WithIt, the women’s leadership development network, recently held a Virtual Education Brunch intended to inspire attendees and safely facilitate some of the professional networking we’ve all been missing. The two-hour event offered a robust opportunity for meaningful education as well as safe, efficient and inclusive networking.
The brunch started off with an educational portion, featuring speaker Lynne Jensen-Nelson who talked about building and using influence to advance goals and initiatives. The educational talk was followed by virtual speed networking. With Hopin, the virtual event platform used to facilitate the event, speed networking online was a fully immersive and fun experience.
WithIt has taken the pandemic in stride, viewing its limitations as opportunities to engage
WithIt’s most recent brunch and networking event is one of many professional development opportunities the organization has hosted this year. In fact, WithIt is an excellent example of a professional development group that has not allowed the pandemic to slow it down. Instead, WithIt has taken the limitations of the pandemic and treated them as opportunities to make its programming accessible to more professionals within the home and furnishings industry.
Not only will the group host multiple socially-distanced in-person events during the rescheduled winter Las Vegas Market in April, but it also has two to three virtual events scheduled per month through July. Additionally, WithIt offers a monthly New Member Meet up hosted on Zoom. This recurring event is aimed at helping newcomers make connections and get acclimated to the WithIt community.
Virtual Leveraging Leadership conference
While WithIt’s annual Leveraging Leadership conference will be held online this year, that is not expected to hinder attendance. Instead, the accessible and interactive nature of the event’s platform could even encourage more participation.
“While this group thrives at in-person events, we were able to choose a platform that allows us to collaborate, speed network, socialize, and learn from some incredible speakers,” conference co-chair Sydney Harris, from Furnitureland South, explained.
With highlights including additional speed networking and numerous speaking events, panels and round-tables, the two-day program offers industry professionals at all stages of their careers the opportunity to connect with peers, grow personally and professionally and develop leadership skills. 
Marilyn Sherman, “Front Row Leadership”, Tamra Chandler, author of “FEEDBACK (and other dirty words)” and Dr. Shirley Davis, “Making Your Seat at the Table Count” will all be speaking during the event, which takes place on May 6th and 7th, 2021.
