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Lewisville chamber hosts annual Denton County Women in Business Conference
By Heather M. Goodwin, hgoodwin@starlocalnews.com
The Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce will host its fourth annual Denton County Women in Business Conference.
The conference will be held from 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 11 at the Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater, 100 N. Charles St. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. Admission is $65 for members of any Denton County chamber and $95 if not member of one of the Denton County chambers. Those interested in attending may purchase tickets by calling 972-436-9571 or visiting www.lewisvillechamber.org.
"This is an educational program for business women, and there will be a lot of great information available," said Lisa Hermes, chamber vice president. "This conference will be great for professional development. There will be networking and opportunities to learn about businesses in Lewisville."
The Women in Business Conference is presented by Xceed Financial Credit Union and will feature four speakers, a business expo and catered breakfast and lunch. Hermes said there will be a wide range of expo participants including local banks, painters, a bakery and a jewelry store. There will be about 30 vendors at the expo.
"The Women in Business conference has become a staple in Denton County, and we, at the chamber, are proud to announce its return this year. We are equally as proud to showcase a conference that will allow our local businesses to engage in educational discourse, while continuing to network their businesses and increase their contacts and visibility in the chamber," Hermes said.
The conference's four speakers will represent, through their achievements, the success local business women can find as they navigate through the local business circuit, Hermes said. Laura Steffek, executive at Texas Instruments, will present the keynote speech, while Melanie Hoffman, Donna Campbell and Lin O'Neal will all lead breakout sessions to discuss their own personal business strategies, anecdotes and pathway to success.
"We have four dynamic speakers scheduled. The keynote address will be inspirational while the other three speakers are the meat and potatoes of the event," Hermes said. "Melanie will talk about full integration marketing; Donna will talk about strength finders and working within your strengths. She says that when you only improve your weaknesses it simply makes you average, but if you improve your strengths, you can be great. She will also talk about how to put a team together if you are a manager. Lin will talk about leadership in the 21st century in today's world. She will discuss how the qualities leader needs is different than in the past. Laura will share stories from working as an electrical engineer."
Steffek works as the general manager for the linear power business unit of Texas Instruments. She is responsible for the strategic direction and operations. Steffek earned her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and received a master's degree in electrical and computer engineering from University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is an Emeritus Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Texas Instruments and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Hoffman is the owner of Brandnu Marketing, LLC, a marketing communications agency specializing in brand/identity, print and web, in Dallas. She is also the founder of Creatives in DFW, a comprehensive online directory of creative talent in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Prior to starting Brandnu in 2004, she worked in the creative marketing field for 12 years in both corporate and nonprofit settings and received her bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in marketing from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. In 1997, she received her master's degree from Wheelock College in Boston in child life and family-centered care.
Campbell has more than 20 years of customer service, quality management and performance consulting experience. Recently, she worked for more than 10 years with Bombardier Aerospace, a world-leading manufacturer of regional aircraft and business jets. Campbell has an MBA from New York Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree in business management from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York.
O'Neal is the founder and president of Futures Consulting. Her topics address the critical issues facing organizations and how to meet the associated challenges effectively and profitably. As a former vice president of Inflight Service, and a corporate officer for Continental Airlines, she managed several thousand employees and was responsible for system in-flight service through one of the airline industry's most trying times. O'Neal has a bachelor's degree in sociology and an MBA. She is an author, has taught in colleges in Texas, California and Oklahoma, and hosted a radio talk show in Los Angeles.
"With this conference, the chamber is able to serve the unique partnership of business, civic, and educational leaders that exist locally in Denton County and specifically Lewisville," said Matt McCormick, chamber president. "The Women in Business Conference is able to create that opportunity -- and we anticipate nothing but success."
Hermes said each year the conference has grown in numbers. Last year 123 people attended, which was 25 more than the previous year. She said the chamber hopes to reach 150 attendees this year. There are currently nearly 100 women signed up for the conference.
"We've had a lot of positive feedback on the conference and that shows in the numbers," Hermes said. "We have people complete surveys at the end of the conference so we can find ways to improve it. We've found that people think it has a lot of good educational material."
For information visit www.lewisvillechamber.org.
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