Midsumma makes a great partner

Melbourne’s largest queer arts and culture festival, Midsumma has won an Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) partnership award for successfully joining forces with world computer giant IBM.

The AbaF award winners were announced in a ceremony last week. Midsumma and IBM are now in the running for a national award with winners to be announced on October 21.

IBM Australia general manager and LGBTI executive sponsor Mark Latchford said IBM had been a longtime supporter of gay and lesbian employees.

“At IBM, we encourage people to be themselves and to express themselves freely,” he said.

“Midsumma offers us a very valuable platform to showcase our history of diversity and inclusion and visibly demonstrate our commitment to equity and diversity in the workplace.”

IBM has been involved with Midsumma since 2007, helping to fund the festival’s all-important volunteers program.

This year IBM was named in the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (IGLCC) International Business Equality Index of most queer-friendly companies, alongside Google, the BT Group, Morgan Stanley, and Cisco Systems.

IBM has a worldwide staff network group EAGLE (Employee Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Empowerment), held a GLBT Employee Empowerment Conference in 2007 and has sponsored a float in Mardi Gras since 2004.

IBM Midsumma volunteer Michael Barnett said it was rewarding to see his employer named as one of the major sponsors of a local queer festival.

“It sends a strong message that LGBTI people and our community are as important as everyone else,” he said.

Midsumma associate producer and relationship manager Simon K Patterson paid tribute to the support IBM provides to the festival’s volunteer program, saying working with Midsumma had been a valuable experience.

“Having volunteered for the first time in 2005, I have since been fortunate enough to work part-time for Midsumma on the 2008, 2009 and 2010 festivals,” Patterson said.

“The experience I gained through the IBM-sponsored Midsumma volunteer program during the 2007 festival in particular was invaluable in allowing me to apply a practical application of the knowledge I gained through my subsequent study in the event industry.”

Midsumma Festival opens with Carnival and T Dance on January 16, 2011. The festival, which includes more than 100 events, runs till February 6.

Midsumma is calling for stallholders and artists to register for Carnival Day.

info: Visit www.midsumma.org.au