What Do Women Need From a Business Conference Right Now?

Lately, I’ve been noticing just how tired a lot of women seem to be.

Some Business Sisters have told me privately, in one-on-one conversations or emails. But I’ve also been struck by how many women are saying it publicly. I’m seeing Instagram posts and stories about the back-to-school being brutal and needing to step back. Some, are taking an extended break, others are rethinking what they’re doing.

I don’t want to paint too gloomy a picture here. Lots of good things are happening too! But there’s a weariness out there that feels hard to ignore.

And it takes one to know one.

I didn’t have much of a vacation to speak of this summer, and as I write this, I’m helping to look after a toddler granddaughter with gastro. So no, I’m not observing all this from some wonderfully rested place over here. I’m tired too.

There’s a lot going on. In our families. In our businesses. In the economy. In the world. And while we can’t do much about some of those things, we CAN pay attention to how they’re affecting us and the women around us.

Which got me thinking about our Business Sisters Conference on November 9.

We already had the agenda. We had speakers and workshops and panels taking shape. We knew we wanted lots of learning, lots of participation and, as always, lots of opportunities to meet other women doing business right here in Eastern Ontario.

But if we’re telling women to be curious about what their customers need right now, shouldn’t we be doing the same thing?

So we started asking our Sisters, and then ourselves: What would make this conference a little easier, a little more restorative and, frankly, more fun for women who are already carrying a lot?

And we started changing things.

First, why make it just one day?

We have a block of hotel rooms available at the Best Western Parkway Inn, and this year we’re making a MUCH bigger deal about that.

If you’re coming from a distance, arrive Sunday instead of getting up at some ungodly hour Monday morning and worrying about November weather.

Better yet, make some of the weekend about YOU, not just your business.

Want to arrive Sunday afternoon, crawl into bed with a book and not talk to another human being for three hours? Go right ahead. Want to share a room with another Business Sister and turn it into a mini getaway? Do that.

And because nobody needs to arrive in a town they don’t know and then figure out where the heck they’re going to eat, we’re planning a Sunday evening dinner for those staying at the hotel. You’ll also have a chance to meet some of our speakers and workshop leaders before the conference even begins.

We’re building breathing room into the actual day

Our conference schedule is still packed. There will be 10 workshops, two panels and plenty of opportunities to learn and connect.

But packed doesn’t have to mean frantic.

We’ve deliberately allowed longer breaks between sessions. You’ll have time to get from one room to another without rushing, refill your water, grab something to eat, go to the washroom, have a conversation, or simply stand still for a few minutes.

This sounds like a small logistical detail. I don’t think it is.

If we want you to leave with useful ideas, new relationships and some actual energy to do something with them, we probably shouldn’t exhaust you in the process.

And then there’s our Relaxation Lounge!

I am REALLY excited about this one.

We’ve teamed up with Cornwall Business Sister Kelly Bergeron, co-founder of Poptronic, to create a Virtual Reality Relaxation Lounge.

You’ll be able to put on a VR headset and escape for a few minutes. Maybe you’ll find yourself on a beach in Jamaica. Maybe in an ashram in India. I honestly don’t know where Kelly is sending us, but I’m game!

And as if THAT weren’t enough, Lyane Pennell of HIRA Wellness Centre in Russell will also be in the Lounge with yoga chairs and infrared light equipment.

In other words, in the middle of a business conference, we are actually giving you permission to disappear for a while.

Bring us the problem that’s been keeping you up at night

We also realized something else.

We can choose 10 terrific workshop topics, but we still can’t possibly know what question YOU most need answered on November 9.

So during two workshop slots, we’re making room for open-forum, Ask Us Anything discussions.

Bring us the business question you’ve been turning over in your head. The problem you can’t quite solve. The thing you’re not sure whom to ask.

We may have the answer. Another woman in the room may have lived through exactly the same thing. Or we may know the person you need to talk to, whether she’s at the conference or somewhere else in our network.

You don’t have to figure out every damn thing by yourself.

We’ve even changed our Opening Session

Our original plan was ambitious. We were going to dig into business models, alternative financing and new ways of doing business. We were practically going to redesign capitalism before the first coffee break!

OK, I exaggerate. A little.

But as we continued planning, it started to feel like too much.

So we’ve throttled it back.

We’ll still explore new ideas about changemaking and different ways of doing business. But we’re grounding the conversation much more firmly in the here and now: How do we run our businesses in a period when so much feels uncertain?

We don’t pretend to have all the answers.

Instead, we’re bringing something else to the table: curiosity.

And finally, you’re going to move

Not just physically, although there will be some of that too.

Throughout the conference, we’ll deliberately mix things up so you meet different women in different sessions. If you arrive with your best business buddy, wonderful. But if you spend the entire day sitting beside her and leave knowing only the same people you knew when you arrived, we haven’t done our job.

There is power in weaving a community, one relationship at a time.

And perhaps that’s the thread connecting all these changes.

We’re not trying to cram MORE into the conference. We’re trying to think more carefully about what women need from it.

Time to learn. Time to breathe. A little fun. Some answers to the questions that are actually bothering you. New people in your corner. Maybe even an hour alone in a hotel room with a good book.

We’re trying some new stuff this year.

Some of it might work brilliantly. Some of it we may tweak again next year.

But that’s curiosity, isn’t it?

Pay attention. Try something. See what happens. And let what you learn change what you do next.