Continuing the celebration of International Women’s Month, Ohio University is hosting a Virtual Women’s Conference. With this being the 15th year, organizers hope that people take advantage of the flexibility of the online platform and participate in the free-of-charge event.
Last year, the event also took place online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The accessibility of online allows for anyone from anywhere to join.
This year, the keynote speaker is Alison Levine, M.B.A., adventurer, best-selling author and motivational speaker. The title of her speech is “Surviving (and Thriving) in Unsettling Times.” Her speech will be during the lunch hour –– everyone will be able to eat their lunch separately, but together.
The set-up of the conference will be all about professional development and celebrating women's rights and accomplishments. Participants are able to sign-up and choose what talks they would like to attend and listen to. The links will be sent to them so they can directly be sent to the speaker they are signed up for at the scheduled time.
“We have different tracks in the planning,” Pam Kaylor, a Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies professor at OU Lancaster, said. “If you're an athlete, (there will be) a lot of really interesting sessions that you'll be interested in. If you're a business person, if you're a community member, if you're faculty or staff –– there's some great selections. I really suggest checking out the website and looking at the selections to see if something is for you, because I really feel that there is something for everyone.”
Creating this event, Kaylor made sure to include women of diverse ages and ethnicities.
The event's importance stands within the women’s stories that will be shared and the opportunity to be inspired. The event will talk about an array of topics and share multiple different backgrounds, which will provide comfort for many.
“I would encourage people that attend virtually, since there isn't that lingering time between, is really to reach back out to these presenters because they are really passionate about whatever they're talking about,” Jenn Bennett, executive director of Wellbeing at OU, said. “Follow up and get more (information), or even just for work experience, if it's something that you're interested in, and talking to them about how you can get involved in what they're doing.”
Bennett, who is also in charge of WellWorks at OU, will be speaking during the event about the struggle women face with exercising. She wants to focus on how women can encourage one another, bring each other up and surround themselves with people that believe in them through any trauma they may have faced in the past or are facing right now.
Angela Krile, president and CEO of Krile Communications, will also be speaking at this event on a panel with other women that are focused on giving back. The panel will be discussing how one can find needs in their area and identify how to respond to said needs in order to make the world a better place.
“You're not on the road and then spending a day somewhere, you're in the comfort of your own home, but you're able to connect with all of these inspiring, amazing women from literally across the world at this conference,” Krile said. “That feels like a very low investment for a really high potential return to me. Jump on the computer, get a cup of coffee and spend a couple of hours interacting and listening to really amazing women.”
