President's Column

by Michael Gormley

Hello. I hope you are all having a healthy and happy new year! One of the principle struggles of any not-for-profit organization is finding ways to best use limited resources. This year, the Board and I are committed to making information about the Alliance better available to everyone. We've decided that our most important project for 2003 is the updating of our website, www.lavenderchamber.org.

More and more people are using the Internet to research and locate potential business partners, and the Internet makes it easy to maintain current and accurate directory information with minimal cost. For those of you who already have an Internet presence, please let us know how you would like us to provide a linking from our site to yours. The more linking that takes place, the easier it will be for people to find the LGBT business connections they're looking for.

More and more people are using the Internet to research and locate potential business partnersŠ For those of you who already have an Internet presence, please let us know how you would like us to provide a linking from our site to yours.

As some of you may know, the organization faced a number of challenges with the 2002-2003 edition of Alliance Connections. We learned that such an endeavor is not practical without proper administrative supervision. While we attempted to do this with volunteer labor, the proofing and distribution of the printed directory were lacking. With better funding, we might be able to pay an Executive Director or similar person to manage such projects. However, this would require a significant increase in dues, which the Board and I have decided against. For these reasons and others, we do not anticipate producing a 2003-2004 printed Alliance Connections directory, but instead plan to 'get the word out' in various smaller, less resource intensive ways, the website being our first project.

On behalf of the Board and myself, I invite you to contact us with questions or ideas you have for the Alliance. The best way to reach us is to leave us a voicemail at 510.287.2571 and a member of the Board will return your call within a few business days. Alternatively, feel free to write us (PO Box 20980, Oakland, CA 94620) or fax me at 510.588.4550.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Michael Gormley, who, along with his partner Dan Joy, is now with Coldwell Banker, can be reached via email at michael@danandmichael.com or by phone at 510.339.4725.

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