The history of Innovation Guelph’s involvement in International Women’s Day activities could be summed up in the organization’s own tagline – Ignite. Empower. Innovate.
Now entering its fourth year, what started as an annual speaker’s event to mark International Women’s Day has grown into a two-day conference with dinner, networking and a guest speaker on March 8 and a day of workshops, a luncheon, and another keynote speaker on March 9.
Kristel Manes, director of Innovation Guelph said the buzz and excitement generated at last year’s event spawned the idea of a conference for 2016.
“We don’t want to be a traditional conference though,” Manes said in an interview. “We want people to do things that are fun and exciting. We want this to be a conference they’ll remember.”
The theme of the conference is Women Leading in the New Economy, which includes knowledge, creativity and social capital – the stuff of modern business thinking Manes said.
“I think there has been a culture shift,” she said. “Prosperity and community work well together. We want to create a culture where business supports community.”
Dr. Ginger Grant is the guest speaker at the March 8 dinner, which takes place at the Delta Hotel in Guelph.
Grant is an author, a professor and founder and chief culture officer of the Creative Intelligence Lab. Her expertise is on workplace culture and shifts in corporate culture.
“She’s also hilarious,” Manes said, adding that having a sense of humour is as important in business as anywhere in life.
Fashion designer and Canadian icon Linda Lundstrom is the keynote speaker at the luncheon on March 9.
Lundstrom built a fashion design and manufacturing industry and then lost all her money.
“Her story is about her life lessons and how she rebuilt herself,” Manes said. “It’s a powerful story.”
The ‘in the know’ sessions feature local business leaders talking about their own stories of struggle and triumph. The ‘creativity unleashed’ sessions will put art tools and thought tools in the hands of participants as they learn to think outside the box and paint their way out of a corner.
The conference ends with the chance to help assemble what Manes is calling ‘kits for confidence’ to be given to young women staying at Wyndham House.
The kits will contain inspiring messages, journals, a bracelet, and a few other niceties for these young women, who for a variety of reasons can’t live at home.
“It’s a great way to end the conference,” Manes said. “This is the social capital piece and it’s exactly what the conference is all about.”
Tickets for the dinner only on March 8 are $75; tickets for the full two-day conference are $175. But they are selling fast, so act quickly, Manes said.
For more information about the conference or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.innovationguelph.ca/ignite-empower-innovate-2016.
