BPW/MI Weekly Minute August 11^th, 2008

Hello Everyone! 

I just wanted to send a note along to thank all of you for your advice, help, and encouragement in going through the Young Careerist Program this year. I had a great time in Atlanta at the National Convention, and I'm so grateful to have gotten the chance to go and participate and represent both Jackson and Michigan. I met some great ladies, and found the conference to be a great learning experience and an ideal forum for idea exchange and networking (not to mention, lots of fun).

I wanted to give you a brief rundown of exactly what I did at the conference:

Aside from some delays and issues with the flight, I made it in late Tuesday night, and on Wednesday I spent the first couple of hours meeting with the other Young Careerists from different states (I believe there were 36 representatives).  We had breakfast, did introductions and participated in some group activities/workshops that allowed us to get to know one another better. One of the activities involved making a brochure about the YC program for the 2009 year, including our own theme. For another activity we wrote and acted out a TV Commercial on how we would advertise for the BPW. This was a lot of fun and really provided some insight into some of the other YC's. Definitely a group of ambitious, successful, creative, intriguing individuals. I knew right away that these girls were awesome, and as a matter of fact, thanks to the wonders of MySpace, e-mail, face book, and AIM, I've actually been in touch with some of the girls since the conference. 

Later in the day we had scheduled times to perform our speeches and to be interviewed by a panel of judges. My interview was one of the first, and I found the women that were judging to be very easy to talk to. They asked about fairly general things: my current career, future aspirations, community involvement, my YC program in my state, and opinions on things such as the possibility of a woman president, equity in the workplace, and education. I felt that the interview went very well. 

My speech time was scheduled later in the afternoon, so it was one of the last, but I spent the rest of the day listening to the other speeches, and I really wish that I could get copies of each and every one of them to give to you to read, because they were all really good. I had to get up and leave a couple of times, and I found myself wanting to stay and keep listening, kind of like a good book you just can't put down. There was some major talent in the room. I finally gave my speech, and I can say with all confidence that it was most definitely the best version that I had ever given - I think I felt less nervous because I didn't really know anyone in the room. (I've attached a copy of my speech to this e-mail). 

Following the completion of the speeches we got together and had what I thought was a very productive session with all of the YC's, the judges and organizers on the pros and cons of the YC program itself. There were some great ideas on taking some different approaches to strengthening the program, which, as I can tell from a group YC e-mailing list that I've been corresponding with others on, will probably make next year's competition more fluid (and I absolutely hate calling it a competition, because it seemed like anything but). 

The winner of the competition well deserved the title. Her name was Celine Malanum, and she was from California. 

I also enjoyed hearing Anne Barab speak, if you ever get a chance to hear her or read her book, I recommend it - she was hilarious. We also heard from the Mayor of Atlanta, Shirley Franklin, and from 2 women representing the campaigns for Obama and McCain, which was definitely a highlight for me. 

On top of taking part in the conference, the YC competition and sitting in on a couple of the workshops, I went off with a couple of the other YC's and did the nickel and dime tour of the city. We went to some of the parks and shopping centers, visited the Coca Cola Museum, and I actually really enjoyed touring the CNN building as well. 

With that said, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for everyone who made this experience possible, especially Julie Bailey for nominating me this past winter, Shirley Zeller for rooming with me at the conference, Jan Bassett for coordinating the funding, Susan Dehncke and Susan Murphy for meeting with me to help write my speech, and everyone else in the BPW for supporting me throughout this process. 

I would most definitely be willing to talk with people interested in the YC program, whether it be here in Jackson or in other chapters in Michigan. It was an AWESOME experience, and I'd highly recommend that others participate. It would be great to see the state follow through and have their own competition as well. I definitely have a great testimonial for anyone wanting to know more about the BPW YC program. 

Feel free to contact me with any questions if you'd like to talk about my experience with me!

Sincerely,

Sydney Hawkins

SydHawk02@yahoo.com

Click on the link below to read Sydney's Speech