In June, PPAI held a successful PPAI Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC), this year virtually for the first time in its 16-year history, following a one- year hiatus in 2020. The popular event brought together 127 attendees together for three days of virtual educational programming and events, optional fitness programs each morning, 12 education sessions, three afternoons of roundtable discussions, an evening awards program with networking, and what was probably the industry’s first virtual dine-around using Zoom to bring small groups of attendees together for casual conversation.

The conference opened on June 21 with a thought-provoking session, “Dream It. Make It Happen,” presented by Geiger CEO Jo-an Lantz, MAS, one of the original founders of WLC, a former PPAI board chair and PPAI Hall of Fame inductee, among her many other achievements. During the hour-long session, Lantz shared some of her own realized dreams, along with seven fundamental lessons she learned from an interview series she did last year.

Lantz set the stage for three days of inspiring and information-packed sessions that brought attendees together to learn and create lasting connections. Kelli Denes, MAS, co-chair of the WLC workgroup, greeted attendees to close the program on the afternoon of June 23. “I’m so excited that everyone is still here at 3:35 on the third day,” she said. “Thank you for showing up and for making this event feel so special—even in this virtual environment. I think it’s really incredible that we’ve connected on the level that we have. When we leave here, keep the conversations going. That is what this event is about.”

As the first virtual WLC drew to a close, attendees were already talking about the 2022 event in anticipation of an in-person conference. Joél Bastien, MAS, of AIA Corporation, another member of the WLC workgroup, explains what it took to create this year’s extraordinary virtual experience. “With the primary vision of WLC being to create an engaging, collaborative community that enables diverse women to learn and network, the desire for the workgroup was to design an experience that kept those core tenants while providing a safe environment for attendees to gather. The workgroup focused on an event agenda with carefully selected guest speakers and content. The biggest obstacle in losing face-to-face interaction was reproducing the engagement and energy we feel when together at WLC, so integrating interactive activities was an important part of the planning. We incorporated Q&A, social dine-arounds, roundtable discussions, memory videos, surveys and more to promote this connection. While there is simply no exchange for in-person connections, the D2U event created an equally compelling, uplifting and powerful experience this week.”

Another way conference organizers worked to add a tangible element to the virtual event was to gift a box of eight specially-selected promo products to the first 75 conference registrants. Each BoxUp-donated box was mailed prior to the event and contained products provided by industry suppliers including resistance bands from Hit Promotional Products; a Cupanion bottle from Fill It Forward; selfie Zoom light from Gordon Sinclair; a gummy candy box from NC Custom (formerly Chocolate Inn/Lanco); a coaster from Gill Studios, Inc.; a magnet with a poem from The Magnet Group; and a journal from JournalBooks. Supplier Citizen Watch America provided a watch which was won by a lucky attendee in a raffle on the final afternoon.

For the 56 first-time attendees, the event often exceeded their expectations in sometimes surprising ways. Among them was Emily West of SAGE, who says, “I had a fabulous time at WLC! As a first-time attendee, I didn’t know what to expect. I was very impressed with the level of interaction through a virtual platform and the speakers. Every speaker was fantastic. They each provided a different message and story, while conveying insight into ways that I can grow from a personal level and further my career. The message across the three days was very uplifting while still acknowledging that business may be different after a year in the pandemic. I hope to have the opportunity to attend next year.”

Long-time WLC attendee, Jenny Straub, CAS, of Outdoor Cap, says, “While I would have loved to see all these awesome ladies in person, I really enjoyed this virtual event. The platform worked great and there were so many presentations that I loved. Two that stand out were Paula’s authenticity and wisdom of what it means to have grit and overcome the lows in your life while celebrating the successes, and I loved Chad Dziedzic’s presentation, because it is important to focus on your financial future and he delivered the message in such an approachable way. Fantastic event, as usual, for PPAI!”

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James Khattak is news editor of PPB.