GayInIreland.com

GayinIreland.com is a group of sites by the people behind GayCork.com, Cork’s long-running web portal for communication (the Forum) and information (the Directory and Support sections). In recent years, the social community which has grown from the Forum has become vibrant, with frequent ‘meet-ups’ and other social activities making the Cork LGBT community more accessible to newcomers.

With GayCork.com:

• Established the GayCork.com Volunteer Council; this would allow the Administrator behind the site the capacity to develop other areas, while keeping current initiatives (Meet ups, Mystery Tours, the Buddy System, and the Events Calendar) moving forward.
• Instituted the ‘Buddy System’, to ensure safety and accountability for new forum users who are looking to meet other out gay people in Cork. We created a screening process for potential ‘buddies’, and a ‘dry’ policy (so that newbies aren’t pressured to drink).
• Launched the first GayCork.com Mystery Tour, which saw a bus full of forum users on a trip one evening to Dignity Bar in Waterford, with a return that night. We began with a drinks reception at a local gay bar (which opened early for our benefit, and provided a free shot for the exposure), and booked former Alternative Miss Ireland Joanna Ryde (a national drag queen & icon). The event was a huge success, and the format will continue to be implemented for future trips.

With GayInIreland.com

• Launched GayInLimerick.com, GayInGalway.com, and GayInWaterford.com, in the same format as the GayCork.com website. This involved going to each of the LGBT communities in these areas, finding key collaborators, and passing on the address to the site.
• Used Facebook and Twitter accounts to raise awareness of the various sites, by ‘Friending’ local businesses and entertainers, and in turn ‘Friending’ their followers, which allowed us to target potential users and raise awareness of the sites.
• I worked with a graphic designer I know who graciously executed a visual identity for these sites (below) based on my guidance.
• I continue to serve as a Moderator for the forums, run contests to increase the number of regular users, and add content to the Directory section for these sites.
• We are currently developing the GayInIreland.com site as a catch-all for the other web portals, and as a reference point for non-affiliated local websites throughout the country.