CREW NETWORK ANNUAL CONVENTION

The week of October 15, 2008 was exciting for 6 KC CREW members who attended the 19th annual convention of CREW Network in Houston, Texas.

Delegate meetings and leadership training comprised the first few days which were attended by Michelle Suter and Linda Laurence. The bulk of the attendees arrived for the welcome reception on Wednesday evening.

Local, regional and national speakers presented talks, lectures and interactive workshops on a variety of team building, professional development and real estate areas. Thursday morning the attendees listened to a panel of very influential women. The moderator: Genevieve Bos, Co-Owner and Founding Publisher of PINK magazine was very engaging and kept our attention throughout the conversation. Other panelists included the general manager of the Houston Astros and a young woman with the White House whose mission is to travel the country and provide seminars and training to women seeking entry into national politics. The group shared strong opinions about the future and the next generation. Their message was for women to be bold and take more risks in pursuing opportunities.

Luncheon speakers included Tom Peters, a nationally renowned management and leadership training guru on Thursday and Ariana Huffington, journalist and founder of the Huffington Post. Ariana proclaimed, “"Believe in yourself" "Do everything with more joy and enjoy life" "Allow yourself to take more risks". Both talks were very lively and informative. Despite the then political climate all speakers stayed strictly to the themes of the convention. The Houston chapter provided several ‘field trip’ opportunities for attendees. Ask Lisa Wright about the Texas medical center tour!

Throughout the days attendees could interact, mingle and network with other CREW Network members.

It is difficult to convey the meaning that attendance at these events can provide to you and your company and thereby our chapter! Perhaps these quotes form attendees can provide some insight: “I thought convention attendees were limited to board members of the individual chapters, but I was wrong!” “My thoughts are that this should be a requirement for every CREW member. At some point you need to attend. It gives you a real perspective of how big CREW really is and the power of this type of network. “ “ Every Keynote speaker was spot-on when addressing a group of women. Every session had an important message and most programs were relevant to today’s market. Every person you meet has something interesting to say.” “I truly believe that the growth of CREW over the past 20 years is pretty amazing and believe it reflects the tremendous leadership and motivation women have when they are given the reigns.” “Through my participation at convention I learned that we can truly use CREW to build bridges of opportunities!”

Ladies, it’s time to go for it! Take the risk. Set new goals. Believe in your abilities and stay connected to KC CREW. Be involved not just to stay busy but to develop those skills and foster relationships that meet your goals.

We have three opportunities in 2009 for leadership training and participation. The Winter delegate meeting will be held in San Diego and the Spring meeting will be held in St. Louis. The 20th anniversary of CREW Network will be the highlight of the 2009 convention to be held next October in Boston. Seize the opportunity! Be there!