eWomen Network Conference 2008

I just returned from the eWomenNetwork Conference in Dallas, TX. These are the highlights of the two days I was there.

What is eWomen Network?

I’d heard positive things about eWomenNetwork from several people. And finally, a week before the conference, I decided to just go. eWomenNetwork is a huge membership-based organization started by one phenomenal woman, Sandra Yancey. Put simply, it is a network of women helping each other succeed. Their favorite thing to say is that the five most powerful words in the English language are, “How may I help you?”

There are local chapters all over North America. These local meetings are designed so that women meet other women and help each other with connections to products, services, etc. One woman I met said that she hated the first few local meetings she attended, and that she was turned off by all the networking. But then she went back and slowly learned about the value of the group. Now, she said, over 50% of the business she gets at her company has been referred through her connections in this group. The vision is there. And it works.

Highlights of the conference:

“¢ My first encounter

Here’s why I loved this conference most. When I arrived at the first morning’s event and took my seat at a table, the first woman I spoke with asked me who I was, where I was from, and what I did. She listened with genuine interest. When I began to ask about her – she stopped me and said, “No. Wait. We’ll get to that. Let’s talk more about you.”

[Dramatic pause so that any artist who has ever attended a music conference can take a moment to pick her jaw up off the ground.]

I almost cried. I’ve never experienced this level of attention at any conference. This is what happened again and again here. With only a few exceptions, most of the women really knew how to listen and they wanted to help. And it’s contagious. When you get treated with respect, you just want to pass it on.

“¢ Rose petals in the urinals

Men’s bathrooms were closed to men. Every urinal was filled with rose petals. See picture.

“¢ Rosalyn Taylor O’neale

Rosalyn Taylor O’neale was the emcee of the event. (3000 women were there.) She was fantastic. Like Ellen hosting the Oscars. One of her funniest rants was about what she called “Clumping.” She described women going to these conferences together, saving seats for each other and having dinner with each other – which pretty much counters the whole purpose of going to the event. She encouraged everyone at every event to sit at tables with people they didn’t know. Great advice. I always looked forward to her returning to the stage.

“¢ The Food

The food was amazing! Roasted vegetables. Tons of salads. Whole grain bread. It was a vegan delight. (With options for meat-eaters too.)

“¢ Loral Langemeier

I could write five blog posts about Loral Langemeier’s break-out session alone. The best word to describe her is “Clear.” She was absolutely clear about the attitude of abundance and wealth. She was clear that she refused to think about or talk about “recession.” She said that when it comes to wealth, there are two categories of people: 1] creators, generators and expanders, and 2] Restricters and dieters. In short she called it, “Playing life to win versus playing life not to lose.” My best take-away: Loral says to ditch the “pay yourself first” principle. She says that the very first thing to spend your money on is “life support.” This means, hire people to do the stuff you do that isn’t contributing to your creative and financial best. Her favorite expression is, “If you don’t have enough time, you need a team.”

“¢ Nordstrom

(I’m writing about this just so my friend Joy can read about it.)

On Friday night at 9pm, Nordstrom opened just for the women attending this conference. At 8:30 they bussed at least 1500 women to the Galleria store, gave everyone a pink boa and had them walk through a line of Nordsrom employees clapping and cheering. (My new friend Greer told me that this made her cry.) They served champagne and Cosmos and gave makeovers. (You’ve never seen so many false eyelashes.) There was a dance floor on the second floor and everyone danced to bad 70’s music in between shopping. (No makeover or dancing for me. I was way too tired!) It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Highlight: Walking through the store looking at BCBG tops while watching a dance floor of pink-boa’d women, ranging in age from 25 – 65 dancing to “You Can Ring My Bell.” I couldn’t stop smiling. I wished Joy was there just to witness the craziness. Methinks Nordstrom made some money that night. Reports were that shoes were sold out in many sizes.

“¢ Alecia Huck

Okay, even though she called me up onto the stage just to shove me around, I loved Alecia Huck. Her no-nonsense advice was right in alignment with the stuff I write about in this blog – but it’s always great to hear it in someone else’s language. Plus, I love someone who can be truly funny and authentic while delivering a great message. Her definition of motivation was great. She said, “Motivation is that euphoric feeling you get when you THINK about your finishing your goals but that goes away when you start to actually work on them. ” She also encouraged people to wake up everyday and ask themselves, “What do I have to do today to stay happy, confident, clear and focused?” (This is the opposite of just letting the day happen to you.) My best take away: “Most of the time we waste is wasted on someone else’s way of wasting time.”

“¢ eWomenNetwork Foundation

eWomenNetwork attracts many powerful wealthy women and men. This is abundantly clear from the auction where “The Oprah Package” had two women going neck and neck until the winning bid ended at $50,000. Apparently, several of the auction items inspired this level of bidding. All the money raised from the auctions and the extra activities at the conference goes to charity, to worldwide women’s empowerment, and to some amazing programs that we learned about during the conference. Click here to learn more.

“¢ Marci Shimoff

Marci Shimoff’s latest book is Happy for No Reason. One out of five women in North America are on anti-depressants, and Shimoff’s mission is to change this pattern. Studies have indicated that happiness is 50% genetic, 40% habits of thinking and 10% what happens. The only key, she says, to being happy is to change your habits. She recommended tools like The Sedona Method and Byron Katie’s “Work.” She also described negatives thoughts as velcro and positive thoughts as teflon. (Which is why you can get 100 positive evaluations on your speaking program, and why you obsess about that one negative comment, for instance.) The tools for reversing this are practical: Gratitude journals and success journals, etc. She spoke briefly about the Law of Attraction and clarified some of the negative spins the media has put on The Secret. Many people cried at some of the stories she shared.

And a Few Lowlights…

As much as I loved this conference, there were a few things that seemed contradictory to the overall vision.

Comedians first thing in the morning were a little too similar on both mornings. I heard that last year there had been a giant drumming event that really drove the energy of the conference. The jugglers were brilliant, for sure. But I didn’t really think it added much to the mission of the weekend.

And lastly, there were several speakers who went on rants about men. The upshot was that, “Ladies, you need to protect yourselves and get your finances straight because people are out to get you. Especially men.”

Here’s the thing: Male bashing is lazy thinking. It’s a cop-out. Empowerment is empowerment. It works best when it is a proactive intention. Not an intention created out of the fear that people are out to get you. All people behave unconsciously sometimes. Men and women.

Someone at eWomen might want to create an intention that women’s empowerment can happen without the “Ladies, men are pigs so you gotta protect yourselves” message. It’s simply not true. Instead, let’s remember this: “Women, you are powerful. When you give your power away and play small – you set yourself up to be a victim. When you choose to learn about your own role in every situation, you set yourself up to grow.”

—————–

Overall, the conference was one of the best conferences I’ve attended. I got to hang a little bit with Mr. and Mrs. Gorgeous Cree. I got to meet my Virtual Assistant, Erin Blaskie, in person. And one of my online heroes, Sheri McConnell. I also made some fantastic connections with women who are truly living their dreams while committing to a life of consciousness and expansion.

tags: eWomenNetwork, eWomen Network, Alecia Huck, Loral Langemeier, Sandra Yancey, Marci Shimoff, Christine Kane