Women Are Talking

Announcing Women Are Talking 2014 Summit

Women Are Talking became a leader in virtual connections when it launched the first-ever virtual conversation in 2013 reaching an estimated 1 million women in over 34 countries using the power of AT&T tele-presence centers and social media.  This ground-breaking event was moderated by 64 women leaders in five major cities around the country.

Women Are Talking 2014 promises to break through new barriers when we bring together over 500 women leaders for the  2014 Women Are Talking Global Summit to be held on the campus of Westfields Mariott located just outside the nation’s capital, along with an estimated 1 million virtual global participants as we break ground for the next level of women’s empowerment. This year’s  conference will focus on an honest and provocative discussion of the critical role of women  empowering themselves and other women.

Highlights for this year’s event include:

* Live, moderated virtual panel discussions by top women and men leaders

* Cocktail Reception, QB Marketplace, Open Mic &Karaoke

* CSD Awards Dinner and Announcement of Winners

* Performance by Surprise Recording Artists

This year will mark the 6th year of Women Are Talking which was founded to provide a space where women can share ideas, resources and experiences in order to have a direct impact on the lives and advancement of women around the world. We do this through the facilitation of mentorship, making business connections and fostering the powerful concept of women actively helping and empowering other women.

Founded by Bonnie McDaniel, a former corporate executive who was the Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for European-based technology software corporation, Infomatique Sans Fil, she is the current Editor In Chief of Recipes for Good Living Magazine; television contributor for ABC’s Let’s Talk Live, CNN (HLN News Now) and the host of Metro Magazine with Bonnie McDaniel, which airs on the ION Television Network, this annual event has become the global standard for women helping women through virtual connections.

Bonnie also serves as a national mentor for Levoleague and for Star Fellows of Running Start. In addition she sits on the board of George Mason University’s FOMM supporting the School of Music. The Women Are Talking Initiative has grown to include a network of women’s organizations and businesses totaling over 500,000.

 She is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Queen Bee 7 Reasons Why Women Are Not Empowered and What You Can Do Now to Change This Phenomenon.

To register, please visit: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/women-are-talking-2014-tickets-10379897553

For information on our QB Marketplace and how to become an exclusive vendor,  please submit inquiries to:   info@womenaretalking.org

Contact: info@womenaretalking.org

For Immediate Release – February 8, 2014 – Voice of America and Women Are Talking announced today that Voice of America will provide worldwide media coverage of the 2014 Women Are Talking Summit & Conference scheduled for June 5-6, 2014. As the largest international broadcaster with an estimated weekly global audience of over 164 million viewers and listeners, Voice of America is uniquely positioned to provide maximum coverage for this worldwide event.

On May 3, 2013, Women Are Talking became a leader in virtual connections when it launched the first-ever virtual conversation reaching an estimated 1 million women in over 34 countries using the power of AT&T Tele-Presence centers and social media.

Women Are Talking 2014 will break through new barriers when it hosts over 500 women and men leaders for the 2014 Women Are Talking Global Summit which will be held on the campus of Westfields Mariott located just outside the nation’s capitol. Using the power of social media, an estimated 1 million virtual global participants will also take part in this global discussion. This year’s conference will focus on the honest and provocative discussion of the critical role women play in empowering themselves and other women, using as a foundation, the critically acclaimed book, Queen Bee 7 Reasons Why Women Are Not Empowered and What You Can Do Now to Change This Phenomenon

This year’s event will include live, moderated virtual panel discussions by top women and men leaders and will provide guidelines and tools on how to actively take charge of changing the dynamics of how and where women see themselves in order to positively impact their relationships with other women.

Women Are Talking was founded to provide a space where women can share ideas, resources and experiences in order to have a direct impact on the lives and advancement of women around the world. We do this through the facilitation of mentor-ship & sponsorship, supporting women in their individual and corporate business endeavors, making business connections and fostering the powerful concept of women actively becoming involved in helping and empowering other women.

Founded by former corporate executive, Bonnie McDaniel and current Editor In Chief of Recipes for Good Living Magazine, television contributor for ABC’s Let’s Talk Live, CNN (HLN News Now) and the host of Metro Magazine with Bonnie McDaniel, which airs on the ION Television Network, this annual event has become the global standard for women helping women through virtual connections. The Women Are Talking Initiative has grown to include a network of women’s organizations and businesses totaling over 500,000. For more information, please contact info@womenaretalking.org or call 703-593-2551.

Redemption lies in the power of the spoken word!

A few years ago, one of my Sunday school students shared a story with me about a girl in her school whom all the girls hated because she was known by a certain name. She went on to share that although everyone said awful things about her, she did not know if in fact what they were saying was indeed the truth. I asked this student why, if she did not believe what was being said, did she not speak up, in defense of this young woman. Her answer to me was very telling of the silence that is very often so deafening and typical when it comes to women speaking up on matters of importance. What she said was this: “I did not think anyone would listen.”

The truth is when women speak up, the world comes to a standstill and listens to what we have to say!

Like so many people, I could not help but tune in to the on-going discussion regarding the crisis in which the queen of southern cooking, Paula Deen, has become embroiled. Unlike most people, however, I have been very slow to rush to form an opinion, especially since the story is being presented to me by someone else. The truth is, there are always three sides to every story: the sides of the two people involved and what actually happened. What you choose to believe is based upon your own perception.

First and foremost, this article is not an article about race. I do not know Ms. Deen personally, therefore, I cannot say definitively one way or the other, if she is or is not a racist. And for the point of this discussion, there is a much more important issue that needs to be raised. This discussion is about women and how critical our voices are to shaping what it is we wish to see in our society.

When I watched the interview of Ms. Deen with Matt Lauer on the Today Show, what struck me most about her responses to his questions was not her defense of who she is or her history in regards to her beliefs or how she treats people of other races. What resonated with me was the part of her interview where she shared her response after having witnessed African-American employees referring to one another using the very word for which she is now being vilified. When Ms. Deen did not speak up to her employees, she missed a huge opportunity to change, at least in her part of the universe, the use of language that is under no circumstances, acceptable.

We live in a society where it is not uncommon for people to steer clear of those subjects that are unpopular or not politically correct. When presented with such situations, women in particular have a tendency to sit on the sidelines and say nothing. Language, no matter who is leading the discussion, is something that when spoken can create ripples throughout society.

It is hard for me to imagine what goes through the mind of someone who is white when they hear such references being made, one African-American to another, but as a woman the reaction always has to be the same.

As women, there is so much power that is given us that we still, in this day and age, fail to recognize how our mere words can change the fabric of society just by speaking what we desire into existence. People listen to women when we open our mouths to speak. The problem is too many of us fail to step up to the plate and say the truth. When Ms. Deen witnessed the offensive exchange of language between her employees, she missed a perfect opportunity to simply state, “not in my kitchen!” She had the authority as both their employer and as a mother to change the course of the conversation. In other words, she missed a great opportunity to lead. Today I would like to think that, in hindsight, she wishes she had.

We cannot change history, but we can change the language we choose to use today. Speaking up, whether to change the old and unacceptable ways of referencing one another, or to demand what is rightfully ours as women, is critical to shaping the way society holds its citizens accountable.

Vilifying Ms. Deen is not going to change what is the responsibility of each woman on the planet and that is to open our mouths and speak up when opportunity knocks at our door. In the end, history will judge us equally by what we say and for the words that we fail to utter. The difference is, when we fail to speak up, our silence will write its own script and very often the script will not necessarily represent what we intended to say. We have a voice, but no one hears us when our voices are silent!

Redemption comes from having been forgiven for past infractions and for the lessons learned by choosing to SPEAK UP AND LEAD!

Can’t see the video? Click here.

By Bonnie McDaniel, founder Women Are Talking

As a child of the Civil Rights era, I remember so well the images of my elders locking arms, swaying to the rhythm of the old Negro spiritual, We Shall Overcome.  This song helped to define the Civil Rights era and all of its struggles and ideals: that if we just believed in our hearts and had patience, we would overcome a world of oppression and inequality.  We believed if we waited with patience, just a little while longer, our change would come.

And as much as this song represents such an important part of my history as an African-American woman, it also creates an overwhelming feeling of ire and distaste when each February during Black History Month, we Americans dust it off, and on cue, lock arms and obediently sway in the wind of an era that has outlived its usefulness for the challenges that we face today.  History is important for knowing the richness of one’s origin; it should not, however, become an excuse to ignore the fact that the Civil Rights era was the beginning of the journey and not the destination.  I love that this is a part of my history, but I reject that it can and will define my future.

As an African-American and a woman, I own the fact, without remorse, that in 2013 I am no longer interested in waiting to overcome.  I have become impatient with the idea of passing this outmoded idea of waiting down to my daughter, thereby suggesting that she should sit quietly and meekly while others decide when or if she deserves to be treated like the first-class citizen that she already is.

What is obvious to me is this: If you have to ask someone to grant you freedom and equality, neither will ever be yours.  It is the nature of human beings to occupy whatever space they are strong enough to claim as their own.  Unfortunately, this concept goes against the very nature of how girls are raised, not just here in this country, but in countries around the world.  Girls are taught to ask permission before they decide to occupy, which immediately places them in a position of compromise.  And because we hesitate or question whether or not we deserve a place at the table, very often the question is never asked. No woman should be relegated to the whims of a man’s idea of what she is or is not worth, and asking means having to accept whatever he perceives she deserves.

Before you paint me as a man-hater, let me share this.  I value family, and I am married to a wonderful man who, over a few decades, has supported my efforts on this subject in every way.  I am the mother of a son and a daughter, and I think men are the key to helping to remove the barriers that continue to block the paths of women.  During my years in corporate America, it was males, white males in particular, who provided me with access to not only enter the board room, but take a seat at the table.  And because they chose to look past not only my color but also my gender, I was able to realize what my grandfather had taught me as a child, and that was that I could do anything.

Women can no longer wait as the world continues to churn yesterday’s waste.  We can no longer trust that men can deliver to us things that they do not understand.  We have opportunities to create, children to feed, wars to end, and a world to make better.

Now is the time for women to assess our places in the world and bring the results of those assessments to a collective table and recognize the fact that as women we have already overcome, and together, we can do anything!  We are not absent of power and if we are not allowed at the table built by men, we must garner the courage to build tables of our own. Change waits for no one, but instead it adopts the qualities of whatever exists in the moment, and the moment for women is now.

Tomorrow is for dreamers – today is for doers!  Do not wait until tomorrow to do what today so richly affords that which is right in the palm of your hands.

Catch the wave, add your voice and talent to the conversation, and be overcome by the change that has already happened!

©2013.  This material cannot be published or reproduced without express permission granted by Bonnie McDaniel & Women Are Talking.

We are pleased to announce the 2013 Women Are Talking Virtual Global Conversation taking place on Friday, May 3, 2013 between the hours of 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (EST).  The voices of 1 million women will gather to take part in a virtual conversation using the power of technology, via Twitter, Facebook and technology leader AT&T’s Tele-Presence Centers.  This year’s theme is The Power of One!

Sponsored by Recipes for Good Living Magazine and AT&T, this event will bring together the voices of 1 million women and men who support women in their efforts. Begun over five years ago as a local gathering of women during the first weekend in May over tea events in the Washington, DC area, this annual event has developed into a global conversation that includes 11 different countries (US, England, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, Kenya, India, Dubai, Singapore and Brazil).

This year’s conversation will be moderated by women leaders on trending topics through a virtual dais in five Tele-Presence Centers located in Washington DC, New York City; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California and Chicago Illinois. These women leaders will moderate interactive discussions over a two-hour period via a Women Are Talking mobile app, AT&T Tele-Presence Centers, tweets and Facebook, to which women around the globe will have the opportunity to lend their collective voices. This event will not only spawn the discussion, but will also begin the process for collectively creating an online interactive web environment where things are not only talked about but are acted upon.

The creator of Women Are Talking, Bonnie McDaniel who is a television host and contributor, author and Editor in Chief of Recipes for Good Living Magazine, a lifestyle magazine for the modern family stated, “the goal of this event is to emphasize the power that each woman has when her voice is connected to the voice of another person and it begins with a simple conversation.”

To join the conversation and participate on May 3rd, please follow us on Twitter: @watalking, “like” us on www.facebook.com/womenaretalking and add your name here to our mailing list.  On May 3rd and in days leading up to that date, you will receive tweets and posts to FB to which you will be able to add to the conversation.  And please, share with your friends.

For information about how you can become a sponsor please email us at sponsorship@womenaretalking.org.

by Bonnie McDaniel, founder of Women Are Talking

Sometimes despite the stellar accomplishments or the most glowing resume, the best person to move an idea forward may very well not be you.

I love sports, although if the truth would be told, I understand perhaps less about sports than the average person.  Be that as it may, I love the game of basketball.  The reason why I like basketball so much is the process through which players engage each other in order to come up with a winning team.  In basketball and life what I understand about a winning team is this; it really is never about any one individual but rather the collective efforts that when combined, creates a force that is unstoppable.  What is particularly striking about the winning team of basketball is how easily the star of the game is able to make a conscious decision to give up his or her position to pass the ball to the player who is most likely to make the winning shot.  It is an interesting dynamic indeed and we women who are not athletes could perhaps learn a lot from watching a winning team at work.

Rather than make this a statement about what others could be doing different, I will instead share my personal experience.  In my past, too often when I encountered an opportunity that was in my “sweet spot”, my first thought was how to take on the task myself rather than considering if someone else might be better for the role.  The good news is, as I have matured, I have learned that doing a good work is all about getting  to the end game and if someone else can do it and do it better or differently than I can, then it is in the best interest of the work that I support that person to advance them to the front of the line.  What I have learned too is that when I allow that space to be occupied by someone other than myself, my scope of influence and understanding becomes that much more defined.  What I know for sure is this – it is impossible to be tactical or manage a situation from center stage and if advancing the work is the ultimate goal then the sideline or a supportive role is the absolute best position to be.

I have over the years been a little frustrated by how much we women compete with one another in such unproductive ways.  We allow ourselves to be sidetracked by things that have no place in fruitful discussions.  We get stuck on things like, is she prettier, skinnier, taller, shorter, richer, poorer; and the list goes on, but in the world of winning teams, has little or no relevance.  And let me be the first to say that yes, competition is good, as long as it generates a spirit of cooperation and a good outcome!  I will perhaps have many of you sending me fiery letters about making such a statement and to that I say –let’s talk.  The fact is, however, until we say out loud the truth about what it is we could be doing differently, we can never get to moving past what is blocking our way.  Simply put, we no longer have the luxury of wasting time and talent on things that do nothing to advance our individual and collective causes.

We have for too long looked for answers that very often can be found within ourselves.  It is a fact that inequities continue to exist and are in most instances hoisted upon us by the opposite sex.  If we are honest, however, we can also safely say that many of the roadblocks or inequities that exist against women are in many instances erected by women against ourselves.  We continue to disengage from the responsibility we have to each other to support the work of other women by competing at all costs in order to advance our individual selves to the front of the line.  Unfortunately we do this failing to remember that equality on any level begins and ends with ourselves.  When we can embrace the idea of being fair and supportive of other women who are subordinates when we are fortunate enough to be in the board room or in other positions of power, then and only then can we demand that the rest of the world follow suit.

I am not sure how or when it happens, but there comes a point in the lives of most women when we adopt a spirit of competitiveness that goes beyond working to be the best we can be in our respective roles.  We learn to compete at all costs, even if it means walking in spiked heels over another woman because we shudder at the thought of her standing center stage when we have determined that that space is where we should be.

One of the things that inspired me to create Women Are Talking was the idea that women could create   a world that we only now dream about – a world where women talk to and with each other through a respectful dialogue, genuine and caring listening ears, and amass a network of support that is limited only by what we can and are willing to do to in support of our collective selves.

The stretch is not far and the vision is within reach.  The time is now to talk, create, share and do.  Barriers do exist but they are also ours to tear down!

We are 1 Million Women Strong and Men Who Support Women in Their Efforts.  On May 3, 2013, catch the wave, join the conversation and watch your world change!

By Bonnie McDaniel

Actions can be scrutinized, words edited, but the beginning of understanding is through good conversation!

This month of the woman has been an exciting period for women in every major walk of life.  So far we have witnessed the annual celebration of International Women’s Day, One Billion Rising and there have been a number of interesting articles written by and about women on varying topics; from opinions on raising the modern family to a call to raise ire in the corporate board room.

What has been perhaps the most compelling topic to date, and the month is just half over, is the release of the new book by Face Book’s Sheryl Sandberg entitled, Lean In.  It has been interesting to witness the dialogue or should I say firestorm, that this book has created and the opinions that are from one emotional extreme to the other.  The conversations have ranged from utter outrage over what many perceive to be her holier than thou privileged position in life, to some women saying, finally – that she had the courage to say out loud, what many have thought all along!

For the sake of this article, whether or not what Ms. Sandberg has to say is indeed the gospel is really not the point.  What is the point however, is the fact that a conversation has been started that is long overdue.

Five years ago, I began the journey of trying to convince women that the reason we lack is not because we do not have, but rather because we do not talk; at least not about things that are important.

Unlike Ms. Sandberg, I did not come about my opinion in a place of prominence and exceptional power, however, some of the conclusions I have reached in my walk as a mother, sister, daughter, wife, and an average woman in business, touch upon many of the things about which I too believe are long overdue for open and honest discussion.  And, it okay to say things out loud that are in many instances, misguided opinions.  What happens when we talk or say out loud those things that are so near and dear to our view of the world,  is a dialogue ensues and misguided opinions are more likely to become informed decisions.  And because we then begin to operate with the right information, rather than a figment of someone’s imagination, progress begins to take place.

What we think about our lives is important to our overall well-being.  We cannot have a good life without adjusting our approach to how we live each day or our actions concerning it.  Whether we are blessed with a position in the playroom or the corporate boardroom, our collective thoughts and sharing of those thoughts are the key to having a life-changing experience; not only for ourselves, but for women everywhere.  From this moment moving forward, in order to affect the change that so many women dream about, we must begin to talk.  To that end, here is what my experiences have taught me about having a good conversation.

1. Each person’s opinion, whether in your estimation, it is right or wrong, deserves to be heard.

2. Never make it personal; either taking it personally or issuing a personal attack against the other person takes your focus off of the point of the discussion. Therefore, keep it focused!

3. Listen and learn.  When we listen we begin to gain a broader picture of how to live beyond ourselves, thereby providing a clearer view of the world and consequently our ensuing actions will begin to effect positive change.

4. Gossip or malicious dialogue should never be a part of the discussion.  As a gauge ask yourself these questions: Is it fact, Is it constructive and Is it necessary to the end game?  If the answer is no, re-focus the discussion.

5. Begin the conversation with a stated purpose in order to keep the dialogue on point.  In other words what do you hope to achieve by the end of the discussion?

6. If the conversation warrants contentiousness, FIGHT FAIR.  No hitting below the belt, in other words do not make it personal.

7. If you must criticize, use the sandwich approach.  Begin and end your point with something positive.

8. Breathe!  Very few things in life are ever as serious as we imagine them to be.  And remember, we are all in this together so let’s do our best to make it amazing!

Bonnie McDaniel is the creator of Women Are Talking, an annual virtual global gathering of women utilizing the  power of social media and technology  (www.womenaretalking.org.) and Editor In Chief of Recipes for Good Living Magazine (www.recipesforgoodliving.com)