Business
We round out our 3-part series on "Using Events to Change the World" by taking a look into discrimination based on sexual identity and orientation. Our guests for this rather long (but ultra-important) conversation: David Jefferys, Executive Director/CEO of the LGBT Meeting Professionals Association (LGBTMPA) Alex Carvalho-Lukachova, CMP; Sr. Meeting Planner with Kasier Permanente Together we explore both overt and subverted biases against the LGBT community as well as ways to combat them using our wallets, our brains, and our collective power. We also talk about the merits of dog pee and realize that recording this episode so late in the evening on a workday has made Darryl a little more loopy than usual. Takeaways: Respect everybody and let them present themselves the way they want Be direct and ask questions, but then sit back and listen so you can learn As with other areas of inclusion and diversity, money carries a lot of weight we should make sure to be spending our event dollars with groups and cities that promote equality Conversations are uncomfortable but we have to push to have those discussions. The more you see something the more normal it becomes. And the more normal and regular we can make our guests and teammates feel. We can take the lead! Customer Service is everything Some groups you join and others you are born into. Embrace it! Connect with the LGBTMPA: https://lgbtmpa.com/ If you need help during these tough times or if you are fortunate enough to help others, please consider these organizations for the meetings and events industry: MPI Foundation: https://www.mpi.org/about/foundation PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/ Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/MiracleWorkersPodcast/message