An Awesome Luncheon!

Here’s a brief recap of one of my favorite annual events at this year’s CEDIA 2017:

The room had the feel of a family reunion. With 10% of proceeds donated to Queen of Hearts charity event, the Women in Consumer Technology’s 9th annual CEDIA Luncheon was inspiring, informative and just a great networking opportunity. Several things I overheard repeatedly that put a smile on my face:

“All the women leave the booth, and then they can’t get anything done” – as their phones blow up with text message questions!

“This is the most coveted goody bag at CEDIA every year.”

Hi, great to see you again.” “Oh, great to catch up with you, too.”

Lot’s of announcements and a great presentation:

Legacy Award nominations are open – members and non-members may make nominations this year.  Nominees to be acknowledged at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. View the nomination form here.

Camila Ballario with Leon Speakers was the Volunteer of the Year. When she started at Leon, she was the only woman! Five years later, there are now 12 women in the company. Her first CEDIA she attended the Women in Consumer Technology event and was inspired. Upon returning from the show, she immediately emailed Carol Campbell asking how she could get more involved building this community.  Camila was part of the first Connect Circles event. She met woman from companies she would have never met under any other circumstances. These circles have developed into a tribe of trust and leadership for their members. She challenged the audience with “how many of you would give 1.5 hours a month to be a part of a support group and provide leadership in our industry?  After all, we are nothing without community.” Her parting words were a call to action – “every woman in this industry needs to email Carol on how to create more connect circles.”

CEDIA reached out to Carol, Maureen, TIG and WICT back in July to discuss how to get women to run for the board of directors. TIG ran some good stuff and got the word out, along with others in the industry. (About damn time was the feeling in the room.) There are now three nominees in the running, Britanny Mier y Teran of Portal, Heather Sidorowicz of Southtown Audio Video, and Vanessa Zitzmann of 21st Century Distribuitng. Get out the vote!

Drew Jacobs with the Ariel Group took the stage and presented an engaging session regarding Executive Presence. Drew entertained while informing the audience on the do’s and don’ts of projecting presence. The audience was totally engaged – we paired off and were given an exercise. The place was a buzz of activity while Drew walked around to help each group while they completed their tasks. Her talk was packed with compelling information. Incredible.

This luncheon was just another benchmark for the organization and a must-do event for everyone who attends CEDIA. Put it on your calendar TODAY – and I’ll see you there next year.