March 15th, 2023

Happy Women's History Month!

This month, LGBT Meeting Professionals Association is honoring Women's History Month! During the entire month of March, LGBT MPA's Weekly Insider will provide articles all about Women's History Month and highlighting LGBTQ+ Women's History!

11 LGBTQ+ Women Who Shaped the Course of History

LGBTQ+ women defined our history. It’s time to acknowledge it during Women’s History Month and beyond.

While every March marks Women’s History Month, queer and transgender women have yet to get their flowers. There have been attempts to make the month more queer and trans-inclusive, but recognizing the work of LGBTQ+ women goes beyond simply saying that it’s their month, too. It’s our duty to uncover the contributions of queer and trans women throughout history and honor them all 365 days of the year.

LGBT MPA at Showcase in National Harbor for Power of Purpose: Business Events Industry Week

LGBT MPA attended and exhibited last week at Showcase, a part of Power of Purpose: Business Events Industry Week in National Harbor last week! During Showcase, LGBT MPA presented our education course, Gender's Impact on the Business Events Industry for the second time. Panelists, Ashley T Brundage, Dan Rios, Tiffany Elum, Leslie Zeck, and Ned Blair and Moderator, Kyle Jordan discussed and shared their experiences and insights into their professional experience.

Ashley T Brundage talked to the audience members about the current challenges and issues that transgender and gender expansive event attendees and professionals face within the current landscape of the meetings and events industry. Leslie provided insight on what protections and clauses you can work into planners' RFPs and contracts that protect gender-diverse attendees. Dan, Tiffany and Ned discussed what initiatives their destinations are enacting to provide a welcoming and safe place for gender attendees and shared strategies on what destinations can do to combat LGBTQ+ legislation within their own communities.

If you missed this session, don't worry! We will be presenting it again at PCMA Educon in Montréal in June!

LGBT MPA Vice Chair, Gary Murakami, and Member, Beth Surmont Honored at 2023 Visionary Awards!

The PCMA Foundation Visionary Awards honors exceptional stars for their significant contributions to their organizations and the business events community. More than 900 business event organizers and business event suppliers will attend this premier industry black-tie recognition event from the red carpet reception to the awards show and after-party. This year, LGBT MPA had 2 members nominated for these industry awards, Gary Murakami, GTP, GLP, CMP-Fellow, CMM, DES and Beth Surmont, FASAE, CMP, CAE.

Congratulations to our very own Vice Chair, Gary Murakami, who was announced as the recipient of the 2023 PCMA Groundbreaker Award at this year’s PCMA Visionary Awards ceremony! The Groundbreaker Award celebrates an industry trailblazer that represents diverse sectors of the business events community recognizing significant contributions to their organizations and programs that advance inclusion and equity. This award truly reflects the tireless work that Gary has done in our industry and for LGBT MPA! Congratulations, Gary!

Congratulations to one of our members, Beth Surmont for being named a finalist for Event Designer of the Year at this year's 2023 PCMA Visionary Awards! The Event Designer of the Year Award honors an individual who has demonstrated unique and innovative ideas implemented through event design. This award demonstrates the creativity and innovation put into the events designed by Beth. Congratulations, Beth on your achievement!

SPIN Introduces New Podcast Host!

Listen to LGBT MPA founder, Dave Jefferys, as he introduces the new SPIN podcast host, Ashley T Brundage. Dave and Ashley both make impacts as they put the SPIN on LGBT issues in the meeting and event industry. Hear a little bit of history behind the organization and begin to build a relationship with our new podcast host Ashley as she puts an empowering SPIN on the world.

TN House Passes Bill Letting Clerks Refuse Marriage Licenses to LGBTQ Couples

The Republican-controlled Tennessee state House of Representatives voted on Monday to pass a bill that would allow county officials to deny same-sex or interracial couples marriage licenses.

House Bill 878 states that county clerks and their staff “shall not be required to solemnize a marriage if the person has an objection to solemnizing the marriage based on the person’s conscience or religious beliefs.” The bill now heads to the Senate, which will begin consideration of its passage in the chamber next week.

If the bill becomes state law, it would directly challenge federal marriage equality protections, including Supreme Court rulings and the recently-passed Respect for Marriage Act.

IGLTA to Hold 2024 Global Convention in Osaka, Japan

The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) will be holding its 2024 Global Convention in Asia for the very first time in its history, held in Osaka, Japan.

The city is the second-largest LGBTQ+ scene outside of Tokyo, with welcoming locals and incredible food. It’s also the first regional-level government in Japan to implement a same-sex partnership system. It’s also home to the LGBT Leading Company initiative, which launched in 2019 to ensure businesses and organizations were treating members of the community equally.

Cvent to Be Acquired by Blackstone in $4.6 Billion Deal

The world's largest event technology company is going private again. Blackstone will soon own Cvent and is bullish on the recovery of events and travel. After an initial offer was rejected, the deal is worth approximately $4.6 billion.

Cvent announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Blackstone in a transaction valued at an enterprise value of approximately $4.6 billion.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Cvent stockholders will receive $8.50 per share in cash. Blackstone’s initial offer of $8 per share was rejected by Cvent in January.

Destination DC: Fact of the Day

DID YOU KNOW: There are 13 quotations in a U.S. Passport, only one of which is attributed to a woman.

Her name is Anna Julie Cooper and she spent much of her life in Washington, DC.

The solitary quote from Cooper is on page 26. It reads:

“The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class — it is the cause of humankind and the very birthright of humanity.”

GO DEEPER: Anna Julia Cooper (1858-1964), who lived in LeDroit Park for 40 years, was a prolific writer and a civil and women’s rights activist who saw academic education as essential to achieving equality for African American women and men. Born into slavery, Cooper first came to Washington in 1887 to teach at the acclaimed Preparatory School for Colored Youth (now Dunbar High School). As the school’s principal from 1902 to 1906, Cooper defied her white supervisor’s demand that her students be trained for vocational, rather than academic pursuits. Instead, she sent several students to the Ivy Leagues, and during her tenure at the school, Harvard accredited it. It was also during this period that Cooper helped found the Colored Women’s League of Washington.

LEARN MORE: At age 57, Cooper adopted her brother’s five children, motivating her purchase of a gracious Queen Anne house at 201 T Street NW in 1916. She later completed her doctoral studies at the Sorbonne. Cooper was also instrumental in sustaining Frelinghuysen University, a night school for poor and working-class adults founded in 1906 and originally located in a private home on Vermont Avenue NW. Cooper’s 1892 publication, A Voice from the South, is a collection of her speeches and essays promoting black women’s equality. Cooper lived to the age of 105 and passed away in 1964, just months before Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. She didn’t just witness the transformation of a nation, she was a part of that transformation.

Celebrate Women's History Month in Loudoun

March is Women’s History Month – a celebration of the contribution of women to events in history and contemporary society. 

Women have made a more than significant contribution to Loudoun in the development of the county as a renowned restaurant, craft beverage and tourism destination. Here we profile some of the dynamic female entrepreneurs who make Loudoun such a unique and appealing place to visit.

Cheryl Strasser & Bre Grant, Cowbell Kitchen

Hands down one of the most elaborate salads in all of Loudoun is the seasonal Farm Bowl – a delectable mélange of roasted veggies, farm fresh greens, grains, beets, harissa, hummus, felafel and more – made at pocket-sized café and bakery Cowbell Kitchen, downtown Leesburg. Fans of “The Bowl” can thank Cowbell owners Cheryl Strasser and Bre Grant, the all-woman team who run the business. They formed a close bond after Bre’s sister, Kaeley, tragically passed away in 2018. Cheryl and Kaeley had started the original Cowbell Kitchen on Market Street. Together, Cheryl, a baker of 30 years, and Bre, a marketer, keep Kaeley’s dream going at their King Street spot, making sweet-smelling cakes, cookies, pastries and pies on top of cheese and bacon filled breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast, quiche, buckwheat pancakes and that incredible Farm Bowl – all ingredients sourced from regional farms. Magnificent.

Dana Alfahham, Dana’s Cake Shoppe

Ten years ago, Syrian native Dana Alfahham was studying cake decorating in Dubai and working as a baker at a British school, considering a move back to Damascus with her husband and children. Syria was at war, however, and not the best place to return to. An opportunity arose to move to Virginia and after several years making and baking wedding cakes in the DC region, she and her husband opened Dana’s Cake Shoppe in the Village at Leesburg in 2020.

The now wildly successful enterprise makes everything from cakes and gourmet pies to macaroons, cheesecake, cookies and fruit tarts and employs an all-women team of 12 bakers, cake decorators and baristas. The shop recently expanded to offer baking and cake decorating classes.

“Everything I bake is from scratch,” Alfahham said. “I’ve developed my own recipes for the best texture, using high-end ingredients and European-style batter. As for decorations – you tell me what you want, and I will design it.”

Who is her inspiration this Women’s History Month?

“My mother,” Alfahham said. “She baked for me all the time growing up in Syria and gave me my passion.” The future is in good hands, meanwhile. Dana’s three young daughters can often be found helping her in the cake shop. “I hope they find their American Dream here like I did,” she said.

Lori Corcoran, Corcoran Vineyards & Cidery

California-born Lori Corcoran wanted to be an FBI agent and studied Administration of Justice at college. Instead, when she and her family relocated to a farm outside Waterford in 2002, they planted vines, started making wine (and later beer and cider) and never looked back. The FBI’s loss has been the craft beverage scene’s gain. Corcoran, the wine and cider maker at Corcoran Vineyards & Cidery, has an affinity for the whiskey barrel-aged port she makes, one of which she has cleverly titled USB. (USB port – get it?) While the family sold the beer business in 2017, they have ramped up cider production, making crisp, dry champagne-style ciders with names such as Sinful (“so good it must be a sin”) and the barrel-aged Knot Head with hints of vanilla. “The skill is finding alchemy between art and science,” Corcoran said. “The chemistry is in the balance; the art is in the finish.” What’s it like being a woman in the beverage industry in Loudoun? Corcoran said she doesn’t see any difference, only that people are more amazed when they realize she does it all herself. She has heard women are supposed to have a better palate than men. “Who knows, but if we understand flavor profiles better maybe that’s one of our innate advantages.”

Manisha Shah, Stone Manor Boutique Inn

It’s 8,000 miles from India to Loudoun but that didn’t stop immigrant Manisha Shah from bringing a taste of India to DC’s Wine Country®. In 2018, Mumbai born Manisha and her husband Prashant bought the beloved 1905-built Stone Manor Boutique Inn in lush countryside outside Lovettsville. Manisha, a marketing professional and architectural school graduate, has introduced a distinctive Indian finesse to the interiors and a dynamic flair to the events the property is known for. On top of hosting overnight guests, she caters as many as 45 weddings a year, preparing delectable Indian dishes for the occasion. "I have been cooking for family and friends as long as I've been in America, since the 80's,” Shah said. “Stone Manor allowed me and my family to spread our love of food and weddings to others.”

Holly Chapple, Hope Flower Farm & Winery

Loudoun women are leaders in the local craft beverage, food and restaurant business, but they also drive the county’s blooming flower scene. A stone’s throw from the quaint village of Waterford, Hope Flower Farm & Winery is the sweet-scented floral business of long time Loudoun native Holly “Flower Mamma” Chapple. Her mostly all-women team offers everything from pick-your-own to flower arranging classes, ready-to-order garlands, bouquets and wreaths and subscriptions to a floral CSA. They also host festival weekends to celebrate Tulip Days, Peony Days and Dahlia Days with live music, picnics, flower-picking and glasses of farm-made cider and imported wine. Upcoming events to look out for? Tulip Day on April 8 (try the "Jack Cat Hard Cider" after picking your tulips) and a Flower Moon Party on May 9 – so called because the Full Moon in May produces the densest bloom. 

Dana Green, Restocked Sneakers

A destination sneaker store is not the first thing that springs to mind when one thinks of Loudoun. Waterford resident and longtime “sneakerhead” Dana Green changed all that when she opened Restocked Sneakers in late 2021, an upscale sneaker boutique opposite Raflo Park in downtown Leesburg. The trendy locker-sized shop stocks the latest athletic pumps from Adidas and Nike as well as rare Jordans, Kanye West's Yeezys and hard-to-find, lesser-known brands. They also collect and trade rare and vintage sneakers.

A former Secret Service agent turned serial entrepreneur – she and husband Reggie owned a cement mixing business and shares in a gymnasium franchise – she attributes her entrepreneurial flair to her grandfather, a barbershop owner.

“I always knew I wanted to own my own business,” Green said. “He was my inspiration.”

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