Steve’s Weblog

I should have realized that any posting about IBM (International Business Machines) would contain enough TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) to confuse most people. So here are the TLAs spelled out:

PLFAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays)
HRC (Human Rights Campaign)
NGLTF (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force)
Astraea (Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice)
NCLR (National Center for Lesbian Rights)
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network)
EAGLE (Employee Alliance For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Empowerment)

Why is it that people seem so surprised when the train starts moving, and almost fall into the seat, or on top of other passengers? duh! the doors just closed, you think the train is gonna just sit there while you look for a seat or a strap? Hang on, biatch, the train is leaving the station!!!

GBBC (Greater Boston Business Council) 2003 Award for Excellence

The GBBC honored IBM with it’s 2003 Award for Excellence in the Corporate category last night at a dinner held at the Westin Copley hotel in Boston. I had the privilege of attending with several other IBMers, including Cathleen Finn and Rob Shook who represented the company at the event. We were all very proud to be part of a company that is recognized for it’s progressive policies and practices by our peers in the GLBT Business community. The criteria for nominees in the Corporate category are listed below, as well as a brief profile/summary about IBM which were both in the evening program published by GBBC.

As an interesting aside, I had facilitated the first Blue Stars meeting of the fall Extreme Blue program in Cambridge yesterday, and the topics covered with the interns were: Diversity @ IBM, a required Harassment Training Module, and Blue Stars meeting format for the next six weeks. Also, our internal home page, the w3.ibm.com web site featured an article yesterday celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of IBM’s first equal opportunity policy letter, on September 21, 1953. (one year before the historic US Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, and 11 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964)

Criteria for Awards for Excellence
Corporate Category

Nominees have 100+ employees. They do not have to be headquartered in New England, but they must have a strong employee presence here. They should have a record of accomplishment in the pursuit of diversity, including GLBT issues. It is important that they publicly acknowledge their support for diversity, including GLBTs, both within and outside their workplace. Corporate nominees should have been successful financially for the last three years and should have enacted personnel policies ensuring the rights of GLBT employees. They should have made a significant and innovative contribution to business, to the quality of work lives of GLBTs, and to the well being of the New England community.

2003 Nominee Profiles
Corporate Category

IBM
IBM is recognized for its prominent presence in the GLBT community locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Along with sponsoring the Human Rights Campaign, IBM also provides support to PFLAG, NGLTF, Astraea, NCLR, GLSEN, Fenway Community Health center and numerous AIDS walks and rides. EAGLE at IBM, Employee Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Empowerment, is a company-sponsored GLBT employee group which meets on company time to identify and resolve issues affecting employee growth. They post information in Q-Zine, a magazine for GLBT employees, on the intranet, in the company newsletter and during employee orientation. The support from management is felt through the GLBT Executive Task Force, which is a globally representative organization that advises company senior management. The Task Force provides formal policy advice, leadership and direction to the company on GLBT issues. IBM has most recently added sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to their global/worldwide nondiscrimination policies, and has earned a 2003 score of 100% on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

Have I mentioned how annoying California can be? All theses whacky drivers, yielding to pedestrians, it’s so backwards… Cars are for roads! Try crossing a street in NY or Boston in front of a crazed East Coast driver, and see if you still have that good karma glow afterwards!

Oh, and the rest of the country gave up the Sunday drive method of getting to work back in the 1970’s, I guess California missed that with all the sex and drugs and rock and roll in the 1960s, they were all too hungover in the 1970s to notice.

Have a nice day. (somewhere else)

Had some fun roller blading this afternoon, as I was approaching an oblivious pedestrian from behind, she on her cell phone, blathering away, I ran my hand (in protective wrist guard) along a chain link fence that bordered the sidewalk, making some pretty good noise… she finally reacted in time to let me pass on her right, while exclaiming… Oh… my… god…!!!!!!

Other than that, I actually had a pretty good day at Taste of Boston at the Government Center plaza in Boston. I went with two current and one past Extreme Blue interns who are all working in Cambridge this fall. The food was ok, the bands were kinda so-so… Sister Sledge put on a good show, but the acoustics there were horrible, and the volume was painfully loud. Still, it was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and we all had a nice time.

Qi called me from San Jose to let me know he was cleaning off the asian pear tree in the back yard. Somebody needs to eat the fruit growing on the trees at home. Kristen aparently made some apple pie with apples from the other tree in the yard, so that’s cool.

Oh well, what to do tonight? hmmm…

I detoured through the North End of Boston on the way home from work. For some unknown reason I had to stop off at Mike’s Pastry to have a cannoli and moon pie tonight. I can hear the fans at Fenway from the apartment tonight, hope the Red Sox won.