Kris Wittenberg
President
SayNoMore! Promotions |
|
Update on WBENC's Natoinal Conference and Business Fair from Women's Business Enterprise Council - West (WBEC-West)
My Experience at the 2009 Women in Business National Conference and Business Fair, Kris Wittenberg, President, SayNoMore! Promotions
I was thrilled to be able to attend the 2009 WBENC National Conference in San Francisco last month. Not only was it in my favorite city, but the conference hotel was awesome and all of the events were beautifully orchestrated. If I ever felt lost or didn’t know where the next function was, there was always a friendly person nearby in an easy-to-identify WBENC t-shirt to lend a helping hand. So kudos to WBENC and the host committee for pulling off a great event!
On a business note, my hat is off to WBEC-West for all of the informative and entertaining programming that they had. I loved the Tuesday morning Tradeshow Secrets event where the always-fabulous Robin Billups from U.S. Bank and the delightful Julia Hubble from the Hubbel Group enlightened us with tips for making the most of the conference. I learned a great amount about the perspectives of supplier diversity representatives and how to best make myself standout with them. I gained a new appreciation for all that their jobs entail, and that they are really advocates for us, not actually buyers. I tried to incorporate the useful tips throughout the week and found them to be quite effective.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the WBEC-West Matchmaker event on Thursday evening, where large, established WBEC-West WBE’s met with some of us in new growth mode to offer their expertise and wisdom as well as potential business opportunities. I enjoyed the speakers and getting to know the other people at the tables where I sat. I made some of my best contacts during the luncheons.
The Business Fair was fantastic – lots of great booths, varied professions and cool giveaways. I have exhibited in the past but decided this year to take a break so I could walk the show. Well now I can’t decide which strategy I like best. When you have a booth you just get to meet the greatest people. It is exhausting, but well worth the effort I think. When you walk the show and don’t exhibit, you can explore a bit more and socialize on your own schedule. The business fair is a wonderful opportunity to network and I can’t wait for next year’s.
It was very clear to me that a lot of thought and preparation was put into this year’s conference. I enrich my WBENC certification with every event I attend. Each time, afterward I am always so grateful I went and tell myself I really need to make the effort to go to more.
|
Pamela S. Williamson, Ph.D
Executive Director
WBEC-West |
|
About WBEC-West
WBEC-West is a regional partner of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a coalition of corporations, WBEs and regionally focused women's business organizations. As an affiliate organization, WBEC-West implements the certification standards of WBENC throughout Arizona, Colorado, Southern California, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Hawaii. WBE certification is nationally recognized and accepted by more than 7500 major corporations. We also support corporations in their efforts to include WBEs in their supplier diversity programs.
Visit more Regional Partner Organization Links below:
|
Limb Design, LLC |