Becoming More Empowered: Women & Power Conference in NYC

[tigerjen]

Yesterday I got home from one of the best weekends I've had in
a very long time, if not my whole life up to this point. I had the
good fortune to attend the Women & Power conference Sept 10-
13 in NYC, sponsored by Omega & V-Day.

Omega does a lot of holistic and wellness related programs (it is
based up in Rhinebeck, NY). And of course V-Day is a global
movement stop violence against women and girls (for those who
know me best, that was what I was involved in earlier this year).

www.eomega.org

www.vday.org


I had received the pamphlet about the conference back in the spring,
and at the last minute after much hemming and hawwing (esp. w/
the money issue), I signed up in June, on the last day that the
"discount" admission was $395. It was going to go up to $400,
then in July up to $450. So I was very lucky.

The event took place at the Sheraton New York (7th Av. on 53rd St.).
I was lucky to get $189/nite (of course that's before taxes and shit
naturally) there; Omega was offering their "discount" of rooms there
(for single occupancy, it was going for $210 a nite), and I was able
to get a lower rate via the 'net thru the hotel website. It does pay
to shop around thank god!

 

[tigerjen]

Continuing Friday 9/10

Anyhow, I was coming off from the overnite shift at work,
and I needed to get home to finish packing, head out
for a manicure (I got to the salon right at 9:30am as it
was opening!), and then head back home to shower
and wash my hair, watch "The Apprentice" on tape as I
had missed most of it, and have a lite bite to eat.

Took the 1:27pm train from Fairfield to Grand Central,
and upon arriving in NYC enjoyed a slice of pizza from
the Two Boots pizza stand (if you're ever passing thru
GCT and want a quick bite to eat, go there) and a drink,
and off I went to hop on the subway. I had a rolling
suitcase (my first time using one!) and it almost got
caught in the friggin turnstiles! Yikes! Luckily disaster
was averted and off I went to catch the Times Square
shuttle, and from there, hop on the local 1 train to take me
to 50th St.

And I ended up being right in the center of the Theatre
District, which is one of my favorite spots in the city.

I meandered up a couple of blocks, and found the hotel
where I was going to be camped up for the weekend;
I just LOVE revolving doors, by the way! I was able
to check in quickly, and went up to my room. It was a small
room, but it would serve the purpose for me. Heck, my
window looked straight ahead towards the Prudential
Building! Not too shabby.

After getting settled, I decided to go look for the conference
area to go and pick up my packet. The second and third floors
of the hotel were mostly ballrooms and stuff and we had that
for the whole conference, and even the MEN's bathrooms on
those floors were "turned into" WOMEN'S BATHROOMS for
the weekend...heehee! The downer of the men's bathrooms
was the fact that there were mostly urinals and only two stalls,
so we were cracking jokes the whole weekend if we ended up
"the converted bathroom"....*snort*

Also decided to wander around and check out the exhibitors
and vendors on both floors. Jewelry, natural clothing, books &
CDs, aura photography, career assessments, pottery & sculpture,
and booths featuring social action related stuff (such as "Vote
Run Lead"----The White House Project; V-Day; Code Pink). It
was a lot of stuff to take in, but I walked around checking things
out. In another part on the second floor was the bookstore,
which featured books and CDs from the different speakers at
the conference plus other books and CDs and other goodies. You
can even advance-purchase video or CD recordings of the keynote
speakers at the conference too (there was a separate form to fill
out if one chose).

While walking around (this was before the opener tonite by the
way), I had the good fortune to finally meet in person the one
who is in charge of the emails and stuff for the VDay Worldwide
Campaigns (I had been in email contact w/ her while I was
working on my VDay thing here). We talked for a short bit but
then she had to dash off to go do some stuff.

I decided to go back up to my room and throw my jeans on and
my "Value Your Vagina, Vote!" tshirt (which I had bought online
a few weeks before, and funny, they were selling those same
tshirts during the weekend!).

7:30pm rolled around fast, and I didn't' even have dinner! I
think I was excited w/ the whole conference starting.

To be continued!

 

[tigerjen]

Wrapping up Friday 9/10

Eve Ensler, founder of VDay, was the opening keynote
speaker........as I've heard her speak before, she was
in no doubt, awesome! She spoke of "the new
paradigm" and getting away from "the old paradigm"
in regards to women's issues.

Iyanla Vanzant (who I've seen on Oprah) was next,
speaking of connecting the "Voice, Mind, Spirit, and
Heart" of the woman. What was real cool was each
of those words was represented by a woman playing
a different musical instrument or singing. She was a
most wonderful speaker-------would love to hear her
again at some point----the point I most gleaned from
her was "Sing your song".....meaning each of us women
sings her own song, and as loud as she can.

So the conference was off to a roaring start!

After getting back up to my room, had to order room
service as I was too exhausted to go out and go get
a bite to eat......then it was off to bed at midnite.......

 

[tigerjen]

On the 3rd Anniversary of 9/11.......Saturday

I woke up 6:15am on the morning of Saturday 9/11, and
literally had to pinch myself to make myself believe that
I was still in NYC.......

Showered and dressed, I put my American flag pin on
my shirt in commemoration.

Had a nice breakfast at Streeter's (one of two places to
eat in the hotel).......two scrambled eggs w/ extra crisp
bacon, hashbrowns, and whole wheat toast. Coffee and
fresh-squeezed oj rounded it out. The breakfast was on
the pricey side of $19.50 but it did include the juice and
coffee......that's NY for ya!

Afterwards, went back up to my room to freshen up one
more time, brush my teeth and stuff before heading back
down as the conference started 8:30am..........

First keynote was Gloria Steinem......she was awesome
to listen to, and even more so for me as I had done my
women's studies project on her back when I was at
Ithaca. She is an icon of the women's movement, and
she's one of those who you love/admire or can't stand.

Marion Woodman was next; she is an author and leader
in women's spirituality and feminine consciousness, and
a Jungian analyst. I felt that she was quite different,
and my feelings were mixed.

At 11:30am (after a half hour break), there were two
separate panels; one for "The Good Body" w/ Eve Ensler
moderating, and another for "Closing the Leadership
Gap: Why women can and must help run the world"
moderated by Marie Wilson, president of The White House
Project. I opted for the political panel, and I am glad that
I went to that one. Geraldine Ferraro was on the panel,
and Liz Kruger ( NY state senator), and AnneMarie DePalma
(NYC councilwoman from the Bronx).

It was very interesting listening to each of their stories on
how they became involved in running for political office.......

After the panel discussion was finished it was off to lunch
break, and since it was crazy outside of the hotel w/ the
street fair/flea market taking place on 7th Av., I opted for
lunch at Streeter's in the hotel.........

 

[tigerjen]

Saturday 9/11 continued........

2:30pm the conference started up again, w/ keynote
speaker Sister Joan Chittister, discussing "Women,
Power, and Peace". One point I shall make here is
that the war in Iraq was brought up and she felt that
there shouldn't have been any war there in the first
place-----loud cheers all around I must say!

In the late afternoon for an hour or so there were mini
workshops taking place; the one I attended was "Engaged
Spirituality: A Woman's Leadership Path" (led by
Joan Borysenko & Gail Straub). In a way that spoke to
me because I am far beyond burnt out where I work,
and need something else to make me happy, possibly
elsewhere. We did a 10 minute meditiation, closing our
eyes and all......but I fell asleep during it and did not
remember a single thing they were saying during the
meditation! My body must be telling me something?!

Dinner break came after 5pm, but I wanted to check out
the exhibits, and vendors. I picked up a "Vote Run Lead"
tshirt, had a mini Spectrolight treatment done (kind of
examining the aura), bought a piece of jewelry for myself
(a goddess pendant made out of green stone and the
chain had amythest (sp??) crystals and other green
crystals.....very beautiful.....rep. the goddess Aphrodite,
one of my favorites).

Also FINALLY got to check out the "Red Tent", which is
a place to relax and chill out.......think about it as walking
into "1001 Arabian Nights"---lots of Asian/Indian influence
in it.......ABC Carpet and Home & Organic Style magazine
sponsored it........anyhow, around the area, there was
henna tatooing, tarot readings, free massages w/ organic
skin products (got a free sample of lavender lotion!) and
other goodies. I lounged on some pillows in the tent for
a half hour just doing nothing, trying to absorb everything
that had happened so far.

While I was there, the film "Until the Violence Stops"
was playing---I had seen it already when it was broadcast
on Lifetime TV back in February. Closer to 9pm, everybody
gathered back to see the one-woman show of Sarah
Jones (her show, "Bridge & Tunnel", was playing at The
Culture Project on Bleeker St. in NYC, and it will be heading
to Broadway in a few months). She did do some exerpts
from "Bridge & Tunnel", and she was terrific! Very creative,
and very original!

After the show, it was back up to my room to shower
and wash my hair, and order room service for dinner......

To be continued!

 

[jazey_43]

none

Keep it coming TJ!! This is fascinating!!

I would have LOVED to have been there!

 

[tigerjen]

Re: none

Keep it coming TJ!! This is fascinating!!

I would have LOVED to have been there!

I told ya so, Jazey!

Maybe somewhere in the future you can come to
one if you want!

I will be continuing the chronicle later.....I am way too
tired this morning from the overnite shift last nite and
i have to get to sleep.......another overniter tonite...zzzzz