Q&A talks with Allison Grealis, president and founder of the Women in Manufacturing Summit, which will take place Sept. 13-15 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
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Q&A talks with Allison Grealis, president and founder of the Women in Manufacturing Summit, which will take place Sept. 13-15 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
Q. What is the Women in Manufacturing Summit?
A. The Women in Manufacturing (WiM) Summit is the only national conference of its kind. The three-day networking and educational event features facility plant tours, knowledge experts, roundtable discussions on key industry issues, breakout sessions, a silent auction and numerous networking opportunities.
The inaugural summit was produced in 2011 and more than 130 women attended the one-day program in Cleveland, Ohio. We received an overwhelmingly positive response, and over the past six summits we've hosted nearly 1,300 women from all around the country who represent all levels and industries within manufacturing.
Q. How many attendees are you expecting?
A. We anticipate that as many as 350 manufacturing professionals (both men and women) will be in attendance at this year's summit. Conference attendance has increased each year and we expect that the 2017 summit will be our largest yet.
Q. What made you choose Hartford for the convention? What about the facilities and the region appealed to your organization?
A. Hartford was selected as the ideal location for this year's summit for many reasons, the foremost being WiM's strong ties to Hartford and the city's extensive history in our industry. We have a very vibrant Connecticut chapter and the chairperson of our national board of directors — Sheila LaMothe — founded this chapter.
The WiM Connecticut chapter has been a huge support as we work to develop and deliver our seventh annual program. We also wanted to highlight the region's robust industrial history and the work being done by Hartford's modern manufacturers to continue to grow American industry.
Q. What are some of the factors that go into planning an event geared toward professional women? Are there differences? Do you prefer your hotels concentrated? Does a city's walkability come into play?
A. Actually, one of our favorite things about planning the summit year after year is choosing a new city to highlight to our members, and we're fortunate that America is full of unique places that offer variety, diversity and fresh perspectives for our industry.
As an association that strives to bolster the talents and careers of women in manufacturing across all ages, job levels and walks of life, traveling to a new city each year for our biggest annual event is a reminder that excellence in manufacturing exists everywhere. We're excited to host our event at the Connecticut Convention Center this year in the heart of Hartford and to explore and enjoy everything the city has to offer.
Q. One aspect of your summit is optional plant tours. Your website says the Pratt & Whitney tour is sold out. Why do you have plant tours? How does this help advance your mission?
A. Yes, the plant tours are an attendee favorite and they do tend to sell out quickly. Our audience appreciates the opportunity to view innovation in action and witness how top-tier manufacturers perform their processes.
Our mission is to “support, promote and inspire” women who are pursuing or have chosen a career in the manufacturing industry, and we believe that it's important to swap best practices, learn from one another, and ultimately share and celebrate each other's accomplishments. In addition, it's just fun.
Q. Why do women still need gender-specific professional summits like these?
A. Manufacturing is still a male-dominated industry — currently, women comprise only 29 percent of the industry's workforce, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We believe that it is critical to provide a venue where women in manufacturing can come together to connect, learn and grow.
Many of our attendees are so accustomed to being one of the only women at manufacturing-based events that the summit is a completely new and refreshing experience for them. We do focus on a variety of important industry topics, as our audience is quite broad, and some of these specifically relate to challenges women can be confronted with (i.e. work-life balance).
