The doors of the Maintenance Shop will be open tonight to people with new ideas for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

All area residents can attend, discuss and learn at a first-of-its-kind LGBT meeting. The organizers said the main focus will be a conversation about issues and goals, but they hope to keep the atmosphere informal.

“The biggest reason is to provide input to shape and structure LGBT activities to what the community wants,” said Andrea Conner, planning committee member.

The meeting is also a way to bring together all the different LGBT groups on campus, including the LGBT Student Services, the LGBT Ally Alliance and IMRU, a faculty, staff and graduate student group.

“I am pleased to have so many organizations,” said Conner, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies. “Sometimes we feel far apart as separate programs. I am looking forward to having everyone who has invested in the community together for one night.”

Those who attend will be able to participate in an assessment of the ISU campus climate, including possible areas of improvement, said Jeremy Hayes, planning committee member.

The meeting will “help us to build a common vision for the future … and help develop a sense of community among all the organizations,” said Hayes, sophomore in management information systems.

It will also emphasize three main areas of discussion, but otherwise, little structure is planned.

“We will focus on the past, present and future,” said Jeff Sorenson, adviser to LGBTAA. “We are trying to keep a fairly open forum. We are not doing a lot of planning. It is intentional. We don’t want to structure it to the point of us telling them what they want.”

In keeping with the emphasis on openness, organizers are inviting anyone interested in LGBT topics to attend, not just people in the LGBT community.

Conner said the evening’s outcome will be up to the participants.

“The attendees will have the power and the initiative,” she said.

The committee members are expecting more than 50 people to attend. The meeting is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the M-Shop, located in the Memorial Union.