San Francisco: Home of the Gay Dollar

by Helga Glen for the San Francisco Spectrum

The Gay Dollar is the cornerstone of GayDollarSF, an innovative new independent marketing campaign to both attract the LGBT visitor to the Bay Area, and also to raise awareness for those in the local community how to spend their money within the gay and gay-friendly business community's retail, hospitality, non-profit, service and entertainment sectors. GayDollarSF is a partnership effort of two local entrepreneurs who both enjoy the 'playful' side of LGBT marketing.

Nancy Norstad, director of Flaunt Media Group, won the Best New Business Award from the Golden Gate Business Association last year on behalf of her efforts for GGBA's marcomm committee and the 2003 Pride Luncheon. Flaunt Media Group functions as a driver for business partnerships for both the publishing of tourism products such as maps, guidebooks and direct-market promotions, and also the brokering of large co-op advertising promotions in national publications, which are generally accompanied by editorial and photo images promoting a destination.

Jim Skiba's company, Incentives To Intrigue, produces the murder mystery dinner theater performances at The Archbishop's Mansion and on the Napa Wine Train. Skiba has several playful models for teambuilding which include treasure hunts, road rally's and product promotion performance art theater. Skiba is also the current Northern California Chapter President of Meeting Professionals International, a 19,000 member worldwide organization for destination management and meeting strategies. Skiba's role in the GayDollarSF project has to do with several events planned in the near future as a part of the GayDollarSF campaign.

Skiba and Norstad, now both former GGBA members, made the decision to construct an independent marketing model as a result of frustration with the pace of GGBA's Tourism Advisory Program, a "bog of committee indecision and cronyism." To date, TAP has only produced one 8-panel brochure at what Norstad considers a very high cost. "One reason for their slow progression is that the committee is largely made up of management types and corporate salespeople. Every element of their concept has to be hired out after an RFP process."

'It's fine if you want to claim to be a leader of a regional campaign," says Skiba. "But you have to have a strategic plan for sustainability, otherwise you're tapping your sponsors again and again to foot the bill for items that become obsolete fairly quickly. Eventually, the sponsors ask themselves 'why don't we just produce something ourselves?'"

A big problem with business membership organizations," says Norstad, who serves as a board member on the Russian River Chamber of Commerce, yet produces the annual Russian River Gay Guide independently, "is that they are innately obligated to serve their members. Tourism promotion doesn't always intersect with realtors, chiropractors, investment consultants or insurance vendors."

GayDollarSF will premiere the first component of the new campaign in partnership with MUMC (Merchants of Upper Market & Castro). MUMC is the biggest of all the independent neighborhood merchant coalitions in San Francisco. Their 'Groovier Holiday in the Castro" is a Sixties styled holiday shopping theme with an enormous tree-lighting ceremony, a series of events held at different spots within the large district, a graphic visibility campaign and a lot of merchant participation. GayDollarSF will produce "Insider's Pick Packets" for central distribution at P.O. Plus, the Hallidie Plaza Visitors Center, and the LGBT Center on Market Street. The packets will contain area maps, suggested itineraries, fliers and promotional coupons from participating MUMC businesses. The packets will serve as a personal invitation for visitors to 'shop the Castro' and provide ideas for shopping, shipping, dining, theater, holiday cheer and gift suggestions. The merchant organization will also distribute the packets.

GayDollarSF's "Insider's Pick Packets" will be published quarterly, highlighting a different neighborhood in each edition. The next edition is slated to coincide with the Imperial Court's Coronation and the International Bear Rendezvous in February. Hayes Valley, SOMA and Polk Street will be features in that edition, with City Hall, The Center and the San Francisco Library as pivotal points of interest.

The highlights of the Insider's Pick Packets are the suggested itineraries. "We're asking the local celebrities like Donna Sachet, Bevan Dufty, Sandy "Mama" Reinhardt, Harry Lit, Mark Leno, Marlena, Armistead Maupin and others to help us choose favorite things in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area that offer a truly authentic experience for the visitor," says Skiba. "We want this to be an invitation to come and play with the fun crowd. We want visitors to know that new friends are waiting to meet them."

GayDollarSF has several other components slated to roll out within the next eight months. In conjunction with the Imperial Court's 40th Anniversary, GayDollarSF is minting several thousand commemorative coins with the image of José Sarria (Empress I) on the front and an historical scene from the San Francisco Gold Rush (with Emperor Norton) on the back. "We see the Gold Rush as a logical pinpoint for San Francisco's gay origins, and we'd like to reintroduce Emperor Norton to the modern day."

The coins were originally conceived to play a role in a merchant discount program for tourists with a face value of one dollar (keeping the 'gay dollar' within the community), but the first minting will be used solely as a keepsake to commemorate the Imperial Court's 40th anniversary, as José's image is to be used only with specific permission granted by his legal advisors, and the merchants supporting the program have reserved the entire minting with the intention of selling the coins as tokens. The 2006 minting is expected to be considerably larger, paying tribute to San Francisco's Leather Community with the image of "Mama" on the front, and homage to the Centennial Anniversary of San Francisco's1906 Earthquake on the back. These coins are expected to have an ongoing circulation throughout the City, with a redemption value of twice their monetary worth for merchants who participate.

The concept for the coins was inspired by a promotional program created by Lazy Bear founder, Harry Lit. The Lazy Bear dog tags, or "Bear" tags, are produced exclusively for the attendees of the Russian River's International Lazy Bear Weekend event in July. The slogan "Show us your tags!" is displayed in all the shop windows, with participating businesses and services advertising special discounts and promotions in the official Lazy Bear Program.

"I've watched Harry's program grow over the years," says Norstad, who has been a media volunteer for Lazy Bear for five years. "Lazy Bear is the apex of the Russian River region's economic seasonal high, with the entire inventory of accommodations pre-selling in the first week of January, when early reservations are traditionally taken. "It's marketing models like Lazy Bear that we need to continue to develop within the LGBT community. In addition to providing an excellent vacation package, Lazy Bear generates around $150,000 in charity donations. This kind of home-grown hospitality model simply doesn't exist outside of the gay community."

GayDollarSF expects an early June 2005 release of their LGBT San Francisco 'Fanny" Guidebook full of itineraries listed by neighborhood. "This is not to be confused with Gay Pocket San Francisco," says Norstad, who enjoys a close friendship with Kim Larson, the publisher of Gay Pocket. "Kim Larson's quarterly Gay Pocket guide is the quintessential neighborhood guide for the gay visitor. He has a legion of loyal advertisers who contract with him on an annual basis. Our guide is going to be purely editorial, with regional highlights provided by the local spokespeople - stories, history, secrets… "

With each new edition of the neighborhood packets, GayDollarSF will host an event to help attract the media and invite community participation. The release of the 2005 minted coins will culminate in an event in February. Another event is planned to coincide with the release of the guidebook. GayDollarSF during the Pride Celebration week of festivities. The ultimate goal of the venture is to raise enough money to construct and staff two stylized Concierge Kiosks specifically outfitted to accommodate the gay and lesbian visitor to the San Francisco Bay Area, with fully computerized stations capable of booking reservations for lodging, dining, tours, recreation, entertainment and transportation in the region within a commission structure that would sustain the program indefinitely.

GGBA, the first LGBT
chamber of commerce.

Positive Resource Center, providing employment services and benefits counseling to the SF Bay Area HIV community.

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