Swissotel Hotel & Resort, Sydney NSW
OVERVIEW
The WCEI Annual Conference was held in Sydney across two days from September 8-9 at the Swissotel. There were over 120 delegates across the two days with a terrific representation from Western Australia, Tasmania and Canberra.
The Conference organising committee would like to thank our sponsors, the Australian Institute of Management (NSW & ACT), Dell Womens Entrepreneur Network, Westfield and MyBusiness magazine for their support.
The theme of the conference was Inspiring Women Leaders and we certainly were inspired. A major theme throughout the conference was the importance of developing a clear strategy around social media and the absolute essential tool that social media and internet has become for ALL businesses.
Day one saw amazing presentations from: Anna Pollock, CEO of Desticorp, Kate O’Reilly, Optimiss Consulting, Pia Lee from LIW and Linda Dunkel, Interaction Associates. The overarching theme of these speakers was about women as leaders with a global heart and mind and how we can and continue to strive to build great businesses within the context of having a positive impact on our communities. Engaging our customers and communities through the power of the internet, understanding the deep trends, listening to what they have to say and responding was the mantra.
We explored the evolution of leadership; aligning our mindsets to create the conditions for success and for leaving a legacy that can be shared across our organisations.
Between these presentations there were two panel discussions – again around different aspects of leadership that included panellists such as Ruth Medd, Women on Boards, Geraldine Doogue, ABC Journalist, Patricia Forsythe from the Sydney Business Chamber, Chris Andrew, Greening Australia, Dr Dianne Jackson from Connect Child and Family Services and Tony Thirlwell, the National Heart Foundation. And yes, there were some men in the audience and as speakers!
The day ended with a high note with Linda Dunkel providing the call for women leaders to act as conscious capitalists, beautifully summarising the entire day’s themes.
Day two started with a fantastic presentation from Myer, CEO Bernie Brookes speaking about being noticed by the big end of town. His presentation has been summarised on the mybusiness website - It’s worth sharing on LinkedIn or Twitter if you’re able to:
We then had presentations from Felicia Mariani, CEO of the Australian Tourism Export Council and Yolanda Vega from the Australian Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Panel discussions this day were intriguing and direct. ‘Telling a Fashionable Success Story’ panellists, Bernie Brookes, Alexia Gnecchi-Ruscone and Sophie Toohey reinforced the power of the internet to grow and respond swiftly in business-big or small, and the critical importance of listening to your customers and what the social media community is saying.
Women in a Man’s world panellists included Dr Bronwyn Evans, VP Cochlear, Air Vice Marshall Margaret Staib and Jan Taylor, Taylor Brothers, on a panel that was sponsored by the Australian Institute of Management. This was followed by an insightful and essential panel on the role of Social Media to leadership that involved Carolyn Childs, Dragoman Consulting, Anne Massey, CEO-Asia Pacific Communispace and Iggy Pintado, author, The Connection Generation.
If you think you can let the social media revolution pass you by, you’re wrong. It’s absolutely essential that you understand it, learn what it is and how it can work for you, develop a strategy and implement it.
The dinner on the Friday night was a wonderful chance to catch up with friends from around the WCEI community and meet some interesting women. The guest speaker Lisa Brentnall shared her life journey with us and reminded us all that life is a journey not a destination. It’s certainly worth remembering this in the current times of world financial and community uncertainty. That said, WCEI is a community of strong, intelligent, caring women who have genuine desire to support each other. Inspiring women leaders we are and the conference was an opportunity to share some of our journeys with each other and learn.
Jaqui Lane, NSW Member since 1992