Women in Industry Networking Group; Market Trends Presentation

Years ago a group of talented women in the electrical industry who attended NAED regional / national conferences years ago got together for lunch at one of the regionals and conceived the idea for a women in industry networking group.

Why lower case? Well, at that time they envisioned getting together for lunch at the regionals and “staying in touch.”

I was privileged to know some of those trailblazers.

And then the concept grew. They took it to NAED, who then evolved it to a formal lunch at the regionals. They then brought in speakers and NAED took it to the next level with a powerful, extremely well-attended conference that is an annual sell-out. According to a number of people who have attended, it is one of, if not “the” best event that NAED puts on.

An outgrowth of the Women in Industry Forum (the official name of the NAED conference), grew an initiative called the Women in Industry Networking Group.

This a volunteer group of women that connects with each other and has an every other month online networking session.

It is open to manufacturers, distributors and reps … and it is free to join / participate.

The group’s mission is “To connect, inspire and advance the professional development of Women in industry in an authentic community that makes a difference.”

Lisa Henry, VP Strategic Accounts for Hubbell, reached out to me recently and asked me to present at their upcoming session, which I’m honored to do on February 16^th at 1:00 EST.

More importantly, I think it’s a great forum for networking and keeping the original mission of the founders of the Women in Industry initiative alive … individuals volunteering their time to help others.

Here’s some information that Lisa shared:

“The Women in Industry Networking group came together years ago after the 2017 NAED Wii Forum meeting. That meeting inspired Stacy Cook and a handful of other women to want to continue the collaboration and connection that they had experienced at that event. The goal was to provide that same experience to more women using a continuous “touch point” throughout the year. It was a bold and inspired concept began with the enthusiasm and focus of those founding women.

Today, the people have changed but the enduring enthusiasm for the Electrical Industry and the interest to create a networking platform for women continue with the very same vision. A devoted Steering Committee coordinates online meetings, offers free mentorship to anyone seeking support and maintains a LinkedIn page to share content and attract membership.

The Wii Networking Group has more than 250 members and the Committee develops content and programming for each of the meetings to support our membership with subject matter that is relevant to the working in the Electrical Industry – economy, personal growth, education, market changes etc. The meetings also include networking opportunities through breakout sessions to facilitate that feeling of collaboration and connection. It is exciting to be part of this group as it continues to evolve in this ever-changing electrical market.

The meeting schedule for 2023 is jam packed with a great line up of speakers and a variety of subjects. We look forward to our first meeting of 2023 and we are thrilled to have David Gordon, President of Channel Marketing Group who also publishes ElectricalTrends and US LightingTrends, review market trends.

The full 2023 schedule is:

I encourage you to get involved and, if you can attend on the 16^th, please do. The session will have a brief presentation and allow time for discussion and Q&A.

And there is no cost to participate in the organization or to attend any of the online events.

More importantly, reach out to Lisa to get involved. She can be reached at lhenry@hubbell.com (or, if you are hesitant to reach out to Lisa, contact me and I can get the registration information to you.)

If you would like a copy of the February 16th presentation, email me.