Invitation to attend the XXVI BPW International Congress, Mexico City, Mexico - 24-28 October 2008

Invitation to attend the XXVI BPW International Congress, Mexico City, Mexico - 24-28 October 2008

Dear BPW members,

You are invite to attend the XXVI BPW International Congress, Mexico City, Mexico - 24-28 October 2008, which will be held at a five star hotel - Gran Melia Mexico Reform hotel. The theme is "Power to Make a Difference".

PROGRAM: To find out the exciting program we have in store for you, you can view the tentative program at http://www.bpw-international.org/XXVI-congress/about-congress-program.htm.

MEMBER REGISTRATION, please visit URL: http://www.bpw-international.org/XXVI-congress/registration-form.htm
Early Registration fee: 460 USD from now - 24 June 2008
Standard Registration: 560 USD from 25 June - 16 Sept 2008
Late Registration: 660 USD from 17 Sept - 16 October 2008
You can choose to register online by clicking Online Registration (http://bpw.zwizz.com/registration.php) OR download registration forms in English / Spanish / French / Italian and submit it to bpw-congress-26@googlegroups.com or send it via fax to +66-2-3912120. These forms are also attached.

If you have friends / family members who want to attend workshops, they can register for 3 days workshops (25-27 October 2008). If they want to attend only social function, they can register as "Accompanying persons". Each must submit a separate
registration form, however.

ACCOMMODATION: We have negotiate a very special hotel rate for you! The rate for a standard deluxe single / double room at Gran Melia Mexico Reforma hotel is 110 USD per night (including free wireless internet & 15% off on all SPA treatments. Group rate applied 3 days before or after congress). This is a reasonable for a five star hotel and member of Leading hotel of the world. The hotel is reasonably close to the airport and just a few blocks away from the UNESCO World Heritage site in Mexico City and other key sight seeing places.

BPW members who register for Congress and make reservation at Gran Melia hotel by 24 June 2008 will be eligible for drawing of the following prizes:

#1 Prize: free 5 nights stay in a standard deluxe single / double room (double occupants) - 1 award
#2 Prize: free upgrade to Junior Suite - 1 award
#3 Prize: A free night stay for a stand deluxe single / double room - 3 awards

(The result will be announced 30 June 2008).

VISA: If you want to know whether you need to get visa to Mexico, please visit http://www.bpw-international.org/XXVI-congress/VISA.htm. About 30 of our 84 BPW member countries are not require to get visa into Mexico. Please also check your flight route. If your flight transit in USA, you will need to get visa to the United States as well.

ABOUT Mexico section at http://www.bpw-international.org/XXVI-congress/about-mexico.htm would give you some basic information about Mexico such as currency, electricity, travel and transport, telephone, etc.

More information will continue to be added to this Congress web section. We will keep you inform for new information- especial new benefits - are post on the web site. Coming soon is the Airfare Discount.

I would appreciate very much if you could also help distribute this to BPW members in your clubs / federations / friends / family.

COUNTING ON YOU FOR THE FUTURE OF BPW.

See you in Mexico City!

Chonchanok Viravan
BPW International President

We want to know what you think!

Policy Issues affecting Young Women

Young BPW in partnership with UNIFEM is asking young women, aged 16 - 35 years old, what policy issues affect them the most?

Policy issues could include anything. For example: infertility support, paid maternity leave, pay gap in the workplace or work/life balance.

Click through to http://fsplugins.com/quicksurvey/bpw/1 to answer the question "What policy issues are you most passionate about and why?"

Alicia Curtis
Chair, National Young BPW Board

Meeting a Young BPW member in Hong Kong

During a visit to China last week I had the opportunity to meet with a BPW member in Hong Kong. I contacted Claire by e-mail before leaving Australia and she emailed back her cell phone number for me to contact her when we reached Hong Kong. We called late Friday night and she agreed to meet with us on Saturday afternoon. There is something about BPW women – they are just so interesting! Claire is an inspiring woman who has lived and worked in the Philippines, China and Hong Kong and is now embarking on a study year in France to complete an MBA!! I don’t think we stopped talking for the whole afternoon and we hope to stay in touch in the future.

It was fantastic to explore the city with someone who knew it so well and we saw a lot more than we would have even attempted on our own. Just being able to dispense with the anxieties of deciphering maps and the transport system, gave us the opportunity to experience the city like a local - and in complete safety. We ended up spending the evening with Claire and her boyfriend Joe, and again, it was a real bonus to be directed to great local food which is always difficult to find in an unfamiliar city. My experience in Hong Kong has truly brought home to me how great it is to be a part of an international network of women and, although we are from different countries and cultures, it is amazing how much we have in common with BPW members worldwide - it is also comforting to know there are so many of us in the world working toward the same goal of empowering women.

Genevieve Cother
National Sponsorship Director, Young BPW Board

Melbourne Trip

Last weekend I visited Melbourne for a work related conference, while I was there I enjoyed the hospitality of the Melbourne BPW members. Here is a recount of my travels!

Thursday - 27th March - During the Day

I was picked up from the airport by Tracey Maney, President of BPW Doutta Galla and we taken out to lunch! It was great to hear about the club's very successful Bodywise workshops for young girls. Tracey is such a dynamic woman, it's no wonder that Doutta Galla is on the up and up!

Thursday - 27th March - Evening

Later that day, I attended BPW Mid City's Young BPW Cocktail Evening. It's a sign of a great gathering when no-one wants to leave at the end of the evening!!

I also got to meet with Marilyn and Sharon from BPW Geelong, who drove a long way to attend this event - Thankyou! It was great to hear their plans for the Keys to Achievement program that I launched nationally at the conference in November.

Then a couple of us girls went on to dinner - we had much to talk about! We spoke about developing more regular events for young women and what would work best in Melbourne.

Friday - 28th March - Morning

I had the lovely pleasure of having breakfast with the members of BPW Doutta Galla. They are a vibrant and caring group of women. They were most interested in hearing about what the Young BPW Board were doing and were very supportive of our endeavours. During the breakfast I met Janine, a young women looking to join BPW - it was great to put a face to the emails!!

Sunday - 30th March - Evening

I was able to catch up with Anna Rasalingam, Asia Pacific Young BPW Regional Coordinator and former Young BPW Board member, Jenny Goulopoulos. They are such great young women - such exciting and innovative ideas about BPW!! I look forward to working with them both on Young BPW activities in the future.

Monday - 31st March - Evening

I was fortunate to connect with Frida Miriklis (and her lovely husband Andrew) from BPW Mid City before I flew back to Perth. Freda is currently the Executive Secretary on the International BPW Board. She is also a former Young BPW Australia Award winner and an absolute dynamo!! Freda has met and worked with many BPW women from around the women. She spoke to me about the many skills she has learnt since being on the International Board and is looking forward to the Mexico International Congress. Freda is a shining example of the excellent work that Australian members are doing for our organisation around the world!

Thank you to all the Victorian BPW members that made me feel so welcome in Melbourne. I look forward to returning soon! :)

Alicia Curtis

National Young BPW Chair

Young BPW Videos

Just letting you know that four videos have been uploaded to the Young BPW Broadcasts section on the BPW website. You can watch the videos at:

http://www.bpw.com.au/youngbpw/ybpwaudio.htm

Young BPW Board Chair - Alicia Curtis

Young BPW Teleseminars

The Young BPW Board is looking into the opportunity of holding Young BPW Teleseminars to:

• Connect Young BPW's from around Australia
• To gain knowledge and skills that is helpful for our careers
• To keep Young BPW's up to date with what is happening in BPW for them

It's an exciting new development that is being spearheaded by our Business Development Director, Mio Seamder.

If you have any suggestions or comments about the proposal, please send me an email at ybpw@bpw.com.au and I will pass it on to Mio or add a comment to this blog.

Alicia Curtis - National Young BPW Board Chair

Young BPW is not the future of BPW

Most members look at me strangely when I tell them this, however I think it’s an important paradigm shift we need to change in our thinking in BPW. Young BPW is not the future of BPW or the future leaders of BPW because they are a strong and vibrant part of BPW today. As I listened to the current Young BPW Board members introduce themselves recently, I felt lucky to have Young BPW members that have been part of BPW for up to 10 years, served as state and club executive members and attended International BPW events. These are not leaders of the future, these are leaders of the now!

So how do you attract these types of women to your club? Well how young woman-friendly is your club? Do you actively seek speakers that would be of interest to young women? Do you personally invite young women leaders to your meetings? Do you have leadership opportunities and events for young women in your community? Do you support your young members to be involved in BPW in any way they like – club, state, national or international?

The trick is that young women attract young women so the more speakers, events, guests that are young women or are geared towards young women, the more you will attract them to become members of your club.

So what support can the Young BPW Board offer you? We have just appointed two Young BPWs to be National Coordinators for Young BPW club meetings across Australia. We hope to encourage every club to hold a Young BPW night as one of their normal club meetings in 2008. These National Coordinators will develop simple resources to help you develop your Young BPW club meeting and will be happy to answer any questions over the email. They are Anita Cheetham and Sarah Flatters from BPW Joondalup in WA. They have run successful Young BPW club meetings that have attracted up to 70 guests. I hope every club will utilise the resources that they develop and contact them for any further support your club needs to run your Young BPW evening.

Alicia Curtis - National Young BPW Board Chair