Following the financial disasters of 2007, with only a skeleton committee left, Pride WA narrowly avoided closure earlier this year through the generous support of many individuals. As a result of the near closure however, there was much discussion in the community about how to ensure the future of the organization. One of the outcomes was a proposal from Connections’ Nightclub owner Tim Brown to assist Pride to ensure its long term viability by providing the financial support to employ a part-time strategic planner.
Mr Brown said the decision to sponsor Pride came from his belief that ‘Pride has a very important role to play within our community. It should be the primary point of contact for anyone wishing to know about queer issues and events. It should be the representative body of our community in the eyes of government and other authorities and – something which I am personally very committed to and we are starting to see happening – it should be the keeper of our culture. This is something that we forget we have. We have stories, we have language, we have art and we have culture. This is what defines community.’
‘In recent years support of Pride was given in a very piece-meal way,’ said Mr Brown, continuing. ‘Pride has ended up functioning in fire-fighting mode… This situation was only exacerbated by the fact that Pride committee members are volunteers and, as such, are asked to do far more than they can manage. We [Connections] felt that by investing in a permanent part-time employee we could help in a more real and ongoing way.’
Pride Male Co-President Andrew Baietta echoed Mr Brown’s view, ‘We [Pride] need somebody who can manage the grant applications and strategic direction that Pride needs to take each year… The concept of having someone who is external to the committee who could remain constant during periods of transition means that we have that consistency through the departments, the corporate sponsors and the community we are dealing with.’
On August 4th, Pride appointed Trudy Turner to the strategic planner position. Ms Turner, brings to the job seven years of experience in PR and marketing as well as experience in grant writing.
She explained, ‘Because I have come in as we move into Pride month it has been right now about ensuring the right funding and the right people on board to make sure Pride month is a really good month for everyone involved… …I’m trying to get a strong level of support from a broader community in the media, so that we are an integral part of the West Australian community.’
However, amid the short-term planning for 2008 Pride, Ms Turner says she is focusing on laying groundwork for long-term relationships and partnerships.
According to Ms Turner, the key to Pride’s long-term success is the ability of the community and the committee to view it as a strong business and valuable brand and then enter into partnerships that keep Pride’s momentum going after October and the festival.
‘Once October is over it is easy to lose momentum. I don’t want to lose that momentum. I want to see Pride doing a lot more in the next 12-18 months, so I want to sit down with the committee and the community and say “what is the next step for us?†We need to start planning longer term. We need one-year and two-year and five-year plans. So, where do we want to see ourselves go in the next year and two years and five years and how are we going to get there?’
Pride media spokesperson Keiran Byrcroft told OUTinPerth that having a strategic planner on board had already been invaluable, crediting Ms Turner with having gone above and beyond the requirements of the position, volunteering much of her own time to assist with events such as the successful Pride launch on September 23rd.
Megan Smith
