if you would like to attend with me sometime.

 

This Week (August 21)

• • It looks like a slow week, but somehow that "slow" never lasts very long. I'm sure you know.

 

• • Be sure you have tomorrow's Uptown ER Ribbon Cutting on your calendar! Click here to RSVP http://bit.ly/2vXcpKH

 

• • We will attend a Texas Association of Business Congressional Round Table meeting at the Richardson Chamber of Commerce with Congressman Pete Sessions. Please feel free to send me any questions you would like asked.

 

• • Later this week I am having lunch with my counterpart, president of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce, Marnese Elder.

 

• • The GLBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation Board meets this week to re-cap our scholarship disbursement and work on Spooktacular (October 21). Check out the new GLBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation website at www.GLBTChamberFoundation.org
    Keeping on the Foundation/Spooktacular topic, we are looking for awesome silent auction items for Spooktacular and the 2018 Annual Dinner. Please see the attached PDF.

 

Thank you for the work you do to advance equality and inclusion.

Best wishes,
Tony

Good morning Chamber Members:

Welcome to the Monday Morning Memo, a brief update & overview of Chamber activities.

Each Monday morning* we will send this quick little email to keep you in touch with everything the Chamber does on behalf of its members and the community. NOTE: If you do not want to receive this communication, please reply and let me know. I encourage you NOT to use the Opt Out system, as this will inhibit our ability to communicate with you in the future.

Here we go . . .

Last Week  (August 7)

Let's call last week "re-entry week". It was our first full week back in the office following the NGLCC Conference.**

• • Our Annual Dinner Committee met bright and early on Monday morning. We are well on our way to a great program at the 13th annual Celebration of Excellence Dinner, April 20, 2018. We met with the SBA on future programming for our members, discussed marketing items with Waylon Tate (J. Waylon & Associates), and continued our planning of Spooktacular IV, which will take place on Saturday, October 20, 2017 and the Texas Business Equality Conference, hosted by AT&T, on Wednesday, November 1.

 

• • The GLBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation (formerly GLBT LEAP) voted to award $15,000 in scholarships for the 2017-2018 academic year. We will tell you more about our scholars later.

 

• • We continued our work with Keep Texas Open for Business; with only 3 days remaining the special session, we have to continue to speak out against anti-transgender bathroom bills (or amendments).

 

• • We also spoke out against a proposed "Late Hours Overlay" at the City Planning Commission (Dallas) meeting last week. This ordinance would require businesses to close at Midnight. You can read more in the Dallas Observer http://www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/city-inches-toward-a-vote-on-the-late-hours-overlay-aka-midnight-curfew-for-bars-restaurants-9755474

 

This Week (August 14)

• • While we continue to keep an eye on the legislative issues above, this week we will attend a Diverse Business Mentoring discussion hosted by Toyota.

 

• • BEN I and BEN II meet this week.

 

• • We will be guests at the Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Meeting.

 

• • We have meetings scheduled with Members, Volunteers, and Corporate Partners.

 

• • I'll let you know more about these meetings/issues next week. In the meantime, thank you for your support and the trust you place in the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce.

 

Best wishes,
Tony

** The annual NGLCC International Business & Leadership Conference in Las Vegas was outstanding! We were thrilled to get a 'shout out' from American Airlines' Todd Rice, as he welcomed the 1,200 attendees to the conference. Thanks, Todd! We were joined by many of our corporate partners as well as LGBT certified businesses; Insight Quality Services (Andy Church), Dallas Voice (Leo Cusimano), and Spotted Dog Architecture (Larry Paschall). I hope I didn't forget anyone. Along with the other Texas LGBT chambers (Austin, Houston, and San Antonio), we hosted an unofficial all-Texas reception where we made some outstanding connections.