Dishing with Mark & Carrie

11-2-06

 

St. Petersburg Bid  to Host 

 "The 2009 Interpride Convention" www.interpride.org

The Bay area was a buzz with the excitement over the possibility of hosting the 2008 Interpride Convention. After some careful consideration it was deiced to try for the 2009 Interpride Convention. Below are the two letters from Brain Longstreth, St. Pete Pride Coordinator. To offer your support contact stpetepride@yahoo.com

 

Hello all,
Brian Longstreth here in Portland Maine at the World
Interpride conference. We've been unexpectantly asked
to submit a bid to host the 2008 World Interpride
conference in St Petersburg Florida. We would love to
have your letter or email of support if you are able
to supply one ASAP. We are aware of the short notice,
but if you can send something to the effect that you
support the submission of a bid from St Pete Pride to
host the World Interpride Conference bid for 2008. We
would appreciate it. No obligations of course. It
would be exciting to have from 300-400 pride delegates
spend a 4-5 day weekend or longer in the St Petersburg
area during October 2008. This would be a coup for the
Tampa Bay area and all of Florida!
THANK YOU

Brian Longstreth
Coordinator
St Pete Pride 2007
"The Largest Pride Celebration in Florida"
www.stpetepride.com
727-365-0544

 

Hello Again,
First I want to thank everyone for their fast
responses and show of support for St Pete Pride to
host an Interpride conference. Interpride
(www.interpride.org) is the umbrella organization for
Pride events throughout the world. Annual conferences
bring people from around the world to gather
information, network, and share experiences.  As we
dug into the bid requirements, we realized we would
not qualify on more than one criteria to make a bid,
so we declined to bid for the 2008 Conference.
However, the show of support from many of you was
shared with the organizers and they were indeed
impressed. Due to this support we were encouraged to
register to create a bid for the 2009 Interpride
conference to be held October 2009. The deadline to
enter is July 2007, very close to our own Pride
Celebration in June. We would like to submit a bid for
the 2009 Interpride Conference no later than March
31st, 2007. The last six Interpride conferences have
been held in cold-weather climates(more like freezing)
so this would be the first warmer weather conference.
We hope to showcase the entire Tampa Bay area to
300-400 delegates from around the world. The 2007
Interpride conference will be in Zurich Switzerland,
and the 2008 conference will be in Vancouver Canada.
Official letters of support, financial contributions,
volunteer and coordination efforts would be extremely
helpful to our efforts. Please contact me if you are
able to assist in any way, and again thank you for the
tremendous response this past week. After viewing a
story on the hardships faced by Pride organizers in
Russia and some European countries, it is gratifying
to see such support for fundamental human rights from
our friends here in St Petersburg and the entire Tampa
Bay area.
Thank you,
Brian


Brian Longstreth
Coordinator
St Pete Pride 2007
"The Largest Pride Celebration in Florida"

 

New Board Members of St. Pete Pride

ENTHUSIASTIC NEW BOARD MEMBERS PREPARE PLANS FOR 2007 CELEBRATION

 

St Pete Pride, filled out the ranks of the Board of Directors for 2007 at their October monthly meeting. New members of the board, serving two year terms are; Female Co-Chair Suzanne Henry, Tim Brandle, Tiffany Lewis, Scott Turner, Holli Fischer, Brian Sprague, and Tim Thompson, Returning board members were Male Co-chair Robin Ash, Treasurer Bill Ward, Jeff Klein, Kenyon Dendy, Gary Van Fleet, and David Perkins. In addition to the board, several committee chair positions are still available.

St Pete Pride's celebration this past June attracted up to 50,000 participants and firmly placed St. Petersburg as hosting the Largest Pride Celebration
in Florida. In addition to the 30 events held prior to the Promenade and Street Festival, plans for 2007 include a Golf Tournament in March, a tennis
tournament, art festival, and a fashion show. "Pride in Paradise " will continue to be the theme for St Pete Pride.

St Pete Pride is expanding its outreach, having sent representatives to a recent St Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce showcase, the TBBG business expo
with the film festival and sending eight representatives to the world Interpride Conference in Portland Maine October 26-29th. Interpride is the global umbrella organization for Pride events, providing networking, educational conferences, and sponsorship opportunities. St Pete Pride will also have exposure at the upcoming Gay Life Expo November 18-19th in New York City by partnering with the Pinellas County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Volunteers are needed for many events throughout the year and especially Saturday June 30th, 2007 for the Promenade and Street Festival. Sign-up online at www.stpetepride.com. Sponsor packages are available online as well, or contact Brian Longstreth at 727.365.0544. All Media Inquiries should be directed to Brian Sprague at 727.388.6654.

 

The Neck Tie Party

A HUGE THANK YOU to all the people who took party in "The Neck Tie Party", during T-dance this past Sunday. This event was to benefit A.S.A.P. & Gypsy Productions and was hosted by The Suncoast Resort & MC Film Festival. $650.00 was raised for these great non profits! All the neck ties were donated and then sold & worn at T-Dance. Plans are underway for another fun Neck Tie Party this spring. Donations for old neck ties are being accepted now at MC Film.

 

New Gay Bar Opening

Coming soon to Ybor will be the new club "G.Bar" humm could that stand for GAY BAR!?!!!To be on thier e-mail list vist www.thisweekintampabay.com

 

 

Un Banned the Movie

This controversial Movie is now available on the internet. Visit www.unbanned.org today and see what the government doesn't want us to see.

 

Words of Wisdom

Several years ago Wayne, the owner of the "DT'S Bar" told me...

"Beer before liquor...never sicker"

"Liquor before beer ... no fear"

O, Boy do I wish that I had remember that Sunday Night!

 

Buzz Magazine Charity Underwear Auction