We just completed our 2012 Annual Summit in Baltimore. I thought the tough part was going to be that I was on the road to SHRM D&I conference in Chicago and OutServe's Conference in Orlando the week before Summit. I got an early start on Hurricane Sandy, watching it move up the Florida coast. Can I tell you, I don't like hurricanes! My first one was in 1983 when I was assigned to Johnson Space Center in Houston and the eye of the storm ran right over us. When I first joined Out & Equal, the year of the previous election, we were in Austin and Hurricane Ike joined us as it came through Houston. That time we shared our convention space as an evacuation center. I was born and raised in California and adjust well to the unpredictability of earthquakes. Hurricanes are another story, but I found myself chasing Sandy up the coast. By the time I got to Baltimore, it was clear we were going to have to make adjustments and make sure everyone already in Baltimore was safe and adjusting to the changing situation.

We had scheduled 110 workshops and 12 featured panels. Workshops and panels were cancelled on Tuesday because the roads were closed in Baltimore until noon. We got a lot of rain and wind, but we wee lucky as Sandy turned north and missed us. We were surprised when almost 400 people showed up for the breakfast plenary on Tuesday, but we were about the only place open and those who were already in Baltimore for the Summit needed a place to eat. We pulled together 8 topical discussions ranging from Allies to Transgender Issues and many of leadership seminar presenters facilitated these discussions. When all was said and done, we had to cancel 33 workshops because presenters could not get into Baltimore to deliver their workshops. We were able to accommodate all the Tuesday workshops that had been cancelled and presenters were onsite Wednesday/Thursday. My thanks to the presenters and panelists who were flexible and willing to work with us to continue the Summit. The unofficial number of attendees was 1400 by Thursday.

For those who couldn't make it in, we are discussing doing a Virtual Summit/Hurricane series so we can continue to learn best practices from our cancelled workshop presenters. More information about that project will be available next month. I hope as we move into this holiday season, we all take a minute to appreciate the work all of us do and to spend time with families of choice and origin to get recharged to kick off 2013! And thanks for voting and moving LGBT equality forward!  We still have lots to do and are eager to move forward.

 

Sincerely,