I started this for people to post general information, comments or questions specifically about Chicago's event. If you wish to discuss the schism between the Federation and Montreal, continue posting to that thread. Thanks.

[ March 21, 2004, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Jim at Outsports ]

In another thread, KevinB posted


Here are the promised Melissa Etheridge Pics.

Pictured (l to r) Brenda Schumacher, Chicago Games, Inc. (CGI); Dennis Sneyers, Co-Chair, CGI; Bobby Hoeppner, CGI; Suzi Arnold, CGI; Roberto Mantaci, Co-President, Federation of Gay Games (FGG); Melissa Etheridge; Kevin Boyer, CGI; Kathleen Webster, Co-President, FGG; Tracy Baim, CGI; Kurt Dahl, CGI; Theresa Galletti, FGG; Liz Valenti, Team Chicago.

Pictured (l to r) - Dennis Sneyers, Co-Chair, CGI; Roberto Mantaci, Co-President, FGG; Melissa Etheridge; Kathleen Webster, Co-President, FGG; Tracy Baim, Co-Vice Chair, CGI


One more picture from this weekend's festivities. This one is from the benefit gala last night (SAT, 20 March) for the Center on Halsted, Chicago's new multi-million GLBT community center.

Pictured are Sam Coady, one of Chicago's 3 Sports Committee Co-Chairs, tennis legend and Chicago native Billie Jean King, and FGG Co-Presidents Roberto Mantaci and Kathleen Webster.

There was a great article in the Boston Globe yesterday (Sun. March 21) talking about Chicago's new pro-gay attitudes at city hall. It seems we are taking over the windy city, hope to visit soon!

Paul

Kevin-

The Melissa pics are great! She's radiant and clearly stands out. Great to have her support. :cool:

...and this Sam Coady character looks a bit like Christopher Reeve.

[ March 23, 2004, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: CHIathlete ]

All I can say is “Wow!” Seeing those pictures of Melissa Etheridge and Billy Jean King with the leaders of the Federation of Gay Games and Chicago 2006 evoked a lot of wonderful memories of the Gay Games VI opening ceremonies when we were serenaded by KD Lang and inspired by the tide of goodwill and camaraderie electrifying the entire stadium. I remember the complete absence of negativity as well. It is awesome to see these gay celebrities drawn to the significance and the spirit of Gay Games VII. The anticipation builds...

If anyone from Boston is reading these posts and would like to discuss Gay Games VII with one of our sports chairs, both Suzi Arnold and Sam Coady (2 of our 3 chairs) will be in Boston and the Gay and Lesbian Athletic Conference this coming weekend (March 26-28). While they are at the conference most of the day, they will have some time during meals or in the evening to answer questions. Just drop me an email at mailto:mailto:kgboyer@ix.netcom.commailto:kgboyer@ix.netcom.com and I'll get you in touch with them.

I'm wondering what important events are coming up in Chicago's GG timeline?

Kevin, is a date for early registration set yet?

Also, what is proposed for the Opening Ceremonies, or is it too early to ask?

The registration date has not been established. We should be able to set a firm date within the next month.

Opening Ceremonies are still scheduled for the newly renovated Soldier Field. Negotiations with the Chicago Parks District over pricing are proceeding nicely. Our Ceremonies committee has begun work on the lineup for that event. Soldier Field is perfect for Opening Ceremonies as there is not only plenty of parking, it's close to the lakefront and downtown hotels, but there's plenty of room for the staging of the athletes and placing the athletes in seats, rather than on the stadium floor.

Just across the wires...Sports Club Janus is hosting the Gay Games annual meeting in Cologne, Germany. This is great news for Gay Games VII because it will help get the word out in Europe about their event.

http://www.gaygames.com/en/FGG040326PR.htm

COLOGNE TO BE SITE FOR ANNUAL MEETING

OF THE FEDERATION OF GAY GAMES

Third Federation Annual Meeting in Europe to be hosted by SportsClub Janus eV

NEW YORK - 26 March 2004 - Cologne, Germany will be the site of the 2004 Federation of Gay Games annual meeting from 6-13 November, with SportsClub Janus eV (SC Janus) acting as local organisers, Federation officials announced today.

"Cologne has a long, proud history of participation in the Gay Games," said Kathleen Webster, Federation Co-President. "During the last four years we’ve met twice in Australia and once each in South Africa, the U.S. and Canada, so it is high time we return to Europe. We met in Amsterdam in 1995 and Berlin in 1999 and this year we could not be more pleased to visit Cologne."

Once a year, usually in October or November, the Federation board gathers from around the world to coordinate the work of its officers and committees. The key goal is perpetuating and supporting the quadrennial Gay Games, the seventh edition of which will take place in Chicago from 15-22 July 2006.

SC Janus is the local umbrella sports organization for the LGBT community in Cologne. As such, it provides a source of contacts and common information among area athletes in activities such as volleyball, gymnastics, football, swimming, table tennis, handball and cycling. SC Janus has been a Director Organisation on the Federation’s board since 2001.

Ulrich Breite, SC Janus President, said, "Cologne and SC Janus feel very honoured to host the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Federation of Gay Games. We invite all directors and delegates, honourary life members and observers to be our guests during this event in the historical and gay- and lesbian-friendly atmosphere on the River Rhine. Cologne will supply a professional infrastructure in order to make the annual meeting a big success, together with a warm welcome from all SC Janus members and the people of Cologne."

For more information on the Federation of Gay Games, go to www.gaygames.com. The SC Janus website, in German, is www.sc-janus.de. The website for the 2006 Gay Games host committee, Chicago Games Inc., is www.chicago2006.org.

About The Federation of Gay Games:

The Federation of Gay Games is the international governing body that perpetuates the quadrennial Gay Games and promotes the event's founding principles of inclusion, participation and personal best. The Gay Games was conceived by Dr. Tom Waddell, an Olympic decathlete, and was first held in San Francisco in 1982 with 1,350 participants. Subsequent Gay Games were held in San Francisco (1986; 3,500 participants), Vancouver (1990; 7,300 participants), New York (1994; 12,500 participants), Amsterdam (1998; 13,000 participants), and Sydney (2002; 11,000 participants).

There's a great article in today's Chicago Tribune about Chicago's fairly new gay hockey team, its development, and its plans for Gay Games VII. You can read it by clicking on this link.

Thanks for posting it! :cool:

Chicagoan Billie Jean King is a new Gay Games Ambassador. The official announcement has been posted at http://www.chicagogamesinc.org/BillieJeanKing.html

Kevin Boyer
Chicago Games, Inc.
ChicagoGamesInc.org

Chicago has added Rugby, Darts, Billiards, Flag Football and DanceSport to the sports Program. The full press is available at here .

Baseball Star Billy Bean has been named a Gay Games Ambassador. The announcement is available in English Spanish and French .

For those of you in South Florida, Team South Florida will be having an organizational meeting next Friday, May 7, in Miami Beach. This meeting will include an overview of Gay Games VII presented by Dennis Sneyers, Co-Chair of Chicago Games, Inc. Details are available online .

Kevin Boyer
Chicago Games, Inc.
ChicagoGamesInc.org

Gay Games VII has announced its new logo, and a naming contest for the two figures present in the logo. View the information at ChicagoGamesInc.org/NewLogo.html

Kevin Boyer
Chicago Games, Inc.
ChicagoGamesInc.org

Gay Games VII has been invited by Team Vancouver (BC, Canada) to make a presentation while representatives of our organization are in Vancouver for the North American Gay Volleyball Association Championships. Those in Vancouver are invited to two events - one on Thursday, 27 May 2004 with Team Vancouver and one on Saturday, 29 May 2004 affiliated with the NAGVA Championships. Details may be obtained on our website.

Chicago has launched its new website at www.GayGamesChicago.org . We will launch registration the week of June 7 - stay tuned for details.

[ June 04, 2004, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: KevinB ]

Setting aside the "family feud" for a moment ... has anyone else seen the Gay Games print ads in gay publications? The photos are far sexier (and not in a naughty way, just ... lovely to look at) than the ones on the web site. My favorite so far is the WeHo water polo team.

Hi,

I just wanted to take a moment of everyone's time to express my gratitude for the support that the Chicago 2006 Organizing Committee provided recently to a local charity in Vancouver.

When Kevin mentioned that he would be coming to Vancouver to talk to people from both Team Vancouver and athletes from the NAGVA (Volleyball) Championships, I had suggested that he may want to do an event together on Saturday night that would provide support for a local charity. I am the Executive Director of Wings Housing Society (the largest HIV/AIDS Housing provider in Canada) and we were named to be the Charity for the NAGVA Championships.

We agreed to support the Championships by providing manpower to sell ad space in the program as well as raising funds via a Charity raffle. Air Canada came on board with a couple of tickets to anywhere in North America that they fly (including Hawaii) and the Chicago folks decided that two free early entries to the Chicago Games would be a great donation to help our cause.

Over the weekend, we managed to sell an incredible number of tickets as well as receiving support from some donors. Thanks to the support of Air Canada and the Chicago Gay Games folks, we were able to raise just under $10,000.00 to provide Housing for PWA's in British Columbia Canada.

I have to say a big thank-you to the Chicago folks that were on hand and even took the time to sell tickets on our behalf while they visited Vancouver.

Thanks again from the folks at Wings Housing Society.

Ken

An e-Update has been sent to those on the Gay Games VII email list. You may view that e-update online .

Kevin Boyer, Marketing Chair
Gay Games VII - 15-22 July 2006 - Chicago USA
GayGamesChicago.org

Our June 11 e-update is now linked on our home page - visit GayGamesChicago.org and select "Newsletter."

Kevin Boyer
Gay Games VII - 15-22 July 2006 - Chicago USA

Kevin, the "view past newsletters" link wasn't working (at least when I tried.)

chuck.

Seems to be working fine now, Chuck - try again - visit GayGamesChicago.org and select "Newsletter" for the link. If you're still having trouble (you shouldn't), you can try the direct link .

A copy of our letter announcing that Gay Games VII Registration is now live has been posted on another bulletin board .

Actress and director Amanda Bearse has become a new Gay Games Ambassador. View the announcement on the Gay Games website.