I was in South Florida this past weekend and was able to get a sneak peak at this week’s Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach. As we always say on this blog, there is no singular LGBT community profile. We’re as diverse as any population. So programs targeting us should also be diverse.
With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised, while attending a pre-opening reception, to see the depth of programming planned for the past few days through this weekend of what some might call stereotypical parties.
Hearing about the events, it was obvious that local leaders and members of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force certainly know how to portray their message of advocacy across a wide spectrum of our community during this event.
There are almost 30 events from February 21 through March 2, each with a common focus but all targeting a very different element of our community. Aside from bar nights and the well-known dance parties, the schedule includes an LGBT family picnic, a separate youth skate event and low key cocktail receptions as well as sunrise Yoga sessions on the beach and a women’s art exhibit.
It’s a classic application of the one-size-does-not-fit-all marketing model with layers of events and outreach. This varied menu really offers some touch point for almost every facet of our community during the Winter Party Festival. While, of course, some participants will opt for the dance parties as they do any circuit weekend, the festival is not closing its doors to those who are not part of that scene. In fact, the festival is aggressively welcoming all parts of the community to parts of the entire week.
This is the way to reach out community most deeply and earnestly. We as professional communicators, event planners and marketers know this already. This diverse event model hopefully is the future of many of the besieged party-focused fund-raising events still treading water in our community.
We’d like to hear your reaction if you plan on attending or did attend any of the non-traditional events at the Winter Party Festival.
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