California Gay & Lesbian Chamber - Orange County Inaugural Reception a Success

What an incredible evening last night, March 3, 2011, at the Anaheim White House.  Being our first ever launch event for the California Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, our expectations were modest, and yet the LGBT business community of Orange County decided they would turn out in force and exceed even our wildest expectations.

We had over 75 attendees from all throughout the Orange County area, as well as some strong support from our friends at the Long Beach Community Business Network (www.LBCBN.com) and our friend Ed Delehanty of the San Diego Park Manor Suites Hotel.  Businesses ranged from Earthbound Media Group to the St. Regis Monarch Bay hotel.  Financial experts from Trilogy Financial Services, AFLAC, Wells Fargo Advisors and Merrill Lynch were also in attendance, as well as tourism folks from Pirate's Dinner Adventures, the hotels highlighted above and Sea Cruises.  Also very important, key individuals spearheading LGBT rights in Orange County over the years, including Archer Altstaetter of Boink Events and representation by the Orange County Lavender Bar Association (www.oclba.org) and Pride Orange County (www.PrideOC.com) rounded out what turned out to be a great group showing incredible enthusiasm for taking this launch event to the next step by forming a leadership team to develop the Orange County LGBT business community's opportunities for education and networking.

A special thanks is in order to Gabriel Serrato of Serrato and Company (www.serratoandco.com) for helping us connect with Bruno Serato and his team from the Anaheim White House (www.anaheimwhitehouse.com), a perfect venue to hold this launch event.  Bruno, Joaquin and Sylvano went above and beyond to ensure a perfect time was had by all.  We also received a warm congratulations letter from the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (www.NGLCC.org), an organization very excited to see this kind of excitement and growth of LGBT business in the Southern California area.  The folks from NGLCC are coming to both Southern and Northern California in two weeks for a road trip, educating businesses up and down the coast on the benefits of NGLCC membership and certification.  More information on this can be found at:
http://www.californiagaychamber.com/profile-business.cfm?businessid=795

NGLCC Congratulations Letter: www.californiagaychamber.com/pdf/nglcc_california_chamber_of_commerce.pdf

Stay tuned for more exciting news to come from Orange County in the coming months, as our newly forming leadership team puts forth some new events and new ideas for taking the LGBT business community of Orange County onwards and forward!

Photos from event:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49270&id=156570647698329