Recently, I had the pleasure of being a part of the annual global meeting for the Organization of Women in International Trade. My chapter (New York) had been intending to host this year's annual meeting and we purposely chose the date to have it during World Trade Week NYC.
As it turned out, May was a month of graduations, soccer and other sports playoffs, and weddings, among other activities. Being a network that is supportive of women (which does not mean only made up of women, as we also have male members), it was decided instead to have a video conference. While it was not as fun as a weekend in NYC, it was a great conference!
Representatives from chapters around the country participated, and other international branches joined in on the call as well, including representatives from Canada, Peru, Switzerland, Kenya and Mexico.
Serving as the Vice President to the New York chapter, and having been a member for about 4 years now – 3 of which have been on the Board of Directors - I have seen the rapid development that has occurred with OWIT-NY thanks to technology. A focus on using technology to further promote the organization and to advance its agenda to, for example, educate its members and friends in the trade community via webinars, was a large part of the discussion during the video conference.
We acknowledged the success of the webinars for both developing our members as well as the organization, and the benefits of collaborating with entities providing technology-based services, such as the trade data provider, Import Genius, with whom OWIT members will get a discount on the cost of services from.
In addition, it was recognized that the development of OWIT-International’s Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, which serve to advance our marketing efforts as well as to promote awareness about the organization, have been valuable tools worth putting further resources towards.
The collaboration and caliber of women was impressive and I feel lucky to be a part of such a dynamic and talented group of women.
For more information on OWIT International, click here.
For more information on OWIT-NY click here.
Questions/comments? Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com
In motivating people, you've got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example - and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved.
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