Inaugural SHEday conference says it all

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This article was published 03/01/2015 (4265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was some trepidation when organizers of the inaugural SHEday event started testing the waters late in 2014 for the Jan. 15 event.

At the time, the hope was they could sell 100 tickets at $39 each for a day-long conference featuring 10 mostly female speakers sharing their thoughts on navigating the workplace, the importance of women supporting women and unlocking the potential of women in senior leadership.

That trepidation lasted about a day.

The 100 tickets were gone, and arrangements were made to reschedule in a larger space accommodating 300 people. A couple of weeks after that, the room size had to be doubled again, and now all 600 tickets have been sold out for the event.

Not only that, but Marina James, one of the three co-creators of the event and the lead organizer, said she had to start saying “no” to prospective sponsors calling her to express interest in participating in the event.

“I have never had an easier time getting the sponsorships for an event,” said James, the CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg. “We had to stop (taking calls from sponsors).”

The idea emanated from discussions between James and Mary Jane Loustel, the co-chairwoman of EDW, and Brenda LaRose, search partner at Leaders & Co. all of whom have participated in the past in nationally organized events by CWI (Career Women Interaction).

Those are $600-per-day events. James said often when she encouraged women to attend, she was told it was too expensive.

“We just felt we needed to create an event that was affordable to women from diverse walks of life,” she said. “For instance, you know that people involved in startups don’t have excess money and pre-executive women find that it was enough for them just to get their company to allow them a paid, or unpaid, day off to attend.”

Loustel, who is the national aboriginal program executive for IBM Canada, said initially the discussion was about figuring out how to broaden the network of support for women.

“We talked about what can we do to help young women here to build strength,” she said.

Loustel is also a member of the Winnipeg Police Board.

She said at a public consultation this summer in the North End, a young aboriginal woman gave a passionate presentation about the challenges aboriginal people face and expressed appreciation for the work the police were doing to bridge the gap.

“It brought tears to my eyes,” Loustel said. “And it made me realize we need to do more to help one another. It struck me that women in our city can do a lot for other women.”

All the presenters are volunteering their time, and the event fee also includes a professional head-shot photo including the services of makeup artists on hand.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca