PWA invites you to a Networking Aperitivo

All professional women welcome, whether members or guests.

Wednesday 8 September 7-9 p.m.
Location: NH President Hotel, Largo Augusto 10 (MM San Babila)

Network in a comfortable atmosphere, make new personal and business contacts and get to know other PWA members.

Cost: Free entrance for members, 10 Euro for guests, payable in cash at the door. Drinks are 9 Euro each and include light buffet.

Members please register in the calendar section of EPWN (www.europeanpwn.net)

Guests please register at this link

For additional information please email networking@pwa-milan.org

PWA Milan supports and promotes the W.I.N. Conference, our members are entitled to a special discount for partners. See below an overview of the program of the Conference, which will take place in Paris, October 6-8.

The W.I.N. 2010 global leadership conference is the 13^th in a series of visionary leadership events that inspire thousands of women, enhance their careers and improve business practices. Be a part of it:

Day 1 – The global picture – setting the stage  Awareness of the most pressing global issues, new trends in society, and the forces shaping the environment in which we live and work

Day 2 – The future of work The winning organizations and enterprises of the future and the people who will create and lead them

Day 3 – Growing as individuals   How each and every one of us personally can realize our vision, how we find clarity and mobilize and move our projects to fruition

Day 4 – Post-conference workshops   Exploring your creativity through writing, theatre and art

Plus discussion forums: Women on Corporate Boards, Women in Media, Women Entrepreneurs, Women Empowering Women, Women’s Networks

During the three-day interactive forum, we will explore the authentic journey and the importance of how you do all you do as a way towards realizing your vision. Panel sessions and workshops are complemented by social and professional networking events and free one-on-one coaching sessions. The full brochure is now available on our website.

Rates until 15^th September

(including Euro 100 discount for WIN partners – PWA Milan included)

Standard Ticket Euro 1495

Subsidized Ticket Euro 995

 Standard Ticket: applies to all professional participants (entrepreneurs, consultants, corporations etc).

Subsidized Ticket: for women in transition, students, pensioners, NGO members, individuals.

(This offer cannot be combined with any other discounts or network savings)

Learn more or register at www.winconference.net (selecting your women’s network to get your discount)

A couple of days ago I was surfing on Facebook when I came across a post from Caterina Della Torre – founder of Dol’s – on a horrible advertisement on photovoltaic (click here to see the advertisment).

I was commenting on the above mentioned adv suggesting that the only way to impact such attitudes is to focus on what companies care about: money and profit. I thought about the most recent compaign from Diesel (Be stupid), that irritated me so much that it convinced me to cancel Diesel from my list of potential brands in case I need to purchase a pair of jeans.

I am sure that being outraged because of a communication campaign or a specific policy is not enough to put pressure on companies’ attitudes and behaviour: we have the power to make things happen by simply deciding not to purchase products that are publicized in a way we feel is offensive for women and their dignity.

Is there a similar experience you would like to share with us? Which was the advertising campaign that irritated you most?

But most important of all, do you think that PWA Milan should take an active role on this and support a moral persuasion initiative against companies that don’t respect our dignity?

On Thursday June 24 at 9.15 in Milan at Palazzo del Lavoro Gi Group in Piazza IV Novembre, 5 Moms@work and Bi Group will present the first outcomes of their project on work/life balance during the workshop entitled “MOMS @ WORK: più valore per le aziende, più valore per le mamme che lavorano”.

If you want to read the agenda of the workshop click here, if you want to register for the event click here.

A research from HBS shows that talented women are better than talented men at keeping the start shining after they change jobs.

“Women who are star performers on Wall Street tend to fare better than men after changing jobs. Why? According to HBS professor Boris Groysberg, star women place greater emphasis than men on external business relationships, and conduct better research on potential employers. Plus: Businesswomen are asked to share career experiences”, read the article “How Female Stars Succeed in New Jobs” at http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5949.html

Or read the comment from The Glasshammer at http://www.theglasshammer.com/news/2010/06/15/why-female-stars-succeed-in-new-jobs/

By Valerie Ryder and Kristina Tool

Mentoring plays a critical role in the advancement of women professionals in all sectors. It provides women role models, it can provide access to important networks and opportunities, and can provide structure for the development of individual skills and leadership abilities.

These are areas that are often cited as key barriers to career advancement for women in Italy, as is the lack of mentoring in general. Only a small portion of the Italian working population has access to this career development tool, mainly selected high-potential employees of international corporations.

PWA has innovatively moved to fill this gap by pioneering network mentoring in Italy, via its Women Leading Women program. The mentoring program is a key component of PWA’s updated mission, which is to support the advancement of career-minded women in their professional growth and development through networking, skill-building and mentoring in an international environment.

Facts and Figures:

Mentoring skill-building ½ day workshop organized to train participants

The mentoring program launch was held Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at the Grand Hotel et de Milan. More than 75 PWA members, guests and press attended the event, where a selection of the mentors, all members of PWA, shared their experiences around mentoring:

• Isabella Chiodi, Vice President and member of the Italian Women Leadership Council, IBM

• Barbara Cominelli, Planning Director, Tenaris Dalmine
• Giovanna D’Alessio, Managing Director, LifeCoachLab and President of the International Coach Federation (presentation via pre-recorded video)
• Francesca Patellani, Client Partner (Banking Clients) and Inclusion & Diversity Lead, Accenture
• Lee Smith, Director, InStoreFactor
• Nicoletta Zappatini, Managing Director, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank

Working in a variety of fields, the featured mentor speakers shared the common experience of having male mentors; the reason being that there were not enough women in upper level positions to serve as mentors. While it was also acknowledged that personal chemistry between mentor and mentee was important to a successful relationship and they had been fortunate enough to have had that with their male mentors, it was noted that it would have been beneficial to have a female mentor.

Some of the speakers were able to serve as mentors within their corporate programs and were asked about the difference between male and female mentees. The consensus was that male mentees were more direct and tended to speak about business and career exclusively whereas female mentees may need some coaxing to initially express their desires and speak about work within the context of their life. Men also were more likely to believe they deserved promotions, while women often exhibited doubt.

Another important issue between mentors and mentees is confidentiality. Most corporate mentorship programs have rules of confidentiality so that those involved can trust that what they discuss will be kept in confidence, though if a mentor felt that her mentee was talented she could be an advocate for her and encourage her managers to make the best use of her strengths or to advance the mentee along her career path.

Having an effective mentor can help mentees in making decisions, acquire leadership skills and learn the unwritten rules of their corporate culture. While being a mentee can bring clear benefits, all agreed that serving as a mentor was beneficial since in teaching one can learn. It also allowed senior executives the opportunity to be in touch with what was going on in other parts of the organization and with newer, younger employees.

The Women Leading Women program not only provides corporate workers mentoring but is working to address the large need for mentors in the entrepreneurial community. Without the benefit of a corporate framework there is a gap in availability of mentor programs for entrepreneurs and was made evident by the number of independent business professionals who applied to the program.

Regardless of their profession, Women Leading Women provides a needed professional resource for PWA members.

If you are interested in participating as a mentor or mentee in the next round (early 2011), please refer to PWA’s newsletter, where information on this and other programs is regularly featured. For specific requests contact the Mentoring team, Valerie Ryder, PWA Professional Development Director, or Monique Svazlian, Mentoring Program Coordinator, at professional@pwa-milan.org

About Valerie Ryder and Monique Svazlian: Executive Coaches, Valerie and Monique are passionate about developing leaders both in the corporate world and in entrepreneurship. They share the common conviction that the most effective way for women to advance professionally is to take advantage of mentoring, coaching, networking and other leadership development resources. Read more about them at www.ryderassociates.com and www.highestpath.com.

Whether we are looking for new clients, evaluating our contacts or seeking career advancement, the internet provides an important medium. But who’s defining whom? There are so many tools out there and many of us have our own sites or are part of a social network.

Any professional aiming for success needs to have visibility.

But are you using the right tools and in the right way?

If you do not adopt the right strategy to send out the right message of who you are, somebody else may just define your profile for you!

Sean Carlos, web expert, will be the speaker at our next event discussing how to evaluate the right tools for a Net presence like blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, to achieve your business and professional goals and how to get the most out of them.

Learn the tips and tricks of how to get on the front search pages of that potential contact.

About Sean:
Sean Carlos is a Web Marketing teacher and consultant at Antezeta in Milan.

Sean has been IT manager, addressing issues like search engine optimisation for companies including Pirelli and Hewlett Packard. You can follow Sean on Twitter in English (seancarlos) or Italian (sean_it)

Grand Hotel et de Milan
 Via Manzoni, 29 (MM Montenapoleone)

Networking Cocktail: 7 – 8 pm 
Presentation 8 – 9:30 pm

Entrance free for members, 20 euro for guests, payable in cash at the event.


Members, please register in the calendar section of EPWN.


Guests, please send an email to speakers@pwa-milan.org

All professional women welcome whether members or guests

PWA 
invites you to the 
Summer Party


All professional women and guests welcome.

Wednesday, 14 July 2010, 8-10 p.m.


Édone Fish Restaurant and Bar, Via Orti 31

(MM Porta Romana or Crocetta)

Come and enjoy a meal with members and guests (spouses and partners welcome) in a relaxed atmosphere for networking and socialising.

As the name implies, there will be a full course fish menu. A vegetarian option is available.

Cost for members: 35 Euro


Cost for guests: 40 Euro

Payment in advance is required to reserve your place. Members, please reserve by paying online in the calendar section of www.EuropeanPWN.net or by cash at a prior PWA event.

For guest reservations, bank details to pay by wire transfer, or for more information in general, please contact: networking@pwa-milan.org

Spaces are limited, so don’t miss out!

On June 10th Pari o dispare presents the event “Donne nei media e in pubblicità: per una diversa immagine delle donne in Italia”, the event will take place in Università Statale di Milano at 16.45.

If you want to read the program click here. The event is free of charge, please register by sending an email to segretariapod@gmail.com.

All professional women welcome, whether members or guests.

Wednesday 9 June 7-9 p.m.

Location: Grand Hotel et de Milan
Via Manzoni 29
MM Montenapoleone

Network in a comfortable atmosphere, make new personal and business contacts and get to know other PWA members.

Drinks 10 euro each, buffet included

Entrance free for members, 10 euro for guests, payable in cash at the event

Members, please register in the calendar section of EPWN

Guests, please send an email to networking@pwa-milan.org