WMC Members at the closing reception at the Cornell Club in New York City.
On the streets of NYC...taking a coffee break.
The inaugural professional development trek for the Women's Management Council (WMC) was a success! This event was our capstone event this fall. The idea to have the trek was born out of a constant struggle to host an annual symposium on campus where alumnae and other professional women are often invited to speak on panels, facilitate workshops, and network with the women at Johnson. Recognizing the need to innovate the way the WMC offers its members a professional development component, we decided to take the symposium on the road and bring our members to the speakers. Here's a recount of our day:
5:00 AM - Depart Ithaca for NYC
5:30 AM - Got stalled on route 79 to Ithaca for 2 hours due to a bad accident on the road
11:00 AM - We arrive in NYC and run from Grand Central to UBS where we are already an hour late! Here we meet several women in investment banking and also see some of our alumni who escaped their work for a few minutes to say hi.
12:45 PM - Rush across the street to Colgate-Palmolive who has lunch ready for us and present us with a panel of some of their most successful women.
3:00 PM - After walking a few blocks (grabbing Starbucks on the way) to Accenture, we get to meet with a broad range of experienced women from some of the executive ranks to an analyst out of college just a couple of years.
5:30 PM - We get to unwind a little at a reception at the Cornell Club of New York where some of the people we had met earlier in the day as well as other firms that recruit at Cornell arrive to chat with us all.
7:30 PM - Free time! And what better to do with our time in NYC than shop and eat...two of my most favorite things to do :)
10:00 PM - Depart NYC for Ithaca...yes, we return the very same day. While on the bus, I put the finishing touches on a final presentation I have at 8:30 am the next day before trying to get some sleep.
2:30 AM - Arrive back in Ithaca.
The true measure of success for this event was the feedback from participants. I am still getting emails of thanks from our membership! Fortunately, we elected our new board last week and the new VP of Trek 2008 was able to attend Trek 2007 and took lots of notes. As one of the last remaining activities I oversee as President for the WMC, the Trek's success makes me reflect on what an amazing year we've had and I'm almost sad to hand over the reigns. But it has to be done!
Cheers!
