2020 Women Aware Conference date confirmed for Sept. 24

Hours of planning and work on the Women Aware 2020 conference Sept. 24 at the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff are underway.

Conference Chairperson Tracy Tarpley suggests everyone mark their calendars, save the date and request the day off work.

“I’m excited to have been elected this year’s conference chair after having been the head of registration for the last three years,” Tarpley said. “I look forward to the conference every year, not necessarily as a day ‘out of work’ but a chance to hear some amazing speakers, attend some amazing breakout classes and network with area businesses and women of the community and surrounding communities.”

Tarpley also is spearheading the selection of the keynote speaker. The conference committee reviewed videos of possible speakers recently and will continue efforts until the perfect person is located.

“We are possibly thinking of once again doing two keynote speakers: one for the morning and one for the afternoon,as it seemed to go over really well last year,” Tarpley said.

“The conference committees are working hard on looking through many different speaker candidates to hopefully find the perfect fit for our conference to empower and motivate everyone,” she said.

Having worked on the keynote speaker committee the last couple of years, Tarpley said, her “goal is to continue bringing in people who are inspiring, business related speakers who will empower and motivate us and maybe ‘fire us up’ to tackle the many different aspects we as women face in our daily lives,”

Continuing, Tarpley said, “We are mothers, sisters, business women, teachers, homemakers, etc. We all run 100 different directions every day in our daily lives, so it’s nice to have one day ‘just for us’ to listen to empowering speakers, attend interesting classes based around women’s health, business, and family needs, and eat some great food.”

Karon Campbell of Tasteful Creations Catering will be preparing the food.

Stephanie Griffin and her committee have started funding efforts, sending out letters and visiting with area businesses and merchants, offering sponsorship opportunities.

Meredith Rines, a past conference chair, is leading the committee responsible for the conference book and ads, as well as handling social media and the website.

Davine Conover, who coordinates the quarterly Women Aware luncheons, will be in charge of the curriculum committee,which arranges the event’s breakout sessions.

There are about a dozen other committees working on the event and Tarpley added, “We are also looking for women who might be interested in becoming involved in the conference planning. We have several vacancies on the committee this year if you want to get involved.”

Tarpley said, “Oh, and don’t forget the shopping. We are very fortunate to always have area businesses set up booths for the women to ‘shop’ in between classes and lunch. A lot of times as women we forget it’s okay to take a break and give back to ourselves. We are so used to giving everything of ourselves to our families and work that we take a backseat. This conference is one day out of 365 to just ‘do you’ and take a much deserved break for a few hours.”

The purpose of the Women Aware is to assist people, particularly out-state women, by promoting a more positive environment in which to excel, by providing informal and educational opportunities for personal and professional growth.