Exhilarating, Emotional & Inspirational!
Those are just three of the words that I can use to describe how it felt to be at the symposium. As many of you may know from my last guest post here, this was my first time attending an event such as this and I couldn’t have felt more fortunate to be there and to feel the energy in the room. It was so cool to see all of the networking that took place, the conversations between people everywhere I looked. Just a couple of days ago, I thought to myself wow a week had already passed and what I wouldn’t give to go back to that day.
My sweetheart of a friend Annie and I arrived at about six in the morning to set up my table. It was still very early and you can tell that several people were still arriving and getting settled. In the meantime, I was just looking around and soaking it all in. The volunteers were walking around asking everyone if they were okay and making sure we had everything we needed. I went down to the registration desk to check in and get my name badges and before heading back to my table, I took a quick peak around.
One aspect of the symposium which I considered to be an absolute genius idea were the bingo cards that were created and given to all of the attendees. Each square on the bingo card listed a name of one of the businesses that were exhibitors at the symposium. The concept behind this was to ensure that all of the attendees would stop by each of the vendor tables to not only have their bingo cards highlighted but with the hopes that it would spark conversations too. Genius! I enjoyed greeting everyone as they stopped by my table. The attendees who had their bingo cards completely highlighted were entered into the giveaways for the door prizes that were donated by each exhibitor.
As soon as the music started playing in the ballroom, it meant the first part of the event was about to begin and someone AKA Marilyn was about to make a grand entrance and girl I was right. If you’re not following Latinas & Power on FB, make sure to head on over and hit that like button but in the meantime you can catch that moment right here.
Together, they spoke about a variety of topics starting with Stacie deArmas who shared data which indicated the many ways that latinas are making moves, becoming entrepreneurs and we continue to grow. Glenda Ciampa spoke about the importance of education and financial investing while Patricia Russo emphasized on the need for all of us to vote in every election so our voices can be heard and so much more. The fact is, that in today’s economy, it is never too early to start investing in your future and to motivate ourselves to make the best decisions now as they will only benefit us as we get older.
It was so awesome to see so many young ladies at the symposium who were students at surrounding high schools. While I was listening to all of these women speak, it made me realize just great it would have been if I had the opportunity to attend this type of event when I was their age. A few of the students asked for advice ranging on a variety of topics and the responses that they received were very inspirational and there was one student in particular who received amazing feedback and several potential future job opportunities.
Right around lunch time, I saw Carmen Yulin Cruz walk right by me with Marilyn. If only the timing were just a little better, I would have loved to have met her but I knew that I would be in the same room with her for the afternoon session which started with keynote speaker, Ana Navarro. If you don’t know who Ana Navarro is, here is a little clip of her in action on The View and let me just tell you what you just saw in that clip is exactly how she was standing there speaking to us. Ana was amazing and she definitely did not hold back with what she had to say. She represents exactly what we need to get our voices heard. I follow her on Twitter so I already knew what to expect and it was just awesome to see her in the same room and listen to her speak.
Here is one of the photos that I posted on my Instagram Story
Afterwards, Marilyn came to the podium and I already had a feeling that it was about to get super emotional and I was right. As soon as she started talking about the hurricane in Puerto Rico, you just could feel the silence in the room. She spoke for a few moments before sharing a video which I am certain had everyone in tears as they watched and listened. Afterwards, she called Carmen to the stage to assist her in acknowledging the representatives from several organizations with special awards for their relief efforts in helping the residents of Puerto Rico. I’m so happy to have personally contributed to one of the organizations, Arte, Inc which created New Haven for Puerto Rico. Daniel Diaz, co-founder and Chairman of Arte, Inc. was there to receive an award for his help in organizing the fundraiser.
It was now time for Carmen to take the stage. Before she started talking about the hurricane, she shared some personal stories from her childhood such as the history behind her middle name which is her grandmother’s name. I immediately smiled when she shared that with us as I also have the same middle name as my grandmother. She also opened up and shared her playful side with us which we unfortunately do not get to see in light of what has been going on. This made me that much more emotional as she started sharing the details starting with the loud sounds of the wind as the Hurricane was approaching closer. You can watch see the video here:
Before I go, I’d like to take a moment to sincerely thank Marilyn again for giving me this truly amazing opportunity to attend and to guest post here for the second time. I hope to see you all again next year (or maybe sooner). In the meantime, I’d love to have you hang out with me on my blog, The Innovative Latina and on Instagram.
This looked like an amazing event and what a great lineup of speakers!
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