- 300+ GPJ volunteer hours
- 66% increase in attendance
- 114% increase in net revenue
- 1 fabulous experience for the LGBT community
GPJ initially became involved with the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce through work that our teammate Cody Eastman did with the Chamber. As the founder of GPJ’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group OPEN, Cody’s passion for community led him to collaborate with them to build an Employee Resource Group toolkit.
Through his work with the Chamber, and our desire to engage more deeply with our communities, we decided to put our experiential expertise to work to transform their annual gala from an event to a world class experience.
The gala raises funds for the Chamber for programs throughout the year, and our aim was to not only grow the program attendance and fundraising, but to create “THE” queer event of the year in Austin.
The GPJ team provided ideation, strategy, and execution, including registration, communications and integrated production. We streamlined the technology for ticketing and seating, and ensured that the event was COVID safe through protocols and expectation setting.
We added new features to the experience, including live music, a VIP lounge, and a COVID compliance station.
We saw to it that the Chamber was treated like a client, with our top notch talent, and the results were nothing short of amazing. Attendance was up 66% from the 2019 gala, and the silent auction saw a 114% net revenue increase from the 2019 gala.
GPJ was even recognized as Member of the Year by the Chamber, an honor that we accepted humbly.
We’ll continue to put our experience to work in our communities, because it’s the right thing to do, and because the results are so rewarding.
Special thanks to the team who made it happen: Cody Eastman, Emily Beckman, Paula Guzman, Jennifer Shifman.
