What an incredible whirlwind of a week! For me, it all started a bit early as I flew into Philadelphia on Saturday, May 2nd to attend the Equality Forum Dinner that Saturday night. As Malcolm Lazin of Equality Forum has always been such a great friend personally and such a great supporter of IGLTA over the years, I really wanted to attend this event prior to arriving in Toronto for the IGLTA Convention, and I'm so glad I did. The evening's reception was such a pleasure and I had the opportunity to hang out with Bruce Yelk and Jeff Guaracino of the GPTMC, as well as run into old friends also flying in for this event such as Janice Mahlmann of the NGLCC-NY, John Kenyon of Proud FM in Toronto, and Rodney Hameroff of Columbia Fun Maps.That evening, Gavin Newsom, our potential future governor of California, got up and gave an eloquent speech to cap off a truly remarkable evening.
The next day, after waking up with a Philly cheesesteak sandwich still in my stomach (I ordered a "wiz wit!"), I flew in to Toronto where I was able to enjoy a relaxing evening with friends. I discovered the Toronto community of Yorktown and the Sassafras restaurant, a hot spot where the film festival crowd hangs out every year. I knew the whirlwind was about to start, but fortunately we had our IGLTA board of directors meetings first, so starting Tuesday we hit the ground running with board meetings both Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday night we had a wonderful dinner at the Gladstone Hotel, one of the older original hotels from Toronto's historical past fully restored with each room designed by a different local designer. The dinner menu was all from unique and local fare, and between that and the wine, the evening was truly over the top.
The next evening, Wednesday, we made a mad rush to the Out Adventures pre-IGLTA reception at their offices on Bloor St. I was in the mood to walk, so a group of us set out on foot and got there just a tad late, as we had a subsequent board dinner at the nearby Marriott Hotel and we absolutely could not be late (John Tanzella would crucify us!). We made the pre-reception where we hung out a bit with Robert Sharp of Out Adventures, as well as Marta from Brazilian EcoTours and a few other gay travel professionals, both local and coming in early for the IGLTA Convention.
Dinner at the Marriott was scrumptious... I decided to go healthy and have everything with fish in it that night, so my menu ranged from black cod to sable fish, with an incredible dessert thrown in. David Whittaker from Tourism Toronto and Tracey Sandilands of Pride Toronto joined us and we had an amazing evening, all set as a perfect backdrop to the upcoming arrivals of our 26th Annual IGLTA Convention starting on Thursday.
Stay tuned for part 2, the IGLTA Convention, coming up next.
LINKS: http://www.iglta.com/
In terms of business, including finance, tourism and advertising, Toronto is one of the primary business centers of Canada with an incredibly diverse population from all over the world. Toronto also has a very mixed community in terms of age, with a large population of young people attracted to the region’s universities including the University of Toronto adjacent to Church Street.
Popular bars and clubs include Woody’s & Sailor, one of the true anchors of Church Street, Fly, Crews & Tango, The Barn and Stable, Byz Bar and Bar 501. Of course, let’s not forget Remingtons, the local strip club that is famous the world over for their beautiful erotic dancers from all over Canada. For a mix of night club, dance bar and entertainment space, there’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, one of the more enjoyable venues year round.
In terms of restaurants, Zelda’s has become a regular fixture on Church Street, sporting the most festive and entertaining dining environments in the neighborhood. There’s always some theme or show going on at Zelda’s! Other restaurants and cafés have been opening up on Church St. lately, including those with a pub environment, Thai restaurants and the more traditional Café California, right next door to Zelda’s. On the east side of Church Street, we have Fire (part of Fly), Byzantium and Il Fornello.
ink Triangle Press, they now have offices in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, publishing the larger newspaper format publications Capital Xtra, Xtra and Xtra West. Fab Magazine, launching more than ten years ago onto the Toronto publishing scene, focuses more on the local club scene and entertainment and sports a glossy cover in a magazine-sized format.
One of the first gay & lesbian television stations in North America to launch was Out TV, featuring a wide variety of gay content. In addition, ProudFM is a recent GLBT radio station launch, celebrating their 1st year of operation in 2008.
ether with the Ontario Gay Chamber and other gay & lesbian chambers throughout Canada, the CGLCC is more of a broad-based coalition, focusing on some of the bigger picture issues that can help all of the Canadian gay & lesbian chambers from Vancouver to Montreal.
Larger corporations with a history of strong diversity initiatives for their gay & lesbian employees include TD Bank and CIBC Bank, to name a few.
In terms of both business meetings and business travel, there are three properties in the Church Street area that stand out. One of the more intimate places to both stay and hold a smaller, pleasant reception and indoor presentation is the Gloucester Square Inn. Featuring not only high-speed Internet access, this property has a wonderful reception area and an indoor meeting space designed for business environments. In addition, the local Courtyard by Marriott and Delta Chelsea hotels offer excellent accommodations, spacious meeting rooms and are centrally located with easy access.
Lastly, Toronto has a variety of gay & lesbian community services including the People With AIDS Foundation, the Gay West Community Network Centre, the 519 Church Street Community Centre, and the Casey House, an AIDS hospice.
