On Wednesday, February 1, I’ll be making the trek down to the South Bay for my third Watermark Conference For Women, and I could not be more excited. This annual event brings together women from all over the Bay Area (as well as in sister cities like Philadelphia and Boston) for professional development and networking opportunities. It’s basically a giant hit of inspirational estrogen power and pride, and, if I may say so, we women are more in need of it than ever after a bruising 2016.
The speaker list this year is so great. Keynoters include:
- Madeleine Albright in conversation with Condoleeza Rice, interviewed by Kara Swisher
- Viola Davis (I’m going to see Fences this weekend in case we run into each other in the ladies’ room)
- Sheryl Sandberg
And breakout sessions and roundtables are being led by my pals Luvvie Ajayi, Lisa Stone, Lisen Stromberg, Brandi Riley, and A’driane Nieves, among others. You can check out the full speaker list here. I’m on the Social Media Street Team again, so if you follow @midlifemixtape on Twitter, I’ll be sharing words of speaker wisdom there throughout the day.
Or better yet, join me in San Jo! Tickets are still available here.
It’s an uplifting day of inspiration and practical information. Maybe because I work from a home office I find that merely being in the company of a giant ballroom full of smart ladies makes me want to work harder and be better. Here’s a clip from one of my favorite sessions last year, when Glamour editor Cindi Leive interview Mindi Kaling on “Feminism 2.0.”
ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: Last year I was merrily tweeting away on the morning session I was assigned to cover, and then a text came in from a friend. “Prince died.” Nuh uh. No way. For the next ten minutes I wasn’t tweeting, because I was madly chasing down proof that this a hoax. You know the rest. One of the first people I thought of was A’driane, who was also at the conference, and within a few more minutes and texts we’d both fled to the main hallway to be in shock together. The conference went on and was still inspiring even so, but the pall of Prince’s death was way way way too much.
So this year: Someone put Bruce Springsteen and Neil Finn into a bubble that day and do not let them out until February 2. You cannot play me like that two years in a row.
And make sure Aretha and Annie are taking their Vitamin C, too.
