10 Things I Learned At the 2020 Out & Equal Workplace Summit

The 2020 Out & Equal Workplace Summit has come and gone. It was my third year attending, and I was pleased to represent CVS Health. Uniquely, it was my first time attending virtually. While I enjoyed some virtual elements, others were a challenge. I’d like to present a few things I learned during the week.

General Virtual Attendance Thoughts

  1. One of the frustrating things about virtual conferences is that you really need to make an effort to meet people. At an in-person conference, you are balanced between proactively meeting people and reactively responding to others. In some ways, you spend more social energy at a virtual conference if you’re truly trying to meet people. Out & Equal is no exception.
  2. For the individuals that you do meet at Out & Equal, you still experience that Out & Equal warmth. It comes through the Internet lines loud and clear!
  3. If you are a presenter, ensure that a host disconnection won’t stop your entire session. (That happened to us, unfortunately! Thanks, Zoom!)

Conference-Specific Thoughts

  1. One of the keynote presenters was Glennon Doyle, and she was great. I had seen her once before, and it was a very subpar experience. This time, she left me with a few valuable insights. I’d like to highlight three quotes I logged which really resonated with me as I return to the heart of me.
    • “What we were always trying to do is find something in the world that we can see that will describe the thing inside of us that we can’t see. We’re constantly looking for metaphor, metaphor, metaphor.”
    • “…this gorgeous, majestic creature chases this dirty, pink bunny down this dirt path while all these bored spectators clap…if a majestic, gorgeous, wild creature like a cheetah can be tamed and trained into forgetting who she is and chasing somebody else’s dirty, pink bunnies her entire life, so can I. So can a woman, so can every queer person on Earth…When we feel like something’s off about my life, we’re exactly right. The culture we were born into that told us, ‘This is the way, this is the way, this is the way,’ is just another form of captivity…What we should actually trust is the wild that was born inside of us.”
    • “People who are walking in their own way instead of the world’s way for them have this sort of fire that we all want…Returning to our, what we would call imagination or wild, is the only way we will ever build anything new.”
  2. A focus on personal branding should include the marketing spin of developing vivid descriptors. Instead of “innovator” for a personal brand, try something really innovative like “Rube Goldberg business designer” for more specific impact. Instead of “traveler,” you may want to use “trailblazer.” Try a variety of changes and see what you create!
  3. The movement of affinity resource groups to business resource groups is in full effect. Companies that make that perspective shift should reap more benefits in reaching and supporting stakeholders from diverse communities.
  4. For many of those within the LGBTQ+ community, the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index score of 100 is a critical baseline. Not achieving a 100 can stifle conversations and opportunities with this community. I was aware of this beforehand, but I continued to hear discussion about this topic.
  5. I was extremely surprised to learn about regional LGBTQ+ corporate alliances. These networks coordinate and collaborate to advance LGBTQ+ initiatives in a local area. As a note, this is very different from an LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.
  6. The Walt Disney Company presented a fantastic discussion about content management. LGBTQ+ content management can be so intricate as to involve editing single words to change impact across different situations. That’s right! Including or not including individual words may be utilized to generate different but necessary impact. They also let guests speak in their own words so that the world doesn’t criticize and “cancel” Disney for sharing a story.
  7. So many incredible LGBTQ+ individuals doing fantastic work are unseen. It’s our responsibility to see and elevate diverse populations. Recognizing LGBTQ+ individuals and building equity drives fresh perspectives, innovation, and the economy.
  8. Book publishing considerations should include your own personal goals. I’ve written a book, and I’m exploring publishing. I had an idea in my mind what success looks like. However, a seminar during this conference helped me to crystallize that concept. Pay attention to that inner voice and build upon it. That will help drive you toward a successful publishing strategy.
  9. The attention on transgender people is continuing to grow. However, later alphabet members of the LGBTQ+ grouping are starting to have more focus and representation. I saw seminars on non-binary and intersex individuals as well as one that discussed a wide array of representation. I would expect to see more growth in this arena in future years.
  10. I hadn’t considered non-binary pronouns in languages that use genders like Spanish. In Spanish, ending a personal adjective descriptor with -o or -a will not make sense for a non-binary individual. Linguists and others are innovating endings like -e to become more inclusive. Language is fascinating!

I’m sure I can keep going, but I’ll stop with a solid ten (especially since I don’t have my conference notes in front of me). It truly was a terrific event, and I’m looking forward to an even better Out & Equal Workplace Summit in 2021.