Vol.16, Issue 8, Dec. 20, 2018

It’s gratifying to work with so many clients who hold their women’s conferences and health events year after year. And, while some of you are wildly successful in attracting attendees, I know that others are experiencing some challenges, which can mean convincing your administration or sponsors that it’s important to keep going.

Assertions about the “importance” of connecting women and their “impact on work and society,” just don’t hold water when it comes to committing dollars and resources. Administrators and sponsors like data.

Good news! A recent study by Michelle Gielan and Shawn Achor, who partnered with the sponsoring organizations, the 2017 Conferences for Women in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Massachusetts, and tested the impact those conferences had on attendees in the year after the event.

They surveyed 2,600 women who had attended full-day conferences. To provide a control group they tracked women who had registered but not yet attended the conferences. Among women who had attended in the past, the researchers were looking for two types of outcomes — financial, as in pay raises and promotions — and emotional, as in increased optimism, lower stress levels, and a feeling of connection.

The results? Astounding! For the women who had attended the past events, the likelihood of receiving a promotion had doubled, and the likelihood of a 10%+ pay raise tripled compared to those who didn’t. Moreover, 78% of attendees reported feeling “more optimistic about the future” than they had before the conferences.

In response to the statement, “I feel more capable of handling stress in a positive way,” twenty-five percent of the attendees reported that they “agree a lot.” And, in regard to the question of connection, 71% of the attendees said that they “feel more connected to others.”

Creating Social Connections

In his book, Big Potential, Achor outlines research on how the greatest predictor of success and happiness is social connection. Further, he said that same line of research has shown that social connection can be as predictive of how long you will live as obesity, high blood pressure, or smoking.

While this study focused on general, full-day women’s conferences, the relationship to women’s health conferences is easy to translate. In addition to the social connection, women are learning at these events concrete health information for themselves as well as for their families and in the process, taking care of themselves.

Women have always been the primary caregivers for their families’ health needs, be it for their children, parents, or other family members. But it turns out that at a conference women get more than information; they get those all-important doses of optimism and shared experiences that increase their chances for health, happiness, and success.

These are far from marginal gains. For a full-service healthcare system a healthy community is a blessing. Serving women who see themselves as part of a community and who share that community’s value of health, happiness, and success increases the potential success of the health system as well – or perhaps just as importantly, decreases the load dragging the system down.

Looking for conference ideas? Give us a call at 503-699-5031 or email me at barbara@speakwellbeing.com

Home for the Holidays

The only trip to the airport we’re making this year is to send granddaughter Gigi back to Colorado for winter break, after her first term at Lewis & Clark College. What a joy it’s been to have her so close, coming over for weekend brunches and Sunday dinners. While we know one excuse for her visits is a break from dorm food, we also get the impression she enjoys our company. We surely enjoy hers — and she gives me faith in the future, as she reports on what she’s learning in her class on climate change, sharing her Granddad’s passion for saving our planet.

So, we’re home for the holidays. The joyfully decorated sugar cookies and Norwegian Christmas Bread are baked and shipped. Tree and house decorated. All presents, except for some local ones, bought, wrapped and shipped.

I still plan to do some baking, and make a batch of lefse, my family’s traditional Norwegian potato type flatbread, but from here on in, it’s all elective. I will, or I won’t. My choice. The pressure is off, and I feel like I can chill out and even go to the movies a few times over the holidays.

That, and look forward to dreaming and designing a creative, successful 2019. I trust your holidays will be filled with the people, experiences, foods and that bring you joy, fulfillment, gratitude and peace. Until next year, take care of yourself for your well being and those you love.

Yours truly,
Barbara

For Your Well Being is published with the intention of bringing you insider speaker reports, exclusive stories about special events around the country, meeting planner tips, and fun stuff from the worlds of health and well being. Be well and be in the know!

The Speak Well Being Group is a specialized speakers bureau, focusing on speakers for hospital-sponsored community events, healthcare organizations, nurses, conferences and women’s groups. Our speakers are hand-selected. They are not only experts in their fields, they connect with their audiences while bringing them life-changing information, smiles of recognition and ultimately a sense of well being and hope.

Finding the perfect keynote speaker for your special event or conference is my personal passion, not just once, but year after year. It brings me great joy to know that your audience was delighted and moved by the speaker we selected together. I’m committed to making the process easy, pleasant and fun.