Organizing "Reaching Out"
Q&A with Conference Organizer
Christian Doll
Issue date: 4/11/02 Section: GSB Business
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Chicago Business had the chance to speak with Phillips Hinch, Class of 2002 and one of the co-organizers of this year's conference.
Q: What do you see as the main purpose of this conference?
A: Our most important goal is to provide current MBA students with networking opportunities – we bring together lesbian and gay students from business schools all around the country, alumni, and companies that are actively reaching out to the GLBT community. We are having a separate alumni event on Sunday morning this year, but the focus is really on current students who are trying to find out what companies might be good places to work at as a lesbian or gay MBA graduate or what challenges lesbians and gay alumni encountered in their professional life and how they dealt with them.
Q: A lot of companies that included sexual orientation into their non-discrimination policies and started actively recruiting lesbian and gay MBAs did so in the late 1990s when they found themselves struggling to succeed in the "War for Talent." With the current downturn, do you think companies will fall back into their old habits?
A: I think corporations that expanded their non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation have learned how much value greater diversity adds to their businesses. And they understand that it is in their best interest to continue their efforts. For this conference, we got even more corporate sponsors than last year's conference had – a very promising sign.
Q: The conference is entirely student-run. But I assume you could not have done this without the support of the school?
A: Reaching Out is still organized more or less in an ad-hoc fashion, pretty much like the first conference three years ago. The previous year's organizers pick two or three schools which will then put together the program, organize the logistics, secure corporate sponsorship, and so on. But with this structure, the organizers have to rely on one of the schools to support them with certain issues, for example when it comes to signing the contract for the hotel. The GSB was incredibly supportive, and we would like to thank all the staff members that helped us, especially Megan Smiley from OSA.
Q: Ten years from now, do you think the conference will still exist? What will it look like?
A: I'm sure it will still exist – there will still be a need for networking opportunities. As for the program, I think this will evolve from lesbian and gay issues towards more general business issues, maybe business issues of special interest to the lesbian and gay community.
Q: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
Q: What do you see as the main purpose of this conference?
A: Our most important goal is to provide current MBA students with networking opportunities – we bring together lesbian and gay students from business schools all around the country, alumni, and companies that are actively reaching out to the GLBT community. We are having a separate alumni event on Sunday morning this year, but the focus is really on current students who are trying to find out what companies might be good places to work at as a lesbian or gay MBA graduate or what challenges lesbians and gay alumni encountered in their professional life and how they dealt with them.
Q: A lot of companies that included sexual orientation into their non-discrimination policies and started actively recruiting lesbian and gay MBAs did so in the late 1990s when they found themselves struggling to succeed in the "War for Talent." With the current downturn, do you think companies will fall back into their old habits?
A: I think corporations that expanded their non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation have learned how much value greater diversity adds to their businesses. And they understand that it is in their best interest to continue their efforts. For this conference, we got even more corporate sponsors than last year's conference had – a very promising sign.
Q: The conference is entirely student-run. But I assume you could not have done this without the support of the school?
A: Reaching Out is still organized more or less in an ad-hoc fashion, pretty much like the first conference three years ago. The previous year's organizers pick two or three schools which will then put together the program, organize the logistics, secure corporate sponsorship, and so on. But with this structure, the organizers have to rely on one of the schools to support them with certain issues, for example when it comes to signing the contract for the hotel. The GSB was incredibly supportive, and we would like to thank all the staff members that helped us, especially Megan Smiley from OSA.
Q: Ten years from now, do you think the conference will still exist? What will it look like?
A: I'm sure it will still exist – there will still be a need for networking opportunities. As for the program, I think this will evolve from lesbian and gay issues towards more general business issues, maybe business issues of special interest to the lesbian and gay community.
Q: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.