FOOD DRIVE & STONE SOUP

Share your prosperity and generosity. Soundwaves will host its first annual food drive on December 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., benefitting Stone Soup Pantry, a project of AIDS Foundation Houston. The food drive will feature live entertainment with DJ Chris Sill. Bring your nonperishable food donations to Soundwaves located at 3509 Montrose Blvd. The food drive is cosponsored by Channel 39 KHWB, 106.5-The Point, AIDS Foundation Houston, and OutSmart magazine. Special requests include toilet paper, diapers, baby formula, and adult grooming items, although any donation will be welcomed. For more information, call 713/520-WAVE.

NEW RESTAURANT

Restaurateur Anthony Russo and manager Esteban M are pleased to announce the opening of Cafe Botticelli located at 306 Gray near Bagby. The Italian cafe features sandwiches, salads, desserts, specialty coffee and expresso drinks, and smoothies. For hours and takeout orders, call 713/533-1140.

PLANETOUT, GAY.COM ANNOUNCE MERGER PLANS

PlanetOut Corporation and Gay.com's parent company Online Partners, the two leading providers of online content and services for the LGBT community, announced their plans to merge the two companies. The merger of the two will create a global media and services company with more than 1.6 million registered users.

The two companies plan to operate under the name PlanetOut Partners, Inc., maintaining the popular Gay.com and PlanetOut consumer brands and websites. When the merger of the two privately- held companies is finally approved, probably later in 2000, the two companies will share offices together in San Francisco, and some of their current 180 employees will be laid off.

"The gay and lesbian community will be the winner in this merger because, for the first time, the LGBT market becomes a true economic force," said Lowell Selvin, chief executive officer of Online Partners, the parent company of the Gay.com website. "Never before could any organization bring together this many gays and lesbians to command the attention of businesses worldwide."

"Both PlanetOut and Gay.com share a common goal: to deliver the best products and services for gay and lesbian people wherever they are in the world," said Megan Smith, chief executive officer of PlanetOut. "With the two largest brands under one umbrella, we can aggregate resources and serve our customers even more effectively, providing the range of media, community, entertainment, products, and services that reflects and addresses the diversity of LGBT people."

Selvin will serve as chief executive officer of PlanetOut Partners; Smith will take the role of president.

Both sites get about a half-million different visitors each month and have very different strengths that analysts say should compliment each other. Gay.com is more popular with men, with only about 10 percent women visitors; PlanetOut draws about 35 percent women visitors. PlanetOut carries more articles, including material from two publications it purchased earlier this year, The Advocate and Out. Gay.com's chat rooms are one of its strongest points and it draws a stronger international audience, with offices in Europe and Latin America as well as in the U.S.

Both Gay.com and PlanetOut have attracted numerous mainstream business partners and advertisers. By combining Gay.com and PlanetOut into a single force, PlanetOut Partners will offer businesses access to the gay and lesbian market, a market that in the United States alone is estimated to have $450 billion in buying power, according to research firm Overlooked Opinions. In turn, gays and lesbians will gain greater access to products and services specifically targeted to their needs, as businesses see the opportunity to reach this traditionally under-served market.

GFN.COM Brings ON new Community Investing

The launch of the gfn.community investments program was announced by Calvert Social Investment Foundation (Calvert Foundation), a leading player in community investing (enabling individuals to channel investment funds to affordable housing, micro-credit and community development), and gfn.com, the Gay Financial Network, the online source of business and financial news, information, and services for the gay and lesbian community.

The program, as part of a strategic relationship between Calvert Foundation and gfn.com, will channel investor capital to LGBT community lending, international cooperatives and micro-credit, and domestic community development.

"Gfn.com is committed to enabling investment in nonprofits that support community development globally and guaranteeing equal access to capital in terms of gender, income, ethnicity, and sexual orientation," said Walter Schubert, founder and chairman of gfn.com.

"Calvert Foundation believes it is time that investors consider channeling capital into communities in need. We're committed to online outreach and investing in gay and lesbian community issues and organizations," said Shari Berenbach, executive director of the Calvert Foundation.

Gfn.community Investments, a targeted program of Calvert Foundation's Community Investments, will offer investors the ability to invest into a professionally managed global portfolio of community development nonprofits. Funds will be targeted equally to three program areas: LBGT supportive community lending domestically, international microcredit and cooperative funding, domestic affordable housing, and small-business development.

For more information on the Gay Financial Network, visit www.gfn.com.