WICT New England Board Members
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Click here to view the 2009 WICT New England Board Members
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WICT
Membership is a great investment in yourself and your career! We have a
great lineup of educational programs in 2009 to help you realize the
value and benefits of your WICT New England membership.
Entry-level membership starts at just $75 a year!
Please
remember that January-March is renewal time. You don't have to wait for
the reminders in the mail - renewing your membership online is easy!
Just visit www.wict.org today
and log in with your user name and password to renew your membership.
This is also a great time to make any updates to your profile.
For
any questions about your New England Membership, please contact our
Membership Director, Kara Hughs. Kara can be reached at 860-766-9569 or
via email at kara.j.hughs@disney.espn.com.
If
you have had any changes to your career or otherwise that may make
it difficult to continue with your WICT New England Membership, please
contact Kara directly about options for Regular and Executive
members.
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Volunteers
are needed for committees and upcoming events! If you would like to get
more involved with the New England Chapter of WICT, please reach out to
Ros Thornton, our Volunteer Outreach Director, at ros_thornton@cable.comcast.com
Sub-committee volunteers:
Time Commitment:Determined by your availability & interest (Volunteers choose which tasks they would like to take responsibility for)
Role: Your choice, based on need and strategic fit
Recognition: Will be recognized on the WICT New England Website & at the planned event
Tracking:
Participation will be tracked by the Board Secretary & Director for
the purpose of tracking member involvement levels & to aid in
recognition of participants. |
The 2009 WICT Mentoring program will be kicking off April 8th.
The
mentor program is a great opportunity to enhance your professional as
well as personal life. Being a protégé can provide you with invaluable
recourses. Whether looking to advance in your career, learn about other
opportunities within the industry or develop your leadership skills, a
mentor can help you along the way. Being a mentor can offer many
rewards as well. You will help your protégé navigate through their
career and offer tips and share personal experiences that have helped
you.
Look
for the mail blast coming your way with information on how to sign up
to be a mentor or a protégé. Applications are due back Friday, March
20.
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WICT Leadership Conference
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April 1-2, 2009
WICT Leadership Conference
WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER
WASHINGTON, DC
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Executive Development Seminar (EDS)
Designed
for a small-group setting of 30 participants, EDS capitalizes on a
secluded setting, where you will spend two-and-a-half days on a journey
of personal insight and discovery. You will practice strategies to
build relationships in business, learn to embrace and appreciate
differences among your peers, understand specific time management
strategies to make the most out of time on the job, and focus on
bringing complicated work situations back to the basics.
Couldn't make it to EDS in 2008? Check out one of our 2009 programs!
June 2009
Stoweflake Mountain Resort
Stowe, VT
6/17/2009 - 6/19/2009
Click Here to Register |
The
PAR Initiative is WICT's advocacy initiative to both measure and
support the advancement of women in the cable and telecommunications
industry against the following standards:
Pay Equity where women are paid equal to men at every level.
Advancement opportunities where women are represented in equal numbers to men at every level.
Resources
for work/life where companies' work/life support practices enable the
ongoing advancement of women at all levels.
WICT collaborates with Working Mother Media on this groundbreaking initiative
To learn more about the state of the industry, relative to PAR, read, the section WICT Par Initiative
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When spreading the WICT word (chapter emails, newsletters, etc)
remember to use the "Forward to a Friend" option in the email, usually
at the bottom. Using your mail server forward feature (Ex:
Microsoft outlook which puts an FW in front of the subject) will break
the links in the email making it troublesome for your colleague to sign
up for seminars or our newsletter.
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 Welcome to this year's first issue of the WICT New England Times.
I
am excited about serving a second term as President of the WICT New
England Chapter in 2009--and am equally honored to serve with a Board
of Directors who desires to help drive the professional and personal
development of women in the cable industry.
While
this year will be challenging economically, we will continue to provide
exciting development opportunities for WICT New England members in cost
effective ways. Our programs will be relevant, inspirational, and just
what is needed for the times that we face.
We
will host a number of events that will engage and involve all levels of
leadership in the New England area. This will allow visibility,
networking and learning opportunities for members at all levels. We
will also be exploring alternative platforms for delivering these
programs to our members who are unable to attend live meetings.
Budgets
will be tight for most companies this year and some of you will not be
able to attend as many programs as you have in the past. This
being the case, I encourage you to consider investing in your own
professional development-you are worth it.
It
is important to our growth as leaders to be engaged, continue learning
and remain connected. This is embedded in the heart of one of the seven
WICT Touchstones of Leadership:
Connect - To your peers, your industry, and everything around you.
You
can't move forward without understanding where you are. So get to know
your environment. The people you work with. The industry you work in.
Immerse yourself in the economics and business practices that affect
your company, your clients, and your customers. Keep your ear to the
ground. Be aware of what your competition is up to, and gain the upper
hand. Build a support system for yourself and those within your
community. Great leaders get connected. Stay connected. And use every
ounce of information to their advantage.
Many
of you have experienced the powerful connections (personal,
professional, developmental) you can make while attending chapter
events.
While
events foster a spirit of connection and community, let's not forget
that the most valuable connection begins with you.As a leader,
supervisor, mentor or friend, you can help someone move ahead on their
own career path when you demonstrate how the power of connection has
helped you.
This
year, I ask that you to continue reaching out to more women (and men)
in the industry who have yet to access WICT for its membership,
programs and perhaps most importantly, our growing community of woman
leaders in New England. By providing others opportunities to connect
and casting the spotlight on our profession, we truly support our
mission of developing women leaders who transform our industry.
I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!
Sincerely,
Lata Chawla
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2009 Chapter Board Leadership Conference
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WICT NE was well represented for the 2009 Chapter Leadership Conference in Tempe, AZ
On
January 12-13 thirteen New England board members attended this national
conference where WICT leaders come together to network and collaborate
about 2009 trends, goals and share best practices.
Each
year The Chapter Leadership Conference (CLC) is co-hosted by WICT
National and one of the local Chapters. This year WICT National
and the New Mexico/Arizona Chapter secured dynamic speakers and panels
of WICT National Board members. The re-occurring message heard
was that each chapter should strive to develop women leaders who
transform our industry. WICT lead the way by revamping the
national website which now includes a new customized interface; as well
as a plethora of topical information; for Facebook users in the crowd;
you can now connect to current and new WICT friends....so go build your
network!
Due
to the need to create efficiencies this year, geographical and time
challenges, many of the Chapters (including New England) plan to
leverage webinars and pod casting as a way to bring program information
to members on demand. Chapters across the country expressed a
renewed commitment to make Chapter programs relevant to our time and to
communicate event details early in the year for better planning.
Shannon Cassidy, Executive Director/Leadership Coach of Bridge Between
and the Philly Chapter Mentorship Program Director shared an overview
of their mentor program. A few of the suggestions that she
shared are already part of the New England program, but we plan to
embrace some additional enhancements that were suggested....look
for some great new tidbits as Regina Greenquist
rolls out our 2009 WICT NEW ENGLAND MENOR PROGRAM in the next few
weeks. If you have not yet had the chance to hear Shannon Cassidy
speak, mark your calendar for June 2nd! She will be doing a
presentation on "Staying Essential" as part of our first full
day program.
During the conference's award's ceremony,
the following WICT New England Chapter leaders were recognized for
their contributions:
Pam Mackenzie - Advisor of the Year
Kara Hughs - Chapter Leader of the Year
Rachana Katkar - Volunteer of the Year
For
the second year in a row, WICT New England achieved Inspire level
recognition for our business planning, programming, new
initiatives and chapter administration.
For a complete list of the WICT Chapter recognition and CLC photos please go to www.wict.org.
Finally,
during CLC a considerable amount of information was shared about the
PAR initiative and why it is critical for the Chapters to
support this industry shaping project. PAR is not just a contest
to identify the best companies for women. All participating companies
receive confidential scorecard that measures their performance against
the industry and a private assessment conducted by Working Mother
Media. The consultation includes - Pay equity where women are paid equal to men at every level, Advanvcement opportunities where women are represented in equal numbers tomen at every level and Resources
for work/life where compcnies'work/life support practices enable the
ongoing advancement of women at all levels. Believe it or not,
we're still not at equal but, rest assured, you are part of an
organization that is working diligently to ensure that one day, this
will not be the case and know that the WICT/Working Mother
Media partnership that provides us with the PAR initiative
strengthens our organizational brand and increases our visibility.
To learn more about the state of the industry, relative to PAR, read
the article, State of the PAR.....
Please
feel free to reach out to any of us who attended the Chapter
Leadership Conference for more information about the event or any
of the topics mentioned in this article.
In attendance
were: Shaelagh Florence, Marketing Director; Nichole Chapais, Awards
Gala Director; Laurie Cote, PR/Community Outreach Director; Kara
Hughs Membership Chair; Jackie Boudreau Programs Chair; Melinda Poore,
Outreach Chair; Karen Campbell, Secretary; Caroline Bilodeau,
Treasurer; Jenn Kirkwood, Vice President; Deena
Vandeberghe, Immediate Past President; Lata Chawla,
President; Pam Mackenzie, 2008 Advisor; Marcia Keegan, 2009 Advisor.
- Jenn Kirkwood, Vice President & Deena Vandeberghe Immediate Past President
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Work or Workout?
Office Exercise You Can Do
Are you someone who thinks or says:
"I simply don't have enough time to exercise because I work so much."
"My office doesn't have a fitness center so I can't exercise during the day."
"My family keeps me busy after I get home -- there's just no time to exercise!"
Careers,
family responsibilities and an overall feeling that there just isn't
enough time in the day to take care of themselves bogs down many women
today. But whether you're the company president or a hard-working
employee, a little creativity and dedication to your health can make it
possible to incorporate fitness into busy days with office exercise.
Tips for Office Exercise:
Start strong.
Kick-start your day in the parking lot. Wear your tennis shoes (bring
dress shoes for later) and walk from the far spot in the garage or lot.
During lunch, take a brisk walk outside on a sunny day, or around the
building on a rainy day making sure to use the stairs instead of the
elevator. Leave time for eating lunch, though!
Resist.
Keep resistance bands or tubes in your desk drawer. Take 2 minutes of
every hour of your work day and complete 1 strength training exercise
with the resistance band/tube. Anything you can do with free weights,
you can do with a resistance band/tube.
Bicep Curl:
If standing, place tube or band securely under your feet while keeping
the abdominals tight to protect your back. Keep palms forward and
elbows tucked into the side of your rib cage. Curl the tube or band up
toward body and slowly release down returning to start position. If
seated, sit on the edge of the chair with your back straight or neutral
and repeat as if you were in the standing position.
Make friends with the walls. These great office exercises need only you and a wall to build fitness into your day.
Wall Push-Up.
Stand with your arms extended out towards the wall, keeping your hands
approximately shoulder distance apart. Your feet should be back far
enough so that when you bend your elbows to a 90 degree angle, your
back remains in neutral alignment and your nose can touch the wall.
Press back and you've completed one repetition of the wall push-up. To
make this a little more challenging, bring your hands closer together
to emphasize the work on the triceps (back of the arms).
Breathe, Stretch, Relax.
This will help both your mind and body, especially when you spend most
of your day sitting behind a desk and/or typing at a computer.
Hamstring
Stretch. Sit at the edge of your office chair, extending your legs in a
"V" position while keeping only your heels on the ground. Hinge forward
at the hips while keeping your back in neutral alignment; reach your
hands towards your toes. To deepen the stretch, drop your toes to the
floor and reach your hands a bit further.
Neck
Stretch. While seated and keeping your back tall, grasp the underside
of your office chair with your left hand and pull up, creating
resistance without lifting your shoulder. At the same time, gently drop
your right ear to your right shoulder, feeling the stretch along the
left side of your neck. Hold the stretch for 8-30 seconds and gently
return to starting position. Repeat on opposite side.
As
women, we often put ourselves last. But when we make ourselves the
priority in regard to our health, we can accomplish our other tasks
with greater energy and efficiency. So take mini breaks throughout your
work day for a little office exercise to build a stronger, healthier
you!
Written by Samantha Rowland, Health Promotion & Fitness Specialist at Green Mountain at Fox Run | |
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