November 16, 2022

Happy Transgender Awareness Month!

This month, LGBT Meeting Professionals Association is honoring Transgender Awareness Month! During the entire month of November, LGBT MPA's Weekly Insider will provide articles and resources all about Trans Awareness Month!

Should Transgender Youths Have Access to Gender-Affirming Care? Why Bans are 'Cruel' and 'Dangerous'

"'I just don’t understand why they are so mean.'

Those were the words Lizette Trujillo heard from her son Daniel, who came home from school one day when he was 8, unsettled that a young classmate was being bullied.

Trujillo seized on the chance for a life lesson on empathy versus sympathy.”

USA Today| November 13, 2022

Tell Us About Your Experience with LGBT MPA!

2022 has been a year, full of growth and opportunity. It has been five, almost six years since our inception and we are proud to say we now stand at 2,350+ members, all part of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

We are only as successful as each of our members and rely on your insights and feedback to enhance and elevate the association. Keep an eye out in your inbox to complete with survey!

We appreciate and thank you for your time to complete this important survey!

Calling for Committee Volunteers!

Are you wanting to get more involved with LGBT MPA or looking to connect, empower, and advance the LGBT+ Meeting Professional? Look no further! LGBT MPA is seeking individuals to become involved in shaping our organization and enhancing our value to the meetings and events industry. Become involved and make an impact! We are currently accepting applications for Committee Volunteers for the 2023 Calendar Year!

Applications are due Wednesday, November 30th at 12PM EST! Apply at the form below!

A 'Rainbow Wave' Spreads Across the U.S. as Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Candidates Win Elections

Diversity 2.0: Moving From Pledges to Progress

"Event industry experts share tips for effecting change around diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility."

NorthStar Meetings Group| November 9, 2022

Zoom Unveils New Tools for Business Events

"Now that business events have come roaring back has Zoom — the lifeline for many companies whose employees couldn’t or wouldn’t meet in person — become less relevant? Absolutely not."

Skift Meetings| November 9, 2022

Destination DC: World Pride is Coming to DC in 2025

You may have heard that Washington, DC was named the host city for World Pride 2025, which will also mark the 50^th Anniversary of the very first DC Pride!

Mark your calendars for May 22 to June 8, 2025 for the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in the world! Last time the event was held in the US, New York in 2019, almost 5 million people attended the festivities. It is held every two years by InterPride, the international association of Pride organizations, including our own Capital Pride Alliance. Plans for 2025 include a Human Rights Conference in partnership with the 34^th annual DC Black Pride, partner events from DC’s Trans Pride, Latinx Pride, AAPI Pride, Silver Pride, and Youth Pride celebrations, and a special WorldPride DC Sports Festival in collaboration with Team DC.

“WorldPride provides an expansive platform to further the fight for civil and human rights by inspiring changemakers, while collectively celebrating our achievements, diversity, and resilience as a local, national, and global community.” - Ryan Bos, Executive Director of Capital Pride Alliance

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It's Time to Book with Celebrity Cruises

For the meeting planners who get it: Booking with Celebrity Cruises® not only means

booking the best in class, service, and high-end accommodations across the land and sea—it

also means significant savings per person compared to land-based resorts.

Plus, with other business expenses like meeting spaces and AV equipment all included at

no additional cost—and extra special bonuses like complimentary cocktail parties for your

team—it’s no wonder why the planners who know book with Celebrity.

As always, drinks, Wi-Fi, and tips are included for each guest, so you don’t have to expense

the essentials like bottled water, sodas, specialty coffees, or cocktails.

For the ones who get it, cruise with Celebrity.

Marriott International Hiring Multiple Contractor Positions

Here’s an opportunity to join a growing and dynamic B2B Events team at the world’s largest hospitality company. These long term consulting positions oversee the logistics associated with customer and industry events and can be virtual/remote or based at Marriott’s Corporate Headquarters in Bethesda, MD. 

Event Guide: Holidays in Loudoun

Tree lightings, street parades, wine country vines covered in twinkling lights…

yes, the holidays have arrived in Loudoun. Add in holiday markets and festive

events, there’s no shortage of fun in Loudoun.

Here we select some not-to-miss seasonal

highlights.

Christmas in Middleburg

Picture the scene: dozens of scarlet-jacketed riders and their foxhounds, vintage horse-drawn carriages, and a 1.5-mile-long procession of drummers, bagpipers, bikers and more- welcome to the annual Christmas in Middleburg parade. While the parade takes place the first Saturday of December, celebrations actually start the night before with the tree lighting ceremony and carol singing in the postcard perfect downtown and continue through Sunday with the Festival of the Animals at the Foxcroft School.

Leesburg Holidays

Historic downtown Leesburg turns into a glittering wonderland come the holidays, with a giant Christmas tree lighting in Town Square and historic streetlamps adorned with red ribbons and greenery. Take the kids to the tree lighting ceremony on Friday December 2. December 3 and 4 attend the annual Leesburg Holiday Fine Arts & Crafts Show at Ida Lee Park Recreation Center where more than 90 local artists, artisans and crafters displaying and selling everything from candles, stained glass and wood carvings to jewelry and table linens - the perfect place to buy gifts. December 10, meanwhile, is the Annual Christmas and Holiday Parade where Santa and friends are ushered down King Street, through historic downtown Leesburg. The parade begins at Ida Lee at 6 p.m. and ends at Fairfax Street. Keep the merriment going by visiting Tally Ho who will be hosting the Jingle Jam concert on December 9 and 10.

Christmas in Purcellville

Purcellville’s tree lighting ceremony takes place December 2 at 6:30 p.m. while December 10 features the Holiday Parade through the streets of downtown followed by the annual all-day Christmas market at the Bush Tabernacle featuring work from local artists and artisans. Also on December 10, the town plans to hold the annual ornament building workshop in the train station depot opposite Magnolias at the Mill. Visitors and residents can also join a self-guided tour of the neighborhood lights.

Luckett's Holiday Open House

Over in Lucketts, the famous Old Lucketts Store is hosting its annual Holiday Open House Thursdays through Sundays until December 11. Browse or purchase antiques, vintage clothing and accessories from the main store or purchase a ticket online to the nearby Holiday Design House – a festively decorated 19th Century farmhouse in which all décor and items, from homeware to ornaments to furniture, are for sale.

Lighting of the Vines, Bluemont Vineyard

Drive west on Route 7 toward Bluemont on any Thursday through Sunday evening this holiday season and a surreal sight greets you: to the left of the road, about a mile south, the slopes of the Blue Ridge are carpeted in a glorious golden glow. If it looks like a scene from a sci-fi movie, it is in fact The Lighting of the Vines, 15,000 holiday lights strung through 10,000 grape vines at Bluemont Vineyard. Launching on November 25, the vines are lit Friday-Sunday at 5 p.m. and while they can be seen from miles away, the best place to enjoy them is at the winery tasting room, the Stables event venue or the property’s Harvest Room & Kitchen restaurant up the hill.

One Loudoun Tree Lighting, Ashburn

Make your way to One Loudoun on December 3 at 5 p.m. for the 10^th annual Holiday Tree Lighting, a modern twist on the traditional celebration. Santa is on hand for photos under the tree, there are train rides, ice carving demonstrations and live music and you’re surrounded by the superb shops, restaurants, bars and ice cream parlors of the swanky Ashburn precinct.

Christmas Tree Shopping Experience

Visit one of the many Christmas tree farms of western Loudoun to pick you own spruce. Snicker’s Gap Christmas Tree Farm in Round Hill was featured in none other than Martha Stewart Living. You get to pick your tree out while touring the farm with hot apple cider in hand.

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