Jessica: I know that you took a very active role in ensuring the success of Gay Games Chicago back in 2006, can you attribute it to any specific initiatives or programs that you had implemented?
Tracy: It was just pure hard work and making connections. We negotiated the best contracts we could, and then we had a few key individuals who helped us in the final stretch (Dick Uyvari, Joe LaPat, Michael Leppen and Fred Eychaner in particular) reach our final and most important goal, breaking even financially. We had thousands of volunteers, a core board, and key staff to make Gay Games come off the best we could, in the short time we had.
Jessica: What do you consider the successes of Chicago ’06? The Challenges?
Tracy: The most important success was breaking even, the first gay Games to do so in 20 years. It took a year of extra work after, but it was very important to me and my own reputation to get to break even. The challenge was the time we had to implement the Gay games, it was shortened from previous efforts, and we did had some Chicagoan who were against the Gay games coming. We had a lot of work to do. I was co-vice chair and was very lucky to have a great board, especially co-vice chair Kevin Boyer and co-chairs Sam Coady and Suzi Arnold. We had some amazing people involved, all with different skills to complement one another.
Jessica: In light of the Gay Games having moved from Chicago to Cologne, and now to Cleveland, is there anything you learned that you would like to share for future Gay Games hosts?
Tracy: Too much to say here! But for sure it is important to remain committed to a sports and culture event, and outsource as much as possible related to parties and other ancillary stuff. Make sure all businesses and groups in your community have a stake in helping, whether it is financial, providing volunteers, or helping promote the event. Work with all diverse elements of our community to ensure the event’s success.
Read the full interview HERE.
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