FEDERATION OF GAY GAMES ANNUAL MEETING CAPS OUTSTANDING YEAR OF ACCOMPLISHMENT
Chicago 2006 reaching new successes in plans for Gay Games VII amid positive reaction to Cologne as choice for Gay Games VIII in 2010
(San Francisco - November 30, 2005) The excitement of the 2010 site selection process that culminated in the selection of Cologne, Germany as the host city for Gay Games VIII had barely subsided when the international Federation of Gay Games board of directors refocused to the business of its week-long annual meeting.
The Federation of Gay Games (FGG) held its 2005 annual meeting in mid-November in Chicago, site of next year's seventh edition of the quadrennial Gay Games, taking place from July 15-22, 2006.
"We accomplished many things at this year's meeting, including a continuation of the board restructuring that began in 2003, some key work for the ambitious scholarship program that will bring participants from underrepresented countries to the Gay Games, and of course we secured the future of the event with the selection of our new partners in Cologne, Germany to host the 2010 Gay Games," said Roberto Mantaci, co-president of the FGG.
"Our directors work very hard at our annual meetings, giving up a full week of their regular lives each year because they want the Gay Games legacy to continue," said Mantaci. "When you combine our work this year with the ongoing success of our current colleagues in Chicago, whose enthusiasm and professionalism forecast a wonderful experience for Gay Games participants in 2006, this year's annual meeting was extremely productive for our community-based activities."
Each year the FGG board meets for a full week of committee meetings and general sessions, usually in November. An all-volunteer organization, the FGG has embarked on a board restructuring plan with a goal of providing new opportunities for local sport and cultural organizations to take part in the Gay Games movement.
A key step this year was redefining the responsibilities of the FGG’s leadership. The board created a 16-member steering committee, including an 8-officer Executive Committee (EC) that will continue to manage the day-to-day operations and 8 additional leaders of various FGG subcommittees who will share other job responsibilities with the EC. Further changes in the board structure, including a proposed large assembly body, are currently under review for possible implementation after next year’s Gay Games.
A highlight of this year's FGG annual meeting was hearing first hand the Chicago organizers' plans for the next eight months. Chicago Games Inc. presented a detailed business report, conducted a pep rally, and hosted several evening events throughout the week at which FGG representatives met local Gay Games supporters. Chicago reported that registrations continue to meet targeted projections, with a reliable number of 6000 to date, including 4000 fully paid and another 2000 reservations made by group leaders and team captains in various sport and cultural activities. Sponsorships continue to meet success -- more than 100 local and national businesses have now signed up to support Gay Games VII including many in categories new to supporting LGBT community efforts.
"The FGG held two productive site visits this past year in Chicago," said Kathleen Webster, Federation co-president. "Other major activities included an expansion of our Ambassadors program with such prominent additions as Sir Elton John and German champion cyclists Petra Roessner and Judith Arndt, working with Out for Sport to host the 'Building Bridges for LGBT Sport' conference in London last February, and our site inspection tour of Cologne, Johannesburg and Paris, the three cities that bid for Gay Games 2010. Our achievements this year inspire confidence as we continue this important work on behalf of the LGBT community."
As always, this year’s FGG annual meeting was open to members of the public. Among those visiting for the first time was Beppo Brem, Male Co-President of the European Gay & Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF), the governing body of some 100 LGBT sports clubs with more than 10,000 individual members in Europe.
In remarks to the FGG, Mr. Brem said he found a different organization than he had expected. He said, "[W]hat I found is really open-mindedness, an extremely and tremendous high commitment to the LGBT sports issues, and that the European voice is not only being heard but our input is very welcome. One conclusion I will take from this annual meeting, instead of splitting up our resources we are well advised to combine all our efforts and energies, because if we talk in this terminology our real enemy is not ourselves but the homophobic sports world outside of this meeting room. So, I am personally convinced that we should start again to work together, EGLSF and FGG, and I think it could be a valuable partnership -- and that is the message I will bring back to Europe."
The annual meeting also presented a new opportunity to build bridges with the mainstream sport movement. Anne Cribbs, an Olympic gold medal swimmer and officer of the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC), attended as guest speaker. BASOC is committed to bringing sports events to the San Francisco Bay Area and led the San Francisco bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Ms. Cribbs delivered an inspirational speech to the FGG board and the 2010 Gay Games VIII bidding organizations, congratulating the bidding organizations in particular for the benefits they had brought to their LGBT communities by participating in the bid process. She noted that even though her own organization was not selected to be the U.S.’s Olympic bidder for 2012, BASOC had learned the lesson that victory is often determined "not by whether you fall, but how fast you get up."
The FGG Executive Committee for 2005-2006 is:
Male Co-President: Roberto Mantaci (Paris, France)
Female Co-President: Kathleen Webster (Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA)
Senior Vice President, Female: Stephanie Johnstone (Woodstock, Ontario, Canada)
Vice President, Host Relations: Emy Ritt (Paris, France)
Vice President, Operations: Charlie Carson (New York, New York, USA)
Vice President, Membership: Rich Williams (Miami Beach, Florida, USA)
Secretary: Charles King (Pacifica, California, USA)
Treasurer: Manuel Picaud (Paris, France)
The FGG extended special thanks to four-year Vice President Richard Hogan of Sydney, Australia, who first joined the FGG board in 1997 as a delegate from Team Sydney and will continue to serve as an Individual Director on the board.
"Positive feedback from our participants and constituents is that the selection of Cologne for 2010 only increases their enthusiasm to be in Chicago in 2006 for Gay Games VII," said Webster. "The FGG appreciates all the local support in Chicago that made our 2005 annual meeting productive and successful."
Next year's FGG annual meeting will be held at the Centre de Recherche et d’Innovation sur le Sport (CRIS) of the University of Lyon-Villeurbanne in France.