A-LISTS community spotlight
By Jared Cox We’ve all been there, sitting around on a Friday night, burned out on the same
washed-up scene wishing for something more fulfilling to occupy our evening. Well wish no longer! Thanks to a rather accomplished young art professional, Long Beach has all new options for evening entertainment and socializing. Heber Siqueiros, a Spanish graphic designer and event consultant, founded LGB-
2NETWORK, a Long Beach based networking group that emphasizes community en- gagement through social events, providing personal and professional development for the LGBT community. Heber was part of the creative team for a little magazine you may have heard of
called Rolling Stone. Later in his career he moved to Miami where he worked as Project Coordinator for Tigertail Productions, a not-for-profit arts organization. He has worked with artists including Bill Frisell, John Hammond, James Blood Ulmer, and Oswin “Chin” Behilia, to name a few. After moving from Miami, he began looking for like-minded young professionals such as himself with whom he could socialize and network outside of the bar scene. He formed the group and came up with the title of LGB2NETWORK as both a hip, urban way to refer to Long Beach (LGB is its airport code) as well as reflecting the group’s makeup. We sat down with Heber to find out more about the LGB2NETWORK and how the Long Beach LGBT community is benefiting from the organization.
How would you describe the LGB2NETWORK? It is a dynamic social networking group that emphasizes community engagement
while at the same time providing personal and professional development. LGB2NET- WORK does this through creative mixers, which each month highlight a local arts group or charity and are hosted at various gay-friendly businesses and/or cultural venues. Who would you say is the group’s target audience? Smart, good looking people! Just kidding - our members are primarily lesbian, gay, and bisexual professionals from throughout Los Angeles and Orange County and those who love them. We really want our members to have a great experience while meeting other local professionals and establishing new relationships. What kind of events does LGB2NETWORK host? A wide range of events, which over the past year have included mixers at hot spots including lounges, restaurants and hotels. We also have exclusive exhibition tours at local museums, end-of-the-summer pool parties, standup comedy, a valentine’s speed dating event, and even a celebrity book signing. Benefits for local charities such as Wells House Hospice Foundation, the Trevor Project and The Center Long Beach for GLBT youth have been particularly successful; all held at cool locations with great Long Beach views such as Hotel Maya and Up Lounge at the Sky Room. Our events are quite different from other “social clubs.” When someone new comes to our mixers, I make sure I introduce myself and make him or her feel welcome. I have had experiences at other social events where no one approached me - we don’t do that here. Tell us about your time in Long Beach and Florida. I moved with my partner to Miami five years ago. I began work there as project
coordinator for Tigertail Productions, a 30-year old non-profit arts organization that presents everything from contemporary dance to spoken word and avant-garde musi- cal performances. I loved that job! In the interim, I was able to meet a lot of interesting people in the Miami art scene and many artists and performers that we presented. One of my favorite things while working there was organizing fundraising events, Tigertail is known for its crazy, weird, fabulous and unexpected parties, and I loved that fact that the director of the organization would let me be creative with my skills. (sigh) I moved to California almost two years ago, where in Long Beach I sensed a need for dynamic social and cultural interaction, so to speak, like that I had experienced in Miami and was determined to bring that vibe here. Long Beach and L.A. have been so good to me, I have made some incredible friendships and met very genuine people, including my two LGB2NETWORK partners and friends; Steve Sheldon and Josh Yeagley, whom I absolutely love and admire.
HEBER SIQUEIROS
A FRESH SPIN ON SOCIAL NETWORKING
What is your “day job”? I established my business six years ago, specializing in graphic design for such di-
verse clients as restaurants, museums, non-profit organizations, and commercial art galleries. Recently I have branched out into event production and promotion. Launch- ing LGB2NETWORK has helped grow my business and I hope after this interview it will grow even more! Where can our readers get more information on LGB2NETWORK? Please look us up at
LGB2NETWORK.com, on Facebook or Twitter. Get on our email
list...we will send you updates of our upcoming events. LGB2NETWORK meets every third Thursday of every month at a different location and our mixers are complimen- tary admission. What are some of those upcoming events? This year we are having some very exciting events: LGB2NETWORK is pleased to fea-
ture visionary footwear designer Dragan Mrdja as a special guest on Thursday, March 17 at a fabulous Downtown Gallery. Dragan is a trained architect who has worked with design firms such as Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and Massimo Vignelli. He will display his debut men’s footwear collection at our mixer. We are so excited to have Dragan as our guest in March; he has a unique style and has used his incredible talent to create a collection that is unlike anything else I’ve seen. In April we will feature a fitness guru who will teach us a thing or two to get us ready for the summer, and in May we will be part of Long Beach Pride and will host a special event during the festivities.
For more information: email:
info@lgb2network.com website:
lgb2network.com
16
RAGE monthly | MARCH 2011
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