Progress towards an Auckland celebration of glbt life and culture took a significant step forward tonight when a community meeting decided to usher in a formal organisation to steer the project into place. Until now the Gay Auckland Business Association-sponsored meetings have gathered in ideas and expressions of interest. Tonight it was decided that a formally constituted body is now needed to take the reins. GABA and meeting chair Gresham Bradley "We're geting down to the real core of how our community wants to structure and run an Auckland Pride festival," says meeting chair, and GABA chair, Gresham Bradley. "This is the time now when we get to make those decisions we will be living with for a long time." After agreeing on a working title of The Auckland Pride Festival, and some spirited discussion, it was agreed by the twenty or so people present that a public meeting should be held on Sunday July 10th at which nine people would be selected by open vote to constitute an interim board of governance. This is intended to create a legal structure to support consultation with the Auckland Council which has already publicly expressed enthusiasm and probable financial support for such a festival. The interim board will also be tasked with refining the board's ongoing role and the Festival's objectives. It will hoped to attract people from the glbt communities with legal, financial, governance and council liaison experience, as well as more general skills and contacts. Bradley says it is important to close "the gap between what we want to do and how we can actually do it." He says the process so far is working well and there is a path forward being ceated. And, he notes, the interim board looks set to have firm community backing. "There has been a remarkable level of agreement expressed at these first three meetings." The mechanics of the nomination process and the location for the public meeting, to be held on Sunday July 10th at 2pm, have yet to be confirmed but Bradley is hopeful those details can be clarified and widely circulated within a few days.