(Originally emailed 9/26/18 to RCGFB Membership)
Over the past two years, the Rose City Gay Freedom Bands (Portland Gay Symphonic Band, Rose City Swing Band, and the Portland Pride Band) have been in the process of developing a clear identity for the organization based on feedback received from our members and audiences.
That feedback included the need to:
- update our language to be more inclusive
- assess the structure of the various ensembles
- build recognition in the community at-large
In 2018, we developed new language for the organization. Like other LGBTQ organizations, we want to honor the cultural shift that is happening in our community. For RCGFB, this included updating our mission statement and creating new vision, purpose, and promise statements, which were voted in at our 2018 Annual Meeting in May. This language helps us better explain what members get from the organization and the impact we want to have on the community at-large. You can view this language on our website or in this email.
We are now moving on to a structural assessment of our organization.
If you read the first sentence of this letter, you can count how many different words we use to talk about the various ensembles. When we look at our various ensembles, we feel like they are disjointed from one another even though we feel very connected to one another as members. With the new mission focusing on community, we want our public-facing content to reflect the community and harmony we hold dear. We want to create a system that makes it clear who we are and helps us develop our public profile.
To address these issues, the board and identity committee are proposing we change the name of the organization in favor of a naming convention that connects the various ensembles to one another.
In a quick meeting before PGSB rehearsal, we shared our idea for a name change and solicited feedback from our members about this change. It was proposed that we change Rose City Gay Freedom Bands to Portland Pride Bands, with each ensemble being named the same: Portland Pride Wind Orchestra, Portland Pride Marching Band, Portland Pride Swing Band, and Portland Pride Youth Band.
With that said, we want to gather information about how YOU feel about this proposal. If you have strong feelings, or even if you don’t, please complete this survey by November 1.