Out and Equal Part 2
Friday
Breakfast today was a real treat. Billie Jean King was the keynote speaker at this event, and she spoke about her life. I had no clue that a lot of her action was responsible for the adoption of Title IX, which I also learnt was not just related to sport (this was added as an afterthought), but relates to equality in the classroom, or providing the same opportunities to both genders in school. JP Morgan Chase / Bank One sponsored this event.
Today's workshops included “State of the (Same-Sex) Union: The Impact of Same Sex Marriage on HR and Employee Benefits” which looked at the issues relating to the Massachussets decision, and how that may impact businesses with their domestic partner benefit programs. The second workshop, “Blissfully Wedded: Best Practices for Corporate Partnership with Non-Profit Organizations” looked at the partnerships that can be developed between Non-Profits and Corporations. This session was very rewarding and provided an insight into the type of language that should be used when development relationships with corporations.
Got more goodies today in the exhibit hall. Not sure how I'm going to pack all this stuff into our bags, but I'm sure I'll find a way.
During the evening, the Gala Awards Dinner was held. The comedian who emceed the event was hysterically funny. She was from Canada and her humor was indicative of this, which I really liked. I think some of my American friends may not have gotten some of the “jibes” that were made, however they probably just laughed because everyone else did. It was a lot of fun, and good food. After, I updated some of the O&E website with the award winners, and then joined Chris and others at the local bar – Tequila on the Rocks – for a drink and a dance (though I did neither). Not having had a great deal of sleep, I decided to make it an early night (well… early by AZ time, later because of DFW time).