FIFTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE “WOMEN IN BUSINESS 2004: SHARING THE VISION”

Two thousand women’s business enterprises (WBEs) and corporate leaders will convene in New Orleans, Louisiana for Women in Business 2004: Sharing the Vision, the nation’s biggest business fair and conference for WBEs presented by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The New Orleans-based host council is the Women’s Business Council Gulf Coast (WBCGC).

The fifth annual national conference and business fair offers some 300 booths and an intensive schedule of leading-edge workshops, keynote speakers and events that enable WBEs to successfully market their products and services to U.S. corporations. Among them is a CEO Plenary Session at which senior executives from leading corporations such as ChevronTexaco and The Coca-Cola Company along with women CEO’s of their own companies – reveal strategies for competing in the trillion dollar bidding process for corporate contracts.

The conference will run from Tuesday, June 22nd through Thursday, June 24th. A unique feature is the MatchMaker Meeting series that offers pre-arranged face-to-face meetings for certified WBEs with corporate buyers, opportunities for WBEs to market products and services to other WBEs, and special sessions with targeted industries. Other highlights are:

• Perfecting the Pitch Luncheon & Workshop featuring Nancy Michaels, President and CEO, Impression Impact, and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, television host, radio personality and entrepreneur.
• Business Fair Breakfast featuring keynote speaker Francine Ward, author of Esteemable Acts and president of her own company that is focused on reshaping how commerce takes place around the world.
• Business Fair Luncheon featuring keynote speaker Dr. Ella Bell, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Tuck School of Business, and winner of the McGregor Award for Best Paper in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
• Continental Breakfast featuring keynote speaker Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Carlson Companies. Nelson currently oversees one of the largest privately held corporations in America, which is comprised of hotels, cruise ships, restaurants, travel agencies and marketing companies operating in more than 140 countries.
• The Executive Roundtable Discussion will include top female executives from corporations like ChevronTexaco, The Coca-Cola Company, Pfizer and The Exxon Mobil Corporation, in a high energy roundtable discussion that shares perspectives on using power, management success strategies, and dealing with work/life connections.

Exhibitors and attendees can register by visiting the WBENC website to register online.

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TUCK-WBENC EXECUTIVE PROGRAM

This Fall, WBENC will present the Tuck-WBENC Executive Program 2004 on October 3-8 in Palisades, New York. The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth is partnering with WBENC to offer a one-week intensive executive development program for owners of women-owned business enterprises.

This general management program is designed to help WBEs that are beyond the startup phase to assess, improve and grow their businesses. To survive and prosper in today's fast-moving, highly volatile business climate, WBEs must ensure they have all the essential components of a business in place-and highly integrated. In particular, WBEs need to:

• have a clear, well-understood strategy
• create superior value for customers
• optimize core business processes
• be structured to implement the strategy
• ensure adequate cash flows
• have systems in place to assure results
• be staffed with motivated, empowered people
• manage relationships for long-term success

This five-day program helps them achieve these objectives. It is an intensive learning experience that focuses primarily on increasing the competitive advantage and robustness of the participant's own business. The 50-60 attendees will form a learning community that will continue to provide a source of support, expertise, opportunities, and strategic alliances long after graduation.

Attendees should be WBENC-certified owners with three to five years of experience running a business and at least $300,000 in sales. For further information, please email Danielle Walton or call 202-872-5515 x21.
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