The 2009 FWA Annual Dinner – the FWA’s largest fundraising event — will present its 25th Women of the Year Awards honoring the proud achievements of two distinguished women professionals, and the exemplary leadership roles they have played in the public and private sector.
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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
“In my opinion, the number one barrier to success for women in public accounting is the lack of visible role models. If a woman does not see other women succeeding, it is very difficult to aspire to partnership and senior leadership within a male dominated firm,” said Jacqueline Akerblom, National Managing Partner for Women’s Initiatives and Programs, Audit Partner and International Business Center Director at Grant Thornton LLP.
Akerblom started her career 25 years ago at the Los Angeles office of one of the Big 8 accounting firms. She was recruited to Grant Thornton while working as a manager for that competitor, and quickly moved up the ranks, progressing first to senior manager, then partner. As a new partner, she was asked to go to London to head up Grant Thornton’s US transaction group for Europe, where she stayed for four years.
Upon her return to the US in 1999, she was tapped to head up transaction advisory services for the West Coast. She soon became the national managing partner for international client services and was appointed to the Board of Governors for Grant Thornton International in 2000.
Delivering Legal Services as an Integral Member of the Business Team
Get the latest practice tips on negotiating the best deal for your client for any business transaction and state of the art contract drafting by hearing from leading lawyers. They will discuss these and other hot button topics:
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Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group
In case you were too busy to have kept up with all the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has gathered some important market events from last week to help you start this week well informed:
Mergers and Acquisitions
Now in its 62nd year, the CFA Institute Annual Conference brings together investment professionals from around the world to hear industry leaders share insights on today’s most critical investment issues. Experts examine market trends, uncover new investment opportunities, and deliver practical investment advice. Join us to learn more about successful investment strategies and ways you can better serve your institutional or high-net-worth clients.
Who Should Attend
Portfolio Managers
Analysts
Chief Investment Officers
Chief Executive Officers
Investment Advisers
Pension Plan Investment Officers
Relationship Managers
Consultants
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The Unlimited Vision 2009 Conference will inspire and prepare you for the next decade of advancement for women. This important conference will be an unparalleled gathering of distinguished experts – where our Corporate Partnersand the alumnae and mentors associated with WOMEN Unlimited programs cannetwork and share forward-looking best practices for leveraging the unlimitedpotential of women in corporate America.
Here are some early highlights of what you can expect to experience during this twoand ½ day conference. These events and MORE will give you the solid, tactical approaches that can become critical differentiators for success… for your company, your colleagues, and yourself.
• “Creating and Realizing YourPersonal Brand Vision” – a challenging and inspiring keynote address bySusan Sobbott, President OPEN / American Express. Susan will set the stage forour learning about, networking, sharing, and putting into action an Unlimited Vision for women over the next decade
• An exploration of Executive SuccessPrinciples® with author and consultant Charmaine McClarie, whose expertise inrecruiting, developing, and retaining executive talent has been recognized byThe New York Times, Harvard Management Update, the London Financial Times, Forbes, and People magazine
• A stimulating discussion by Rosalyn Taylor O’Neale, author of Seven Keys 2 Success: Unlocking the Passion forDiversity
• A dynamic closing presentation by Dr. Tieraona Low Dog about moving beyond prevention to the conscious proactive promotionof health and vitality, specially geared for active professional women
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Social Networking Savvy for Smart Business Women Who Want to Increase Influence (& Profitability)… Getting Your Voice Heard in a Noisy Online World!
Its 11 p.m…. do you know where your online audience is?
Bottom line, buyers have questions and Blogs and social networks are providing them with answers.
Tens of thousands of conversations are happening online, with you or without you. If you are like most people, you’ve heard about social networking but you don’t know how to cash in on this business-generating phenomenon.
In the new “Network Economy” your “network” is your “net worth”… savvy companies and entrepreneurs will either learn how to connect with prospects and customers using the new tools of Web 2.0 (blogs, RSS, social networks, podcasts, social video-sharing and more) or face being left out of the conversation.
On this call you will learn:
What Web 2.0 and social networking is and why it’s changing the game of marketing as we know it forever
4 questions to help you think like a master connector… build your social network by design (vs. by accident)
The 5 power tools in your Web 2.0″ toolbox” & why blogs are the new “little black dress”
How to maximize networking on Facebook & Twitter to grow your influence and income
5 biggest mistakes smart women make in social networking
FREE for WITI Members ($50 Nonmembers) REGISTER NOW
by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)
More than one trillion text messages were carried on carriers’ networks in 2008—breaking down to more than 3.5 billion messages per day. That’s almost triple the number from 2007. Meanwhile, there was a reported 2.7 percent increase in labor productivity in the business sector from 2007 to 2008. Based on this data, one might be tempted to say that increased texting leads to increased productivity but it is just not that simple.
First, there is the impact of the interruptions. Based on research from Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California at Irvine, it takes 25 minutes for the average worker to return to a task after being interrupted. Couple that information with research from Basex, a knowledge management company, that says a typical worker gets 200 e-mails, dozens of instant messages, multiple phone calls (office phone and mobile phone), and several text messages daily. Basex tabulates the lost productivity from information overload at $650 billion a year. And then add in all the other factors involved in productivity including the number of hours worked, the size of the work force, and other advances in technology.
by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)
At the beginning of her career, Joyce LaValle, a senior vice president with Interface Inc., the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet, never would have dreamed she’d be the impetus for a seismic shift in her employer’s business plan or that she’d become a spokesperson and advocate for sustainability.
LaValle began in a junior position as the DC showroom manager with Interface. Ultimately, the company seized upon her prior experience with an architectural firm to move her into a position selling to the design community. In 1994, she was actively pursuing a potential customer who was courting vendors for the most sustainable building at that time. LaValle realized she wasn’t even sure what sustainability was all about. Her daughter, who had earned a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies and had voiced her concern about the harmful materials and production methods used in the carpet industry, gave her the book, “The Ecology of Commerce” by Paul Hawkins. The book, which talks in depth about the detrimental impact such methods were having on the environment “had a profound effect on me…I was pretty horrified that my daughter was so ashamed of what I was doing,” said LaValle.
LaValle summoned the courage to take it to the top of the company and had someone put the book on a corner of CEO Ray Anderson’s desk. “It was a little intimidating: he was two bosses above me. But because my daughter was so disappointed, I tried to do whatever I could to fix it.”
Learn the secrets of negotiating better salaries, benefits and perks in any economy.
When the economy is strong, job seekers feel not only that they can negotiate, but that it would be foolish not to. When the economy is weak, however, many candidates wrongly feel that they have to accept what’s offered or risk losing the offer. This is a myth that employers are only to happy to perpetrate. Whatever the economic climate, what really matters is how you negotiate.
Lee E. Miller, a Harvard trained employment lawyer and former head of Human Resources at US Networks, TV Guide and Barneys New York and author of the soon-to-be-released “Get More Money on Your Next Job in Any Economy” (McGraw Hill April 2009) shares the secrets of negotiating better salaries, benefits and perks in any economy. Whether you are a supervisor or a CEO, the Eleven Commandments of Employment Negotiating will work for you. Even if you are unemployed you can negotiate a better salary when you get hired if you know how. As the co-author of A Women’s Guide to Successful Negotiating Lee will also offers tips for women and how they can avoid the most common mistakes women make when negotiating.
Pre-registration necessary. NO WALK-INS ALLOWED. No payment at the door. To purchase tickets click here