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Attendees: What to Expect from the Virtual Pennsylvania Conference for Women

virtual PA CFW keynote slider featuring Viola Davis, Tara Westover, and Iyanla Vanzant

We’re two weeks out from the first-ever Virtual Pennsylvania Conference for Women on November 11th, and we’re busy putting finishing touches on a program that will help you feel inspired, empowered, and connected!

Keep an eye out for our emails over the next two weeks—they’ll contain important information about how to participate in this year’s conference, including your unique login.

For now, here is an overview of what’s in store this year:

Getting There

No need to set up a carpool—just stay tuned to your email! We’ll be sending attendees Conference login details on Thursday, November 5th.

If you registered with your work email, please ask your IT department to allow messages from the paconferenceforwomen.org domain through your company firewall. If our emails are blocked, you may not receive your login information.

Understanding the Schedule

Just like our in-person event, this year’s Conference consists of two keynote sessions, three breakout session time periods, and an Exhibit Hall full of booths and bonus programming (like virtual career coaching & mini-sessions).

* Note that all times listed are Eastern.

Keynote sessions—featuring Viola Davis, Tara Westover, and Iyanla Vanzant—will be viewable only on Wednesday, Nov. 11th, at 10:00 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.

On-demand replay of these sessions will NOT be available.

Breakout sessions will air at their scheduled times on Nov. 11th—10:50 a.m., 11:45 a.m., and 2:10 p.m.—and then be available on demand until Friday, Nov. 20th at midnight.

Please note, live Q&A with breakout speakers will only occur at the above times on Nov. 11. The Q&A will be recorded, however, and available on demand through the 20th.

The Virtual Exhibit Hall opens at 8:00am on Nov. 11th, and remains available to attendees through the 20th. Many Exhibit Hall offerings—including booths with interactive office hours, Learning Bursts, and more—will be available on demand until Friday, November 20th as well.

Make Conference Day Lunch with YouTube Star & Chef Dzung Lewis!

Get ready for the afternoon keynote session with a tasty lunch demonstration by The Honeysuckle Cookbook author Dzung Lewis. Dzung’s Fall Harvest Salad is inspired by a postcard vineyard view in Napa speckled with bright rustic hues.

If you’d like to prepare your lunch along with Dzung, be sure you’re logged in and in the Keynote room by 12:45pm on the 11th.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need on hand.

How to Network at a Virtual Event

Because connection is more important than ever this year, we’ve worked hard to put together a series of six new networking opportunities for virtual attendees, as well as a Virtual Networking Guide to help you make the most of our online event. Thanks to our Official Networking Sponsor Cisco for underwriting these efforts!

Opportunities include:

  • Facilitated networking discussions on Nov. 11th via live videoconference. (Sign up in the Cisco Networking Lounge starting at 8am – space is limited so register early!)
  • Peer networking chat groups, organized by topic and available in the Lounge throughout the week.
  • Public breakout session chats, allowing attendees to communicate with one another and with speakers during breakout sessions.
  • Private and group messaging available from every room in the virtual conference environment.
  • Exhibitor office hours allowing attendees to interact with company reps in realtime.
  • Smart Matches—a new PennWomen app feature that makes finding the right connection easier.

The Virtual Exhibit Hall

We’re happy to say we’ve managed to bring the most popular elements of our Exhibit Hall online! As usual, the Hall is organized into pavilions packed with offerings for you to explore:

  • Sign up for live one-on-one career coaching and résumé review in the Career Pavilion sponsored by Villanova School of Business—starting at 8:00 a.m. on Nov. 11th.
  • Support women-owned businesses in this challenging time by shopping in our Women-Owned Business Marketplace Nov. 11-20.
  • Attend Learning Bursts (mini-sessions) in the Community Connection Pavilion sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal, the Health & Wellness Pavilion sponsored by Independence Blue Cross, and the Career Pavilion sponsored by Villanova School of Business.
  • Watch select speakers give readings from their books and shop in the Conference Bookstore, located inside the Education & Innovation Pavilion.
  • Join us LIVE on Nov. 12 & 13 for exclusive Lunch Break Live sessions, featuring conference speakers! Learn more here.

Stay tuned for our next email, which will contain login instructions, a tour of the Virtual Pennsylvania Conference for Women, and more important information!

Remember, if you registered for multiple attendees, you need to enter their names and email addresses into your registration account so they receive important attendee communications.