Global Women 2010

Had a fantastic day at the Global Women Conference today held at the University of Auckland Owen Glenn Building. 

Some of the recognisable names:

• Justine Troy - 42 Below co-founder
• Dame Jenny Shipley (ex prime-minister of NZ)
• Annah Stretton
• Susan Wood 
• Penelope Barr
• Rosie Horton
• Wendy Pye

Attending this type of event brings home three things:

1)  There are some amazing women in the business world, massively successful women, who are willing to give an insight into their success and share the knowledge they've gained.  I noticed that almost all of the speakers at the conference stayed for the Cocktail meet and greet section of the day, something I bet none of them were obligated to do.

2)  If you need help - ask.  It seemed the common thread from all the speakers was that as women, we need to ask for more help.  This is a tough one for us because as we go about "assembling our team" of advisers, Heidi and I often ask each other, "well, what exactly is it we need help with?"  Identifying and quantifying that should be easy but it's not, and although we haven't quite nailed our Wishlist yet, we are inching ever closer.

3)  It's a great way to put your own business into perspective.  

Old School vs New School
I enjoyed watching a debate unfold between a stalwart of old school journalism, who firmly believed that Social Media was simply a huge waste of time (!!), and those well studied in overseas trends that know the way in which we gather information isn't changing - it's already changed.   

For Shame
A very minor complaint, not to the organisers or venue (although I did find the lack of cellphone reception in what it supposed to be the leading institution for business learning a little odd), but to the attendees who thought it was appropriate to leave their empty coffee cups and goody bags behind in the lecture theatre.  There were rubbish bins directly at the entrance of the doors ladies - too hard for you?!

And apart from the cellphone issue above, what an amazing complex the Owen Glenn Building is - a completely different learning space to my experience of tiny halls and rooms at AIT all those years ago.

Which segues nicely into something from our Usefess Information Department.  Heidi and I once partied on Owen Glenn's super yatch Ubiquitous and sang a few rounds of karaoke with the man himself.  Those were the days aye!

Find out more about the Global Women Organisation here