Happy New Year! What a weird whirlwind 2022 was. The Gaymber wasn’t immune to the whirlwind by any means, but I daresay ours was a little more colorful (and certainly more glittery) than others. It was a good year, finding our groove with in-person breakfasts again, growing our membership by over 30%, and increasing our social reach by leaps and bounds.
We threw what was unequivocally an extremely dope party (already excited for 2023!) and are in the process of raising funds to hire an Executive Director. Two of our longer-standing board members (Liane Wong with Centra Realty and Erin Russ with Senior Pride) stepped down to Emeritus status,(out of love and necessity – not malice or ire). We will miss them and are grateful for their years of service to the Chamber! Fortunately, we are already in the process of welcoming some new members to the board, and we have quite a few new folks joining our committees.
2023 is already getting off to a great start – we’re ready to go at our new breakfast meeting location (Noble Hops on Alvernon) for the January 19th membership meeting wherein we’ll be revving up your networking skills. Part “Polish Your 30 Second Pitch” Workshop, part Get To Know Your Gaymber Neighbors (Gaybors? Geighbors?), part Tips & Tricks to Make Networking Less Awful – 100% wonderful.
We hope to see you ASAP and often at our monthly breakfasts, monthly mixers, and the random events in between (not to mention on Facebook and Instagram!). The best way to build relationships through the Gaymber (whether this is to benefit your business, your personal development, or your personal network) is to show up. Follow along with us online, tell us what you think, join a committee. This organization is beautiful for many reasons; not the least of which that it is born by and lives for community. So, thank you for being a part of this one.
Queerest regards,
Vera Minot
p.s. Interested in community in the larger sense? Make your voice heard in the 20-year general & sustainability planning for Tucson! 1/19 – this is the evening of our breakfast day – from 4-7 at TCC the City of Tucson is beginning their community outreach process. More info here.
