“I always say that before I was really gay, I was really Jewish,” laughs Daniel Heller. “I grew up in this community-heavy environment, and when I came out, I realized that the LGBTQ world had not built the same kinship I was raised in.” So Heller had an idea to start The Welcoming Committee, an event and travel destination organization that helps LGBTQ people “experience the entire world in outrageous comfort, the same way we might experience a gay bar.” Members can take advantage of one-nightonly takeovers of “traditionally straight places” like the MCA and Second City, even day trips to the Kentucky Derby.

While the platform started in Heller’s home of Boston six years ago with just 20-30 attendees in the beginning, it has since grown rapidly, attracting upward of thousands of interested members and expanding into new markets, like Chicago, where it launched last October and has lots of promise, he says: “I have a feeling Chicago will be our largest city by the end of the summer.”

ILM+E: What is your mission for The Welcoming Committee?
DH: The LGBTQ world has been primarily served through bars for decades. It’s not a bad thing, but our members have expressed they have interests outside of the bar scene and want to experience their entire city with that same kind of comfort.

ILM+E: What had you been up to before starting the company?
DH: In college I worked in gay rights, and then I went into private sector. I spent four years in consulting and worked at Amazon.com as product manager in their mobile apps group.

ILM+E: How does The Welcoming Committee work?
DH: It’s free to join. You go to our website and enter your email address to become a member. We put everyone through a short orientation process to get to know the community and what we offer.

ILM+E: Why was Chicago appealing to you?
DH: The existence of Boystown had a really rich gay culture that was just waiting to do more. We’re just trying to build off that strong infrastructure, and we’ve found no shortage of incredible places to go here.

In a League of Her Own

League City CVB manager Stephanie Polk shares her career journey.

Originally from Kentwood, Louisiana, Stephanie Polk, TDM, CTE, first made her mark on the travel and tourism industry as director of marketing for the Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau. There, she helped to elevate the city as a destination for recreation travelers and business groups. Wowed by her accomplishments, in 2020, League City brought her on board to lead its marketing efforts. She shares with us highlights and advice from her experience in the industry. 

 
The Vendry: A Central Resource To Find Vendors, Agencies and Venues

Over the years, any corporate event planner can admit to spending countless hours researching the perfect venue or vendors for their gatherings. After attending or hosting hundreds of events, New York-based Daphne Hoppenot was no stranger to this research and was frustrated by its repetitive nature. However, it was planning her wedding in 2018 that pushed her to realize the lack of resources in the corporate events market compared to the wedding industry, and set out to see if other meetings and events professionals were struggling with the same problem.  

 
More Than 250 Businesses Join Choose Chicago's Tourism Initiative

Jumpstarting tourism in cities across the country will be more complicated than simply opening doors again – especially in cities with large populations like Chicago. However, working together proves more effective, and in Chicago, more than 250 businesses are banding together to join Choose Chicago’s new initiative, Tourism & Hospitality Forward. It bolsters a safe reopening that encourages tourism as well as meetings and events in