Session Topics Announced for the Sixth Annual Spirit of Women in Business Conference

KENT, Ohio - Feb. 10, 2016 - PRLog -- Topics and guest speakers have been announced for the break-out sessions at Kent State University’s College of Business Administration’s Sixth Annual Spirit of Women in Business Conference.

The day-long conference, titled “Navigating and Negotiating,” is on March 9, 2016, in the Kent State Student Center. The event includes a 60-minute keynote speech with Q&A given by Deborah Kolb, Ph.D., renowned expert in negotiation, leadership and gender, who will be speaking on “Negotiating for Your Career Success.”

Kolb is former executive director and currently co-director of the Negotiations in the Workplace Project at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. She is the Deloitte Ellen Gabriel Professor for Women in Leadership (Emerita) and co-founder of the Ford Foundation-funded Center for Gender in Organizations at Simmons College School of Management.

“Negotiating is not only important for your personal success,” Kolb said. “It is critical for your career success.”

Kolb’s presentation is based off of her book, “Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins Into Big Gains,” which was named one of the best negotiation books of 2015 by TIME magazine. Her book can be applied to both men and women, but she will be specifically addressing how negotiation at work can successfully impact women at this year’s Spirit of Women in Business Conference.

Kolb will be providing strategic moves for women to negotiate at work, including the need to recognize opportunities for negotiating, take stock of one’s own strengths and consider the other’s perspective.

“When you negotiate for yourself, you are paving the way to help other women be successful with negotiations in the workplace,” Kolb said.

In addition to the keynote speech, the conference includes a book signing, Spirit of Women in Business Award Presentation and three breakout sessions.

Session topics for this year’s conference include:

·         Fully Actualize Your Leadership Potential

·         Discussion with the Keynote

·         Leadership Success Strategies: Second-Generation Gender Bias

·         Lean In: Tactical Solutions for Success

·         Networking: Beyond Your Bubble

·         How Women are Transforming the World: The Socially-Conscious Economy and Feminine Values

Two topics are offered during each session time, in which attendees choose the one that most interests them.

One of the session speakers at this year’s conference is Lisa Waite, owner and president of Waite Communication & Professional Development, LLC. Waite’s expertise is in developing people-centric leaders and transforming organizational culture. Waite holds a master’s degree in organizational communication from the University of Akron and holds CST Master Certified status from Barry-Wehmiller University.

Kim Riley, president of Hylant Nashville, will also be a session speaker at this year’s event. In more than 30 years of experience as a business leader in the insurance and risk management fields, Riley has been the youngest female officer appointed by the board of directors, has driven revenue and client profitability into the billions, pioneered technology solutions that changed the insurance industry from paper to data driven flow and has been awarded multiple honors for networking and influence.

In addition, Vivian Goodman from WKSU will be this year’s emcee. Goodman started working in commercial radio in Akron at WHLO and since has worked mostly in radio news in Cleveland and Washington, D.C. Among her many state and national honors earned during her two decades at WKSU are a Regional Murrow Award from RTDNA, two national Gabriel Awards, being named one of three finalists for a James Beard Award and being named Best Reporter in Ohio by both Ohio SPJ and Ohio AP.

“We are extremely excited about the successful and motivational women participating at this year’s Spirit of Women in Business Conference,” said Deborah F. Spake, dean of the College of Business Administration. “Not only do we have an experienced and captivating keynote speaker, but session speakers who bring knowledge from all areas of the professional realm.”

For more information about the Sixth Annual Spirit of Women in Business Conference and to register, visit http://business.kent.edu/about/swib. Tickets are limited and the conference annually sells out!

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Kent State University’s College of Business Administration is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) and one of the largest colleges of business in Ohio.  The College has more than 4,300 students representing 50 countries with over 106 full-time faculty from16 countries.

The college grants undergraduate through graduate degrees, and is one of only three public colleges in Ohio with a comprehensive Ph.D. program.  The MBA program is offered with nine concentrations and five dual degree options. The Executive MBA program offer two tracks: one targeting corporate professionals and the other healthcare executives.  The M.S. in Accounting and M.A. in Economics are specialized master’s degrees for those seeking advanced study in these disciplines.  The college boasts nine undergraduate majors, 12 minors and a Professional Sales Certificate program.

The college is listed as a Best Business School by Princeton Review, ranked as a Best Business College by U.S. News and World Report, one of only 23 accounting programs worldwide to be endorsed by the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), ranked Top-Tier for Executive Education in North America by CEO Magazine and ranked fourth by the SEF (Sales Education Foundation) in Ohio for Professional Sales Education.

The college boasts an onsite Career Services Center and International Programs Office dedicated to business students, and operates the Global Management Center, the Center for Information Systems and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation all propelling scholarly research, establishing innovative industry partnerships and providing outreach to Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Media Contacts:

Michelle Manning, Director of Marketing Communications, (330) 672-2717, mparris3@kent.edu

Ashley Cowles, Marketing Communications Specialist, (330) 672-1279, acowles1@kent.edu