Women's Leadership Exchange Announces One-Day, New York City Conference To Take Growing...

Business/Small Business, Career/Workplace & Women in Business

Editors/Reporters

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 2002

   November 1st Conference Launches National Effort to Rock Women's
   Business World with Educational Seminars, Facilitated Networking
  




				

				
				 
				


                    Opportunities and Exhibits

   Former Texas Governor and Business Leader Ann Richards to Deliver
                       Closing Keynote Address

New York area women business owners and executives of million dollar-plus companies will gather November 1st at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers for a first-of-its-kind conference designed to connect women who own or run growth companies with the knowledge, tools and people that can help them crank up their volume and grow.

The conference is the first to be conducted by the Women's Leadership Exchange (WLE), a multi-channel, national program created to support established women business owners, partners, presidents and CEOs at firms that have growth potential. Sponsored by OPEN: The Small Business Network(SM) from American Express, WLE is planning conferences throughout the U.S. in 2003, including Dallas, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Chicago and Atlanta. The conference is also being supported by more than 30 prominent business organizations.

Founded by three New York women business owners who encountered their own share of obstacles on the road to success, WLE is targeting women leading firms with $1 to $25 million in annual revenues or in business for at least three years. WLE is also designed for top female executives in operations, marketing, sales, finance and technology.

One-Day Conference Offers Full Slate of Activities

In addition to a full-slate of educational seminars, facilitated networking and keynote addresses, WLE will honor several leading female executives with its inaugural Compass Award. In New York, WLE will honor Colleen Barrett, COO & President, Southwest Airlines, Val Ackerman, President, WNBA and Deborah Rosado Shaw, President of Umbrellas Plus and Dream Big Enterprises. Ann Richards, former Texas governor and business leader, and Judy George, founder and CEO of Domain, will serve as keynote speakers.

"Running a fast growth company takes up every waking minute of every day," said Leslie Grossman, a co-founder of WLE. "That's why we designed this conference to enable women to return to their offices and immediately put into practice new strategies to drive new sales, improve their profit margins and motivate employees."

Notes Kerry Hatch, executive vice president and general manager, OPEN: The Small Business Network from American Express, "Women who own or run growth companies have unique needs that are different than their counterparts at smaller companies. The OPEN Small Business Network is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Women's Leadership Exchange, which provides these tenured business owners access to information and resources they need to help grow their companies."

Additional sponsors of the New York conference include: HQ Global Workplaces, Entrepreneur Magazine and Forbes Magazine, the National Women's Calendar, the O Group, 1010WINS radio New York and Empire New York.

Powerful Educational Tracks To Empower Women In Business

The November 1st conference will feature six educational tracks, with each providing three intensive, interactive seminars led by a panel of experts, including business owners, sharing real case studies. These tracks include:

Managing the Fast-Growth Company: Strategies for the New Economy is a series of seminars featuring discussions like Creating the Customer-Driven Enterprise; Tools and Tactics of Top Negotiators; The Power of People: Gaining Competitive Advantage with a Winning Workforce and Ties that Bind Not Strangle: Overcoming Obstacles in the Family-Run Enterprise.

Plugging Into People will cover a variety of topics related to leveraging employees and business peers, including Capitalize on Your Networking Capabilities and Building Your Business with Boards.

Strategic Sales and Marketing will feature panel discussions like Connecting with - and - Keeping Customers; Closing The Deal and Opening the Door for More: Strategies for Long-term Sales Success; and Developing an Implementation Strategy Poised for Growth.

Tackling Technology has been created to help women make better technology decisions. This track covers Straight Talk about New Tech: Technologists Tell It Like It Is; Smart Systems for Fast-moving Companies and Maximizing Business in an Internet Age.

Financing Growth will help women better manage their business and personal finances, through seminars like Being Smart Personally About Your Business Finances; Debt, Equity, and Acquisition and Investing in Infrastructure for Growth.

New Directions for Women Business Leaders will explore broader business and personal issues that business leaders face, including Becoming a Global Visionary for Your Enterprise; Ethics, Values, and Social Responsibility and Sex and the Executive Women.

The cost to register for the conference is $445. Attendees who pay with their American Express(R) Business Card will receive a 20 percent discount. An additional 20 percent off is extended to members of WLE's many supporting organizations.

WHEN:    November 1, 2002

TIME:    7 am to 7 pm - Full Day Program

WHERE:   New York City
         Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers 811 7th Avenue
         (between 52nd and 53rd streets)

Women business owners and potential sponsors can register for the conference or obtain additional information by calling 888-937-5800 or by visiting www.womensleadershipexchange.com.

For hotel reservations call 212-581-1000. Ask for the special Women's Leadership Exchange rate of $219.

WLE Launches Comprehensive National Effort

In addition to its series of one-day conferences, WLE will link leading women business executives together year-round through a variety of formats, including:

-- Post conference education

-- Networking programs

-- A website www.womensleadershipexchange. com (an online resource area will launch on the website on January 1, 2003)

-- A customized e-newsletter

"WLE's mission is to create long-lasting, meaningful business relationships among women business leaders, which can be tapped at an executive's convenience," said WLE co-founder Andrea March. March is President of Investment Expo, the largest financial-strategies trade show/seminar program in the Northeast. "The combined knowledge and experience of WLE's sponsors, speakers and supporting organizations will be available through our various information resources."

For more information about WLE or to access additional resources and information, women's business owners can visit www.womensleadershipexchange.com.

About Women's Leadership Exchange

Women's Leadership Exchange (WLE), presented by OPEN: The Small Business Network(SM) from American Express is an ongoing multi-channel national program created to support established women business owners, partners, presidents/CEOs and executives at growth companies, connecting them with the knowledge, tools and people they need to take their businesses to the next level. For further information on Women's Leadership Exchange, visit www.womensleadershipexchange.com or call 212-618-1811. To register for Women's Leadership Exchange conferences, call 888-937-5800.