Women in Business Conference Continues to Inspire Students, Alumnae

The Women in Business Conference is now in its sixth year, but interest from alumnae hasn’t diminished. Once again, the event was booked after registration was open for just one week. Approximately 110 alumnae and 90 students were in attendance for the on-campus event Oct. 22.

“More and more alumnae are engaged by offering to speak on panels, says David Chu, prebusiness advisor and director of the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies. “Alumnae from more class years are getting involved — now we have speakers from every decade: ’80s, ’90s and 2000s.”

We have helped plan and organize the annual Women in Business Conference for the last four years, and it has truly defined our time at Holy Cross. Here are five takeaways from this year’s event.

1. We have come a long way since the first Women in Business Conference in 2006. David Chu says that “in 2006 we had about 100 alumnae and students attend, and in 2011 we had over 170 attendees and moved from 4 panels to 9.” Even since we attended the conference as first-year students in 2008, the event has grown substantially. As student organizers of the event, it has been extremely rewarding for us to improve the conference each year, and we appreciate the involvement and interaction from alumnae. In fact, we intend to give back and participate on the opposite end in the future.

2. Effective communication is critical to the success of any business, and in order to lead efficiently one must truly embody the mentality of a “world wide woman.” That message was communicated throughout the conference, as this year’s theme was “World Wide Women: Communicating in a Global Economy.” With the means of technology evolving before our eyes, as women, we need to recognize and adapt to these developments to ensure that we are communicating effectively in this global economy.



3. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” said Nancy Taylor ’81, quoting Peter Drucker. Taylor is the president and CEO of Tredegar Corporation, a member of Holy Cross’ Board of Trustees, and this year’s keynote speaker. She explains that no matter how great your strategy is, if you don’t have an organizational culture that is capable of executing, it won’t happen. Taylor divided her keynote address into two parts, the world wide part and the woman part. As the leader of a global corporation, Taylor attributed much of her personal development and preparedness to her Holy Cross education. “Find a way to have a voice and make your impact, and find a group of women in your organization that you trust and use each other for support,” she advised fellow female Crusaders.

4. Conference participants were able to choose from nine wide-ranging panels — the most ever. From “Launching Your Career” to “Mindful Leadership,” we really tried to cover a broad base. Each year we collect feedback from those who attended the event to develop a meaningful itinerary for the following year. Many women expressed interest in public relations and media so we made sure to have panels such as “Television and Digital Media: The New Age of Broadcasting” and “Building Trust and Inspiring Passion with Public Relations.” Other interesting topics included “You Are the Message: Making Connections in Meetings and Presentations” and “From Holy Cross to Wall Street: What It is Really Like to be a Female Crusader in Finance.”



5. Only one woman negotiates her salary for every eight men who do, and each woman misses out on an average of almost half a million dollars during her career. That striking statistic was delivered by Katie Donovan ’85 during a panel titled “Navigating the Salary Gap.” A new addition to our panel schedule this year, the salary gap is a topic most women know about but fail to acknowledge. Donovan provided employers’ perspectives on negotiating, research tools, negotiation tactics, and insight into female traits that make women superior yet reluctant negotiators.

Mark your calendars! The 2012 Women in Business Conference is scheduled for Oct. 20, 2012. Keep an eye out for an invitation in the summer.