(New York, NY) Despite the harsh economic times, the 16th Annual LBGT Expo, from March 21 to 22, 2009, held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, proved to be a successful marriage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) community with the world of business and finance.

Connecticut-based RDP Group, host of the Expo and the organization responsible for the event, identified their role as bringing two groups together who would derive mutual benefit from each other and fostering potential long-term relationships. 

The Expo was about gay-friendly businesses that advertise and target directly the LGBT community and promoting a symbiotic relationship

between marketers and what organizers call "the perfect niche market"-the gay community is one that is affluent, brand-loyal and a financial powerhouse, and created a space with a dichotomous purpose, suggesting that the GLBT community comfortably patronizes businesses that cater to their community and their unique needs. Since 1993, the LGBT Expo proudly boasted that it has helped to spur over $80million in economic stimulus to the greater Tri-state area, dollars which are generated by attendees at the Expo, gay-owned businesses, and gay-friendly companies exhibiting at the Expo, which also included several Fortune 1000® companies.

Laid out in a grid-like city format on the Convention floor, companies at the Expo exhibited their products in booths, doing all they could to grab the attention of passersby. In one aisle, Harrah's Resort featured a spinning wheel, a la Price Is Right, for a chance to win free hotel stays in its Atlantic City property, and in another aisle attendees, after paying about $99 for a trial, sat in chairs with neon blue lights at the end of tubes for the latest in teeth whitening. The Expo featured several services that ran the gamut from adoption services to alcoholic beverages, specialized gay television networks and programs, and even luxury car services, such as the double-deck limo bus offered by Designer Limousines, which seats up to 80 people in a tricked out interior. Each company relished the opportunity to show off its wares. Some companies have been exhibiting at the Expo for many years, while others as they introduced their products, hoped to increase their fan base.

And a strong fan base is exactly what first-time Expo exhibitor and singer/songwriter/pianist, Todd Alsup, hoped to get and build from his participation. For him it was more interpersonal approach to meet fans than the postcards and social networking sites that he normally uses. "As an out artist, this seems like a natural fit. It seemed a good approach to networking," he said. While his sexuality may be a draw for this particular crowd, Alsup said his music is much broader. "I try to keep my music universal and write stories that people can relate to," wrote Alsup on his MySpace page. "I believe that the most timeless songs are the ones about things we can all identify with." Another newbie to the Expo was 360 Vodka, an eco-friendly luxury libation that is "crafted from a philosophy for eco-awareness." While the concept of green vodka is usually associated with an apple Martini, 360 Vodka's commitment to corporate responsibility is largely seen in its packaging, such as shipped in 100-percent recycled cardboard. Each bottle of vodka is 85-percent recycled glass, labels are made from 100-percent post-consumer waste paper, and the company's distinct swing-top closure comes with return mail packaging to the manufacturer for recycling.

In a marketplace chock full with many different products and where exhibitors had some attention grabbing unique quality items, 360's green marketing was met with agreeable nods from the long line of patrons, ostensibly eager to learn more about the company, but waiting to taste the sample vodka shots. It is known that taking home samples usually seals the deal on a sale, 360 Vodka handed out post-consumer, seed-bearing drink coasters, which could be planted to grow basil, the garden herb. However, despite loyalty and financial strength, the nation's current economic downtown was evident in the sparse numbers that attended. The Expo, normally a well attended event, with aisles of people rivaling city-gridlock, profanity and all, this year, attendees casually strolled between the aisles, some making repeat trips to venders just for entertainment. With long stretches of empty booths, some aisles were partially filled indicating that there were also fewer vendors showing products. The LGBT Expo was an opportunity for businesses to build relationships with the LGBT community and capitalize on the prized "gay dollar," and their buying power, which in 2008, was projected to be $712 billion, according to the marketing and advertising specialists Witeck-Combs Communications and Packaged Facts.

Studies by Prime Access, Inc., and Rivendale Media Corp, two marketing research companies, show in the 2006 Gay Press Reports that, as a group, LGBT consumers have greater brand loyalty than their heterosexual counterparts. In addition, said Witeck-Combs Communications, gays and lesbians have a higher per capita household income, since they are less likely to have kids. This, they suggested, gives them more spending money. The combination of strong brand loyalty and greater discretionary income makes the LGBT socio-economic group affluent and influential. Research shows that members of the LGBT community, with buying power, as major players in financial markets, and reveals that this community is better poised to influence buying trends by association, especially since it is estimated that three-fourths of Americans personally know someone who is LGBT. Members of gay and lesbian communities are more likely to support companies that market to them and embrace gay-friendly working environments. With a presence at the Expo, and ratings systems, like the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index (provides an in-depth analysis and rating of large U.S. employers and their policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees), those companies that espouse gay-friendly business practices-such as domestic partner benefits and nondiscrimination policies-are able to send a positive message to the country's estimated 15 to 16 million lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults.

On its Website, the Expo boasted that it "has helped to present the finest products and services available to the LGBT consumer," with an impact that has potential to reshaping the social and financial landscape. Luckily, the Expo isn't only focused on marketing products and services; it also brings top-notch entertainment. And even if as a salve to suspend, for a few moments, the reality of business, drag queens, female impersonators, and performance and musical artists alike provided entertainment for the attendees. Inaya Day, Kelly King, and AmberRose Marie were among the many names touted as entertainment headliners. But the singing and dancing styles of performer "Peppermint Gummybear" and her a good-looking, all-male dance troupe stimulated the crowd into a frenzy with her single, "Servin' It Up!" The toned, fit, and "beat," New York's #1 drag queen sang her songs, instead of lip synching, and showed, with choreographed dance pieces and a performance mic suspended centimeters from her mouth-the stuff of a burgeoning pop princesses, that she was ready for stardom While small numbers may not have spelled a huge success for this year's Expo, each year that it's featured at the Javits Center is a success, in some measure, for a community that is starting to make inroads into larger mainstream culture. For more information about the GLBT Expo, please log-on to: http://www.originalglbtexpo.com. The Expo is produced by the RDP Group, whose website is: www.rdpgroup.com