August Meeting

'We're out to show you a good time'

This Thursday, August 21, AEN's speaker will be Spurgeon Richardson, the president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention and Visitor's Bureau (ACVB).

In that role, he oversees the marketing activities for Atlanta, one of the leading convention cities in America and the number one visitor destination in Georgia.

He partnered with Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin to launch an LGBT tourism initiative last year, launching a Web site marketed for LGBT visitors to Atlanta.

Richardson has more than 30 years experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to joining the ACVB in 1991, he was president and general manager of Six Flags Over Georgia. He began his 25-year career at the amusement park in the marketing department, serving most of those years as president and general manager.

Active in many professional organizations, some of Richardson's career highlights include: serving on the board of directors and Foundation Board of Trustees of the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus, Executive Advisory Board member of AAA, serving on the Action Forum, past chairman of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, and past president of the Southeast Tourism Society. Richardson recently assumed his new role as the 2003-2004 Board of Directors chairman of the International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus.

Established in 1913, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau is a private, non-profit organization created exclusively to market metro Atlanta and Georgia as the premier convention, meeting and leisure destination in the regional, national and international marketplace and to favorably impact the Atlanta economy through conventions and tourism.

Join AEN members to learn more about ACVB's outreach program to the LGBT community and how the gay tourism initiative has done in the year since it was launched.

The doors open at the Sheraton Colony Square Hotel at 5:45 p.m. with the program beginning at 6:45 p.m.

Members: $10; Guests: $20; Students: Free

Overturned!

Paul M. Smith, the openly gay lawyer who successfully argued the landmark case of Lawrence v. Texas before the United States Supreme Court, considers himself an accidental celebrity. While speaking before AEN on July 17, he claimed that random luck was responsible for his selection to argue the Lawrence case before the Supreme Court.

Despite his modesty, perhaps his experience as co-chair of Washington, DC's Jenner and Block Appellate and Supreme Court and Media and First Amendment Practices played a role in his selection. As a partner at Jenner & Block since 1994, Smith has had an active Supreme Court practice, including arguing several cases before the high court. Before coming to Jenner & Block in 1994, Smith practiced for 13 years in Washington, D.C. with the firms of Onek, Klein & Farr and Klein, Farr, Smith & Taranto. During these years, his trial-level work included a variety of constitutional and employment discrimination cases.

Smith came into the case of Lawrence v. Texas late in the game but was able to describe the atmosphere of the court on the day of the oral arguments. The court was filled with people who were clearly supporting Lawrence. Smith noted that there might have been "three or four people huddled in the back" who were on the side of Texas, but no one could be sure. He was certain the justices knew which side the spectators supported. Smith had practiced his argument enough that he was not as nervous as one might expect when arguing a landmark case. His arguments went smoothly, and he managed to deflect many of the sarcastic arguments of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Smith rejects comparisons to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who successfully fought desegregation from district courts in the South all the way to the Supreme Court in 1954, resulting in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregating schools. He insists he never risked his life to overturn sodomy statutes as Marshall risked his life to desegregate the schools.

Friendly, engaging, and modest, Paul Smith gave AEN members an insider's look at a landmark civil rights case for LGBT citizens.

AEN, AGLCC form alliance

This month, AEN and the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce kick off an alliance program which will provide greater opportunities for business owner members of each organization.

Although both organizations have services that benefit the business owner, the combined efforts will give business owners not just exposure to business growth and development training offered by AGLCC but access to a greater number of potential customers and clients offer through AEN's monthly networking and speaker meetings.

AGLCC is one of the first gay and lesbian chambers of commerce in the U.S. With a membership limited to businesses and business owners, AGLCC offers their members the opportunity to develop better business knowledge and tools, while providing support to developing businesses. Their meetings offer advice from experts in the business community and their workshops, like the upcoming Business Development Conference on November 8 that will provide a variety of "how to" sessions to develop and improve your business.

One immediate benefit of the alliance is the opportunity for current members of each organization to join the other organization at a special membership rate.

Other joint benefits and activities are being planned for later in the year.

If you are a business owner plan to attend this month's meeting and meet the members of AGLCC at their booth.

AEN co-hosts Black Pride luncheon

In The Life Atlanta is the official organizer of the Atlanta Black Pride Celebration, August 27 through September 1. ITLA anticipates 15,000 members and allies of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered Blacks from Atlanta, the nation and abroad to join us for a weekend of fun, culture, and pride.

This year, ITLA & AEN will co-host the Community Luncheon at Midtown Sheraton Hotel at Colony Square. It will be held on Saturday, August 30th , from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The event's focus is creating business opportunities in today's economy.

The keynote speaker is WAGA-TV FOX 5 correspondent Trevor Pettiford. Following the speech, we will hear from distinguished panelists who will talk about their success in corporations and businesses as professionals and entrepreneurs. The panelists include bizvox Marketing President Cindy Abel, IBM account manager Monique Durham, Hewlett-Packard Diversity Manager Ronald Moore, Georgia Equality Executive Director Allen Thornell, Venus Magazine Editor-in-Chief Charlene Cothran. and Georgia Hispanic Network President Jerry Gonzales.

AEN members are encouraged to attend this special event. Tickets are on sale on the ITLA Web site for $25 which include the luncheon and workshops.

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Upcoming speakers

September 18
Helen Carroll
Homophobia in Sports Project Coordinator
National Center for Lesbian Rights


October 16
Rep. Denise Majette
Congresswoman
Georgia, Fourth District


November 13
Evan Wolfson
Executive Director
Freedom to Marry

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