It was a shock to my system to fly from sunny Orlando last week to Boston on Thursday. Why was I doing that? Last week, I was in Orlando from Monday to Wednesday attending the spring CTIA Wireless conference. As always, CTIA is a busy event for me, where I spend a lot of time meeting with existing partners on marketing opportunities and networking to meet new potential partners. This year however, I was also doubled booked to attend the Women’s Congress when I was speaking on a WITI (Women in Technology International) panel on Thursday. I was engaged to speak on the panel: Web 2.0 Digital Business & Digital Media Economy – A Beginner’s Guide to The New (and Improved) Internet (Part 1).
Honestly, it as too much traveling for me.
Having had dinner with a partner until 12:30am Thursday morning, I turned around and left Orlando for Boston around 6am. I was not the sharpest when my panel rolled-in around 2:30pm. I’m also guilty of not putting enough time on the presentation due to my work schedule and speaking too much from an business insider / insider analyst point of view. On Digital Media, while fun, is very much an industry insider’s podcast. Our take on the industry come from an industry and business analyst point of view. I sadly forgot to take off my industry analyst hat and speak more engagingly on an introductory level.
That said, my fellow panelists and I had a great time. I managed to stay on my feet during the panel dispite of sleeping for only about 4 hours and got home safely after having to run out of the event to catch my train from Boston to NYC.
Despite of how rushed I felt last week with work and also speaking at the event. I felt it was crucial to participate in the Women’s Congress and the WITI panel. I’ve been working in this industry since 1995 and it’s always been difficult as a women in the technology industry. I am extremely encouraged to see organizations like WITI and the Women’s Congress provide events such as this. As a women executive in the technology industry, I’m always excited to see opportunities to share information with other women in the business and to engage in networking and mentoring. I very much look forward to other WITI events.
TAGS: Chia-Lin Simmons, CTIA, CTIA Wireless, WITI, Women’s Congress, Web 2.0, Beginner’s Guide, On Digital Media, ODM