Record Breaking Attendance at 2018 WISE Annual Meeting
The 2018 WISE Annual Meeting drew nearly 400 attendees on November 11 at the Hyatt Regency Rosemont, IL. WISE members, partner companies, and university students and advisors filled the Grand Ballroom to kick off their PLMA trade show participation.
“The WISE Annual Meeting demonstrates to our members, partner companies, and guests how the WISE board of directors, speakers and volunteers work together to provide a meaningful program with the goal to impact gender diversity and to advance women in the store brand industry,” said Peggy Davies, WISE Board Chair. “We are honored that hundreds of people choose to join us during a weekend with so many time demands.”
Attendees were challenged to face their fears and initiate steps forward to completing a goal by featured speaker Judi Holler in her presentation Fear Is My Homeboy®: How To Get Brave and Start Taking Action. Judi demonstrated how her background in stand-up comedy challenged her to be more courageous in her personal and professional life.
An annual highlight of the meeting, WISE and Storebrands magazine recognized the 2018 Top Women in Storebrands. This year, nine outstanding women leaders in store brands received an award and were recognized by their peers in short, personal videos. Nancy Cota, Albertsons Companies and Kim Giryluk, Lassonde Pappas received LifeTime Achievement awards for their contributions to industry.
The WISE Board would like to thank each sponsor, attendee and volunteer for their support in making the Annual Meeting bigger and better each year. We hope to see all of you back in 2019!