Knowing Gabbi Baker, I had no doubt that GWWIB’s 3rd Annual Spring Conference would be a hit. Having some conference planning experience, I know how much blood, sweat, tears and planning goes into the process. GWWIB’s conference blew me away. Their sophisticated set-up, high caliber speakers and attention to detail made the event a huge success.

The theme was “envision, engage and execute,” and it was threaded throughout the day. Princess Yasmine Pahlavi, Founder of the Foundation for the Children of Iran, gave the opening keynote speech with the theme of “envision.” Her discussion of her career, her family and how she has carved out her path perfectly fit the bill. Her advice was straightforward and her candid stories made the speech really fun.

I attended the Technology panel and was thrilled to see such a robust, talented lineup. Leslie Bradshaw, President, COO and co-founder of JESS3, led a thought-provoking conversation; the panelists weren’t afraid to be upfront about what it takes to succeed in tech. They emphasized the importance of learning hard skills like HTML and CSS but also stressed that strong writing skills are invaluable.

Other panelists included Nisha Chittal of Discovery Channel, Svetlana Legetic of BYT, Danielle Kurtzleben of U.S. News and World Report, and Jenn Gustetic of NASA. Every single one had meaningful advice, compelling career stories and a unique perspective on the industry.

After lunch, I had the pleasure of speaking on the social media panel with two experts whom I admire, Alex Priest of Uber DC and Hastie Afkhami of Social@Ogilvy. We each covered a case study and then had a great discussion about trends and best practices of social media.

The day ended with a closing keynote from Alexis Maybank, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Gilt Groupe. Being a huge fan of the site, I was excited to hear from her. Her speech totally exceeded my high expectations and I loved her discussion of strategy, dealing with chaos and expecting the unexpected. It was fascinating to hear about Gilt’s beginnings, how quickly it has grown and how it has revolutionized ecommerce.

From the speakers to the gift bags to the food, the women of GWWIB did a phenomenal job with their annual conference. I left feeling excited and inspired to take action in my own life and put the insights I learned into practice. I look forward to attending the event in the future and I hope they all got some sleep afterwards.

Ben Loeb, AU SMC Vice President; Alex Priest, AU SMC Founder and Uber DC Community Manager; Kayden Horwitz, Product and Marketing at Womply and Chloë Troia, AU SMC President.

Melanie Loff-Bird, rising AU SMC Vice President; Alexis Maybank, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Gilt Groupe; Chloë Troia, AU SMC President