Today is the official first day of the Channel Partners Conference & Expo 2012, which opens in a few hours in Caesar's Palace, Vegas. Last night, however, I had the pleasure of kicking the conference off early by attending a Women in the Channel (WiC) networking event. And, wow, was I impressed.
Channel Partners announced that the event turn out was ~100 attendees. As a person heavily involved in growing our reseller program, I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet telecom VARs / consultants and chat with women in my same shoes. In an industry that's highly male-dominated, I personally like to join groups that focus on bringing together, educating, and uplifting women in technology.
At the beginning of the WiC event, Khali Henderson, Editor-in-Chief of Channel Partners, gave a poll to the attendees on subject matter from business titles to career/business growth goals to mentoring.
As Channel Partners recorded: "Turns out, more than half of attendees (55 percent) hold director or manager titles, while another 20 percent serve as owners or partners. And most attendees (48 percent) want to grow their business over the coming year, and remain wary of mentoring because of the time they think is involved." These numbers formed a great foundation for the evening's discussion.
I came in as the poll was wrapping up (Caesar's Palace is huge!) Luckily, I was in time for a presentation by Nancy Ridge, Vice President of master agency Telcombrokers and founder of WiC. Nancy discussed WiC's mission statement and progress in the past year. Starting out as a LinkedIn group, WiC is now a grassroots organization composed of "women who are in leadership, ownership and revenue generating roles in the alternate sales channel sector of the telecommunications industry" (WiC website). In the past year, Nancy pointed out that WiC has officially achieved non-profit organization status, published an updated website wherein new members can now register, formed active committees, held a chair on the Channel Partners Conference and Expo Advisory Board, organized this event and monthly conference calls, facilitated a mentorship program for women in the channel, and more.
Nancy also went on to discuss WiC goals for 2012, a few of which stuck out for me as I intend to help. Firstly, growth in membership is certainly a goal; the more members WiC has, the better the collaboration and resource opportunities there will be for women in the telecom industry. Up until April 30th, WiC is offering a discounted annual membership. WiC would like to increase outreach through its active members, form local chapters, and also connect with other non-profits focused on facilitating collaboration and communication amongst women in tech. Located in NYC, I would be happy to help get a local chapter in place.
Another goal that stuck out to me: WiC would like to engage its members in serving on a committee with a specific goal or commitment. Instead of your typical non-profit board and hierarchy, WiC is uniquely set up to be run by committees with rotating chairs every 6 months. WiC established this structure to celebrate diverse working groups, prevent burning out dedicated members, and to keep it fresh. Later that evening, I discussed with Nancy and Bita Milanian, founder of BMG Consulting, Corp., joining the Web Committee to pledge my web marketing and project management expertise to the organization. I'm very excited about it!
After Nancy's talk, we had moderated round table discussions on various topics revolving around succeeding in your career and growing your business. At my table, we discussed how to keep up your self confidence in the work place. The conversation, as it did at many other tables, eventually landed on taking care of oneself (personally) and establishing a healthy work-life balance. "You can take your briefcase home. Just don't open it," I heard someone say. But don't be fooled - this was a forum of highly established women who aren't afraid to stand up and say they're interested in closing sales and meeting their numbers. And that's the beauty of Women in the Channel.