Exhibitor/Sponsor Packet

Why Exhibit at the Gay Life & Home Show?

Simply put, the Gay Life & Home Show is the only event of its kind in our region where your business comes face-to-face with the region’s affluent gay and lesbian market. Our target attendee reflects the demographic indicated below, and we bring that demographic to you. Exhibitors and Sponsors gain a clear competitive edge by attaining direct personal exposure while having year-round presence via our website and strong print promotion with our full color expo guide given out to all attendees and thousands more through local area gay and lesbian bookstores. We’ve designed several different exhibitor packages and other options to meet all budget needs…the key is to take advantage of this opportunity in whatever way you can! Your promotion begins on our website immediately upon submitting your completed Application and materials and all will be placed in the best location zones on a first come basis – so act soon!!!

Why Market to the Gay and Lesbian Consumer?

A New York Press writer said it best “while money talks…gay money SCREAMS!” and one only need review the data collected on this affluent demographic to understand why. In short, many gays and lesbians are in professional and managerial level positions, most with dual incomes and no kids, and typically having more discretionary income to spend. But, they also tend to be very loyal consumers who would rather give their money to businesses specifically targeting them. This market reality has not been lost on over 30% of Fortune 500 companies who specifically and openly market to the gay and lesbian consumer and job-seeker. Some common names include US Airways, General Electric, NBC, J.P. Morgan, Smirnoff and Showtime just to name a few – so learn from this hard-spent research money and follow their lead!

Locally, according to the most recent government census, there are approximately 300,000 gays and lesbians living in the DC, MD, VA metro area with 20,000 self-identified same-sex households. Because gays and lesbians respond overwhelmingly strong to gay and lesbian targeted ad campaigns, this alone shows the magnitude of opportunity for those that choose to reach out and target this market. Below are the area's gay and lesbian consumer demographics as gathered and reported by Simmons Market Research* during a survey of Washington Blade readers in 2000. The figure in parentheses indicates the comparison to all adults in the area.