Carolinas Connection Conference

CREW members from the seven CREW chapters in North Carolina and South Carolina met in Charlotte last week for industry updates, professional development sessions, and to sharpen their networking skills.  CREW Charlotte proudly hosted the second annual CREWCarolina Regional Conference, branding it as CREW Carolina Connection, at theRitz Carlton on April 19-20, 2012. 

The conference packed a walloping eight programs into a 24 hour period.  Veteran CREW Charlotte member Angie Dugick (Dugick Consulting LLC) commented that this was among the bestconferences she had attended in her 35+ year career, many of which required extensive travel and cost thousands of dollars.  “This conference ranks among the best.  It was concise – only one afternoon and one morning, so it fit easily into my schedule.  But during that time, the conference provided eight very different programs (not to mention two excellent meals).  Each program was full of relevant content so it was difficult to choose among the programs.” 

Although each of the eight sessions was excellent, three standouts created the most buzz.  Attendees agreed that

·John Connaughton gave one of the best economic outlook presentations any of us had ever heard.  To quote Angie, “He simplified the vagaries and complexities of our economic system so that they were easy to comprehend and apply.”

·Brenda Dohring Hicks gave two presentations:  the keynote on Rainmaking for Women at Thursday’s lunchand a dynamic Friday morning breakout session on how to create your own social media strategy.  Brenda fully engaged her audience and gave each of us a lengthy list of ideas of implement. 

·Last but not least, the Chiquita panel showcased the fascinating real life drama of how CREW Charlotte members worked together to create a deal with enormous economic impact. 

Angie’s closing thought was that “Those who failed to attend missed a tremendous opportunity for personal and professional growth.”  The CREW Carolina Connection will be an annual event and if you did attend, be on the lookout for the next one in 2013!

Links to specific programpresentations are below under the agenda.