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25th Anniversary Year Begins Countdown to Cologne Greetings from your friends in the international Federation of Gay Games!
2006 is long behind us but the message on the Federation’s Web site is worth repeating: A heartfelt thank you to the Chicago Gay Games organisers, the City of Chicago, the volunteers and business supporters for carrying forward the legacy of the Gay Games. With just 2½ years to organise, they did an outstanding job. Critically important, Chicago's Gay Games has broken even financially. Read Chicago's press release here, including praise for the many people and groups who made it possible: Successful Final Result for Gay Games VII. We are glad so many of you were able to join us last year. There were incredible performances, both athletic and cultural, and many uplifting stories. We will spotlight some of those stories in future issues of Participate! as we begin the countdown to Gay Games VIII in Cologne in 2010. This issue of Participate! features news about the Gay Games' 25th anniversary, Cologne's preparations (including the online registration, now live), the Federation's new membership assembly, IGLFA's trailblazing tournament in South America, and Chicago's soon-to-be-published commemorative book. We welcome your comments – write to us at info@gaygames.org.
San Francisco Hosts 25th Anniversary in October - Join Us! The 1350 participants at Gay Games I in 1982 dreamed there would be many more Gay Games to come. Happily, we are now celebrating the Gay Games’ 25th anniversary and, of course, there is only one place to do that – San Francisco! Festivities coincide with the Federation's 2007 annual meeting in a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of Gay Games pioneers and current participants. Watch this page on the FGG Web site for details: 25th Anniversary News. Saturday, 27 October – Legacy Dinner The new Mission Bay Conference Center at the University of California San Francisco hosts our centrepiece event, beginning with a reception and silent auction at 6 p.m. followed by a seated dinner. Local Honorary Dinner Co-Chairs are Bevan Dufty, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and Sara Waddell Lewinstein, former wife of Gay Games founder Tom Waddell. The popular comedian ANT and actor Wilson Cruz will be among the special guests with more to be announced later. Join the Legacy Dinner Committee by becoming a Table Host (one half of the seats are already sold). Contact Brenda Laribee for more information. Tickets for the dinner are US$150 per person; the VIP package is US$250. Sunday, 28 October – Community Day
At noon, the FGG joins Team San Francisco hosting a Gay Games Community Day to thank the people of San Francisco and, indeed, the world, for their support of the Gay Games. We will honour the Bay Area's ongoing contributions to the Gay Games movement, and representatives of Games Cologne, our 2010 hosts, will offer you a first look at registration and venue details.
Location: the Eureka Valley Recreational Center and Collingwood Park, located in the heart of the Castro. Participation in the sports and cultural events is free and open to all. Families, kids, even dogs are invited to join us for this fun casual time. Member clubs from Team San Francisco will offer demonstrations and scrimmages, so come dressed ready to play! A picnic brunch will be available, with proceeds to be donated to the Athletes Assistance Fund of Team San Francisco that provides scholarships for travelling to the Gay Games. The afternoon culminates with a special surprise at 3:30 p.m. 
If you're unable to join us in San Francisco, an excellent way to catch up on the Gay Games' history is David Secter's DVD documentary, "Take the Flame! Gay Games: Grace, Grit & Glory", praised by audiences and critics alike. It's only USD$30 to all global destinations, and a portion of your purchase directly benefits the Federation. For more information, go to Take the Flame! information. To purchase your own copy now, go to Take the Flame! order form.
NEW MEMBERSHIP ASSEMBLY MEETS IN OCTOBER During the last several years, the Federation’s board of directors laid the groundwork to change from a large, all-director board to a smaller board with a larger membership assembly. The Federation grew out of San Francisco Arts & Athletics in 1989, when the original founding board decided an international body should supervise the Gay Games in the future. In the early 1990s, a unique governing structure was devised that combined both individuals and organisations as directors. After much discussion and planning, this past November at the Federation’s annual meeting in Lyon, France, the board created a membership assembly. Information about joining the Federation as a Full Member, Associate Member, or as part of our Partner Program is available on the FGG Web site at: FGG Membership. Individuals are also welcomed and encouraged to take part in the work of Federation committees.  Your organisation may want to take an active role in the Federation's operations as a Full Member, or your organisation may prefer to belong only to the sports and/or cultural committee, or your organisation may simply want to be listed as a supporter of the Gay Games and link to the Federation’s Web site. In short, there is a place in the Federation for everyone, from the individual to a large group, with all ranges of interest. A particularly important aspect for many organisations is taking part in the Gay Games site selection process. This is a serious privilege and responsibility and is reserved for Full Member Organisations. Groups must be Full Member Organisations for at least a year prior to the vote, and a group must attend one annual meeting of the Federation before it qualifies for election. The site selection for Gay Games IX in 2014 will take place in 2009. Thus, groups must be represented at this year’s FGG annual meeting in order to qualify for election at the 2008 annual meeting. Click here for registration information.
IGLFA BECOMES FIRST LGBT SPORTS GROUP TO HOLD 
Buenos Aires hosts the first global LGBT tournament held in South America when the International Gay & Lesbian Football Association stages its annual World Cup 23-29 September 2007. Veteran teams from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, Ireland and the U.S. will join with first-time participants from Iceland and Mexico travelling to compete with their South American friends from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela. Individuals from other countries are playing with several of the above groups and a pan-European team. Women's teams from Venezuela and the U.S. (Philadelphia) are also taking part in the 2007 IGLFA World Cup. 
IGLFA President Tomas Gomez, a native of Peru, is thrilled. "We've never had so much interest from the media as this year", he said. "This is first and foremost a gay and lesbian sports tournament, but it is also breaking new ground for the image of our community in South America". Football/soccer has been a sport in every Gay Games, and IGLFA has been an active participant in the Federation since 1994.
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We are thrilled that AT&T, Orbitz and The Bob Ross Foundation have become the first prominent sponsors of the Gay Games' 25th Anniversary Legacy Weekend, taking place in San Francisco on 27-28 October. All three organisations have previous strong ties to the Gay Games. AT&T, an internationally recognised telecommunications company and a Legacy Weekend Gold Level Sponsor, became the Gay Games' first large corporate sponsor in 1994 when it supported Gay Games IV in New York City. Click here or on the AT&T logo above to go to the AT&T Web site. Orbitz, one of the world's leading online travel services providers and a Legacy Weekend Silver Level Sponsor, was a Global Sponsor of Chicago's Gay Games VII. The Bob Ross Foundation, another Legacy Weekend Silver Level Sponsor, supports causes closely connected with the late Mr. Ross's LGBT community work in the San Francisco Bay Area. Publisher of the Bay Area Reporter, he served on the Gay Games' founding board in 1982. See the article to the left about the Legacy Dinner and Community Day – and go to Orbitz.com to make your travel plans to join us!
GAMES COLOGNE NEWS -- GAY GAMES VIII WILL BE GREAT
Pre-Registration for Gay Games VIII is open now! It may seem early, but a couple of Chicago's sports filled to capacity within weeks after registration opened. Click here to reserve your spot in 2010. In May, FGG representatives travelled to Cologne for the first of several official visits before 2010, taking venue tours and enjoying two days of meetings with the Games Cologne leaders. Highlights included: Keep up with the latest -- bookmark the Games Cologne Web site home page here and sign up for the 2010 Gay Games newsletter here.
GAY GAMES VII PARTICIPANT SATISFACTION SURVEY During March and April 2007, the Federation polled Chicago participants about Gay Games VII. Our Sydney poll told us what participants enjoy and expect from the Gay Games and we made some key changes regarding what the host committee is obligated to do. We've already reviewed Gay Games VII with both Chicago Games and Games Cologne and will discuss this year's poll results further -- all to produce a great Gay Games VIII. Almost 20% of participants completed the online survey (2,121 of more than 11,000) -- that is a very high percentage compared with most polls. We thank all of you who shared your thoughts and comments, and here are some survey highlights:
These numbers are positive considering factors such as the extreme heat conditions followed by downpours that rained out many sports. The negative responses were higher and stronger than four years ago, including for the opening ceremony. Still, fully 46% were Very Satisfied or Satisfied with the opening ceremony, and 62% were Very Satisfied or Satisfied with the closing ceremony. Participants liked Chicago's emphasis on sports, although 60% wanted even more emphasis placed on sports. A majority said the amount of emphasis on cultural activities was appropriate; 46% said the amount of emphasis on conference events was appropriate; and 45% thought that the amount of emphasis on dance/party events was appropriate. You can see more details about the survey online at Gay Games Satisfaction Survey. | ||||||||||||
 CHICAGO GAY GAMES COMMEMORATIVE BOOK COMES OUT SEPTEMBER 2007 Chicago Games, through Tracy Baim and the Windy City Media Group, is publishing the largest ever book commemorating a Gay Games. The book will be available on Lulu.com sometime after 17 September 2007, featuring more than 200 pages of full-colour photos and the road that led to Chicago's hosting Gay Games VII. Price: US$49. It's a great gift for a friend, a family member, or even yourself! Chicago's Web site is still online but won't be forever.
Click on the book cover at left or on this link: | |||||||||||||
| Visit the Gay Games archives in the James C. Hormel Center at the San Francisco Public Library. Banners, posters, team uniforms and souvenir items housed in the archives will be among the many items displayed at the 25th Anniversary celebration at the end of October. Editor: Charles Carson. Football photo: Amy Moseley for Chicago Games Inc. |
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We're looking for photos from past Gay Games – especially I, II and III – for our 25th anniversary celebration and future Gay Games promotion. We also want to hear your stories – funny, inspiring, emotional, or even details of your competition – anything that's unique to your Gay Games experience. How did your team perform in Amsterdam? Did a family member travel with you to Sydney? We're revamping the FGG's Web site and we want to include more highlights from Gay Games participants. Send us your photos and stories 
