Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw

Join us June 17th at 6:30 for casual networking under the tent at Top of the Park, located on the Ingalls Mall on the University of Michigan campus.  Family and friends are welcome to share the live music, children’s activities, and a movie presentation of, “Twilight.”  We’ll be under the tent from 6:30pm to 9:30pm with a cash bar for adults 21 and over (id required), the movie starts at 10pm.

While attendance is free, please register!

The Summer Festival has lots of activites planned for the evening, so along with reconnecting with familiar WXWers, and meeting lots of new ones,  here is what you can expect:

Family friendly fun @ Top of the Park …

6:30-8pm KidZone (hands-on activities)

6:30-8pm Global Party (Pan-African Celebration)

7pm Bichini Bia Congo taking the stage (musical performance)

Adult activities @ Top of the Park …

8:30pm Tokyo Sexwhale taking the stage (musical performance)

10pm Film feature “Twilight”

Food will be for sale from the Top of the Park vendors.  For more information on Summer Festival directions & weather updates for the event visit: http://www.annarborsummerfestival.org/

So, wear your WXW orange or blue T-Shirt… What? you don’t have your shirt yet?? Contact Samantha (here) for pre sales, or shirts will be available for sale under the tent the night of the event.

And a big “Thank You!” to our amazing sponsors of this event…

Solutions First and The Whole Brain Group.

The Ann Arbor Summer Festival is just around the corner, and this year the Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw is going to be there to add to the excitement.

On June 17th we are welcoming you, your family, and fellow WXWers, out for some summer fun. We’ll be under the tent from 6:30pm to 9:30pm with a cash bar for adults 21 and over (id required). The movie, “Twilight,” starts at 10pm.

While attendance is free, please register here!

The Summer Festival has lots of activites planned for the evening, so along with reconnecting with familiar WXWers, and meeting lots of new ones,  here is what you can expect:

Family friendly fun @ Top of the Park …

6:30-8pm KidZone (hands-on activities)

6:30-8pm Global Party (Pan-African Celebration)

7pm Bichini Bia Congo taking the stage (musical performance)

Adult activities @ Top of the Park …

8:30pm Tokyo Sexwhale taking the stage (musical performance)

10pm Film feature “Twilight”

Food will be for sale from the Top of the Park vendors.  For more information on Summer Festival directions & weather updates for the event visit: http://www.annarborsummerfestival.org/

So, wear your WXW orange or blue T-Shirt… What? you don’t have your shirt yet?? Contact Samantha (here) for pre sales, or shirts will be available for sale under the tent the night of the event.

And a big “Thank You!” to our amazing sponsors of this event…

Solutions First and The Whole Brain Group.

Whew!  I am sure I speak for more than just myself when I say that May 15th’s Forum 2009: Now We’re Talking was a whirlwind of information, encouragement, and connections.  More than 200 women attended the full day of activities, including:

- morning workshops (The general consensus was that we all wished we could have attended ALL of the workshops.)

- lunch with remarks from State Representatives Pam Byrnes and Rebekah Warren (Both women offered encouragement to get involved in state legislation – it can be lonely being the only women on a committee in Lansing!)

- an opportunity to sit and personally ask questions of our high powered panel (An inspirational mix of real advice, business stories, and experience from Debi Scroggins, Bear Claw Coffee, Kimberli Cumming, The Women’s Center of  Southeast Michigan, and Maria Thompson, A123Systems, moderated by the engaging and effervescent Mary Morgan,
Ann Arbor Chronicle.)

- a full two hours of exchange sessions (The sound of so many women sharing business wisdom…if only WUOM would record it for their “Sounds of the State” segments…)

- amazing door prizes (A big thank you to all of our door prize donors, a full list of gifts will be posted soon!)

- MORE networking during the happiest of happy hours.  (Need we say more?)

I was ready for Monday morning with a plan of action and I suspect it was the most productive day I have had in years.  A big thank you to all of the workshop facilitators, and a big thank you to all of the day’s volunteers!

Keep the conversation (and connections fresh) by joining our groups on LinkedIn and CollectiveX.  Workshop booklets from the Forum 2009 will be posted to the CollectiveX site, so if you wish you had made it to a morning session keep a look out!  You can also follow the WXW on twitter (search for WXWBusiness).

In celebration of WXW’s yearly forum (May 15) and because WXW women tend to be so gol’ darn lippy and self-assertive, Concentrate asked five WXW participants to “talk about women in business, the opportunities and challenges of doing that in Michigan, what you’d like to see improved, where things are going, etc.  The more personal and opinionated you are the better. ”

If you haven’t learned by now, here’s a reminder – you don’t have to ask WXW participants to be OPINIONATED. Once you meet Rebecca Lopez Kriss, Marisa Smith, Carole Baker, Debra Power, and Carrie Hensel, you’ll quickly come to realize that we dish open, honest business talk all day long to anyone who will listen.

> Check out our blog stories here.

Our blog topics for Concentrate include…

• Carrie Hensel – Do Women Really Do Business Different from Men?
• Carole Baker – Taking the WORK Out of Networking
• Marisa Smith – Build Your Own “Old Girls Network”
• Rebecca Lopez Kriss – Where Have All the Young Professional FEMALE Entrepreneurs Gone?
• Debra Power – The POWER of Women

P.S. We hope you LOVE our mugshots above.  We’re so opinionated that it sometimes gets us into trouble.

Here is a little note we just got from Michigan’s Governor, Jennifer Granholm:

“I want to thank the Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw…Its efforts are not only helping women become successful entrepreneurs, they are also helping to move Michigan forward especially in these challenging economic times.”

Sincerely,

Jennifer Granholm, Governor